School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

A school has banned a girl from school for wearing her hair in braids because they think it breaks their rules in that it is an "extreme hairstyle".
She is white. Apparently, the school's black pupils can wear braids.
Link:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4361791.stm

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Ridiculous. This is racism, surely? Giving permissions a person of one race but denying them to a person of another? Ridiculous.

Btw my Mum works near that school.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Erm.... right........ :erm:

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

You'd think schools had better things to worry about than the style of a pupils hair. Especially something as innocuous as braids (which I happen to think look very nice).

An "extreme" hairstyle probably might be something like a bright pink mohican, but not braids ffs.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Whats wrong with my bright pink mohican??? :D:D:D:D

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Nothing. It looks very fetching on you I'm sure. :)
I'm just trying to think in terms of the anally retentive school head at that school.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Incredible :dozey: :mis:

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Braids help to prevent the spread of lice too.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

it is in the media, thats how we know. And belive it or not there is racism going unpunished on all sides. Not just one

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

just reading the article....if this goes to court cant it be seen as frivilous and a waste of time ? i mean it is racist what she has been told to do interms of being 'stripped' of her right o be educated by that establishment.

im sure the school has more things to worry about.

i am also against a 'uniform' system which is local governer selected.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

This incident has the danger of making a mountain out of a mole hill. The parents concerned would be better to doorstep the school governors for a change of decision. It does seem rather silly.


:)

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Exactly.


It just seems like sheer bloody-mindedness to me. They know that other religions and cultures wear their hair in certain ways and it just seems to be that they want to cause a scene saying that black people get to do this and black people get to do that.

Jewish people get circumcised... why are people not queuing up to get that done eh?


Let me ask you....who looks better ?????

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2005/03/27.jpg

[img]Download Failed (1)[/img]


Who cares? take the damn braides out and get her back to school!!!

:rolleyes:

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

My school is like that they worry too much about hair and not the education. One pupil had some blonde streaks put in and spiked it up and they eventually made the parents take the kid and get it cut and changed colour. When ever your hair is spikey now you have to 'calm it down'. I do not see it distracting other people do you, they just want something to moan about at the end of the day.

My mate was asked by one of the senior members of staff to get a shave the other day and the teacher in question has a hedgehog on his top lip so I think if they staff are going to issue rules like that they must comply as well.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Heck at my school they suspended a girl because her skirt was on the knee and not below it!
Her parents couldn't afford to buy new ones.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Ironic isn't it. Your second picture proves that the media deems what is fashionable or acceptable and what isn't. The government says we should all be more tolerant towards and accepting of other races\colours\creeds. A message it says is promoted in schools and which all schools when asked agree with. So that those youngsters moving through the system have the correct mindset for an ever changing society. Yet those schools implement a form of segregation as soon as one race move towards another by adopting something as innocuous as a hairstyle. Hardly fosters an attitude of acceptance does it.

As for circumcision. AIUI there are a number of people who "queu up" to have such a procedure undertaken. What with hospital waiting lists being what they are, they don't have much choice. ;) But let's face it. It's hardly comparable, you are hardly going to be removed from school, due to you not having a foreskin are you.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

That makes me want to cry :(
__________________

But you probably will if you show everyone that you have/haven't got one :D

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

lol, thats worth a rep :D

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Very true and rightly so IMO :)

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Agreed, but for one point how many against white discrimination cases have there been in UK compared to other cases of racial, religous or other cultural discrimination ?

Personally I know of none ever gone anywhere further than increasing resentment because of precisely this negative discrimination.

If the shoe was on the other foot and this country turned to an alternative foriegn rule and culture, there imo still would not be any such thing as racism against whites, yet it is a big problem allready.
ie Britain became a muslim state you would wear what you were authorised to wear and obey many other laws , regardless of race color or cultural background.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Personally, I think that all school govenors are little hitlers when it comes to deciding uniform policy. When I was in sixth form, the govenors decided that they wanted to change the dress code because they said that they had had reports that sixthformers we looking scruffy and letting the image of the school down (although no examples of when / where were ever provided).

They arrange a meeting with the sixth form council to discuss it and then didin't turn up! 2 days later they issuesd a new dress code which stoped the boys from wearing shorts (we'd only been allowed tailor'd shorts in any case) and a number of other restrictions...

When the complaints were made they just refused to listen to any argument...

The problem here is that the rule they've made is vauge at best so the Head is trying to interprit this as best as possible (not very well in fact) its now got to the point that ego's are on the line.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

School seem to be more obsessed about uniform than education, my own school uniform used to cost £190, and teenagers grow...a lot! My family were not well off at all, and i remember many an occasion i was sent to the headmaster over uniform issues. We had 2 PE kits, one white, one red, if you wore the wrong one, you were given a black mark, three blacks marks and suspended? Whats that all about?
You also had to wear a knee length pleated skirt, which are actually very hard to find for a teenagers , unless less you want to fork out £50, so i wore a straight skirt and everyday i was down to the headmasters office, luckily he was lovely and wasn't into all this uniform rubbish and used to just ask me how celtic were doing i the league. :)
As for hair though they weren't to fussed, as long as you had your blazer on! That blazer i happily burnt when i left :) There were many rules just for the blazer, don't take it off was the main one, if your wearing a coat outside, your blazer must be on underneath,, if you havnt got a coat big enough for a huge sholderpadded blazer underneath than you dont get to wear a coat???
I know more schools athat were even more strict and expensive, Plonking used to go to a school and everyone had to wear a suit, even at sixth form, very expensive!

EDIT- i remember somethign else really stupid, girls had to wear skirts april to mid november, and trousers november to march, its bloody cold in september, esp. in a stupid skirt!!

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

When I was in Year 10, about 10 years ago, a girl was suspended for having braids, so it's nothing new.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

I wonder if this school would also suspend a black pupil who had their hair straightenedâââ€à …¡Ã‚¬Ã‚¦

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

It is not that simple!

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Personally I think all governers and heads are perverts. They just have a school uniform fetish.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

I agree, If this was a Muslim state the only other countries that do have Islam as their main religion often do have restrictions of peoples rights but that is more to do with their governments and not so much to do with a individual Muslims beliefs. But we are not going to become a Muslim state and one of the strengths of our country is that we are meant to be accepting of other cultures.

The point I was trying to make is that we do not know anything about racism between black and whites. In fact, even on this forum the only 'facts' are based on stories people have heard or experiences they have had. That is not fact and does not show the state of an entire nation. So unless anyone has some actual hard facts about this issue I suggest that it does not come up again.

As for the girl, we donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t know the whole story. The only side of the story we seem to be getting is hers, for all we know she may have a history of causing trouble and is trying to play the victim. The family are very quick to try and turn this into an issue. They are claiming discrimination, refusing to fix the hair and are trying to get money out of the issue. Actions that make me question the true intent of the 'victim'. Is the real reason they didnââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t fix her hair more to do with the publicity and the money than it is to do with any moral principle? Finally, this is a whole lot of nothing. The fact that the media has chosen to follow this story is because it is a unique story; if this was happening up and down the country then they wouldnââ‚Ã⠀šÃ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t have given her the publicity.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

How about if she said she was trying to adopt 'black' culture by wearing her hair like that?

Seeing as you're comparing an (apparent) adult to a child, forgive me if I don't answer that question.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

When I was at school, the teachers were in charge and we did as we were told regardless of fairness.We went to get educated and knew to cause as few probems as possible else we'd have a sore backside.That was during the punk era, there were pupils with dyed hair but as long as it didn't look too outrageous and you did your work, behaved yourself and wore the correct uniform there wasn't much of a problem.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Lots of non-jewish guys are circumcised.

People like you are the problem. Why on earth shouldn't she have her hair the way she wants it? It's doing no hard to anyone else, it's her hair, and that should be the end of it. She should be able to have it blue and spiked up, or shaved off, if that's what she wants. She's there to learn, not to be told what she can and can't look like. Schools shouldn't be able to dictate what kids look like in any way, hairstyle, uniform, the lot. If a kid turns up on time, behaves and does their work, that should be the end of it. Having silly hair doesn't make you bad at maths, wearing jeans doesn't make you bad at physics, so why dictate to children what they can and can't wear?

When they're older and get jobs, the chances are they'll be told what to wear, etc, so why not let them be kids just now, while they've got the chance?

I got hassle every day for years at school, because i refused to wear uniform, and i had a silly hairdo or two, and i had piercings, but i dug my heels in, and all that happened was that i missed 15 minutes of class each morning while i got lectured by the head, and that was the end of it. I did what i wanted with MY appearance. I wouldn't have had self-respect if i'd let someone else dictate to me what i could wear FOR NO GOOD REASON.

They gave me the usual crap about school identity etc, but what about the kids who are out shoplifting and generally being a nuisance? They want THEM to be identified with the school? What if *I* don't want to be identified with the school? Where i came from, there was a lot of tension between our school and a few others.

Bottom line is, if it's not affecting her work, or anyone else's, she should have her hair however she likes it. Here's hoping she doesn't back down.


What does having a certain haircut have to do with her being a troublemaker or not? If she's been thrown out of school for misbehaviour, then fair enough, but if it's to do with her haircut, which according to the report it is, then it's wrong, it's discrimination, and it's disgusting.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

:wavey:

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

This country is getting to be a bloody joke now, what on earth are they going to ban next??? If the kid want to wear brades let her, she is not hurting anyone andif she wants to be indvidual let her, its not as if her hair is that bloody radicial,says the person who got sent home from work because she died her hair violet and green!!!

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

This is the act of one school. It is not a national event.

Stop trying to make this a bigger issue than it is

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Play nice now people...

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

but .......... , once it starts then who knows where it will stop , why should the coloured person have their hair in a certain style , yet the uncoloured person be stopped from doing it ???? , dont make any sense to me i am afraid :confused:

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

And I thought my head teacher was weird? This just takes the biscuit :erm:

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Political correctness now means that many people daren't apply restrictions or even challenge a person of a different culture or religion or whatever (even if you are challenging them about something which is irrelevant to their differences) for fear of being branded a racist or sent to court or whatever, which to me is extremely sad. Therefore it seems that a lot of these people are invincible and can get away with a lot of things (before I get attacked, I'm not saying all of the people do this)because when challenged they can always play the racist/discrimination card which gives them incredible powers in this messed up society :rolleyes:

Political correctness = Positive Discrimination

And as far as I'm concerned this is just as bad because if you want to get rid of discrimination you need to get rid of the differences. Two wrongs don't make a right. You need to make people equal and not try to 'balance it out' as such with positive discrimination. Same rules for everyone. If not, you are imposing multiple standards which only highlights the differences and makes the problems worse. Equality is the way :tu:

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

I just wanted to say, I fully agree and an excellent post. :tu:

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

I have just seen an advert for this home braiding kit. All the girls featured were white (presumably enough black girls already do it, so they are trying to encourage white girls to get it).

If white girls are "not allowed" to have braided hair :rolleyes:, isn't this sending about a bad message? ;)

And what are tight braids, which black people normally have, really that much different from the slightly looser braids, that typically young white girls used to have?

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

You should be allowed to do what you want, you only live once!!!!

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

I find it amazing that the school would discriminate in this way. When I went to school, the rules applied equally to all colours, and basically, in terms of hair, the school was happy if we didn't have skinheads, mohicans or any dangerous chemicals in our hair.

The need for that last rule was underlined when one pupil, who had some sort of Hair Gel in his hair stood too near to a lighted bunsen burner and his hair burst into flames.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

If this is true, then it's racism.

Now I'm waiting for the CRE to wade in to defend the girl...

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

If she being told she cannot wear her hair that way because she is white then it is a race issue.

I wasn't aware that braids were a "blacks only" style.

Some of the people posting on here saying "don't blow it up out of proportion" etc. Are the very ones who would immediately be condemming it if was the other way around.

I laugh when I see/read such hypocrisy.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

A stupid decision by one headteacher.

EDIT: And hey, some sensible quotes from politicians!!

"Rochdale MP Jim Dobbin is now trying to negotiate a compromise, but he admits he doesn't believe the school has reasonable grounds to keep Olivia away.

He said: "The family visited my surgery recently and I have asked the LEA to mediate with the school. I personally do not consider the hairstyle in any way outrageous and I hope Olivia can return to full time education immediately. I do not consider this to be a reasonable exclusion."

Coun Colin Lambert, Rochdale Council's spokesman for education, said: "The school should concentrate on what goes into the students' heads and not what is on their heads."

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

:erm: I could have sworn the thread title read something along the lines of.. "School bans pupil for hairstyle".
Maybe my eye-sight isn't what it used to be?

Lew's point is a good one, a black girl (generalising here) would usually have to work pretty hard to achieve straight hair as it's not particularly easy to do with the typically tight curly hair common within the black population.
Straight hair naturally has been the domain of other ethnic groups, yet with the invention and innovation of products over the last century or so, these other looks have become possible.

I think the comparison is legitimate, the girl in question is perfectly within her rights to use that hairstyle.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

As I governor of an infant school, I feel that I have to take exception to these comments. Do not tar us all with the same brush for the (apparently) stupid acts of a few.

Without hearing both sides of the story, it is impossible to come to a balanced conclusion, but it would seem that the leadership of this particular school needs to get a life. I can see that there might be circumstances where they may feel that braids were not apropriate, but if so then it should be the same rules for everyone. The only exceptions being for valid medical of religious reasons - not race.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

There is no empirical data that I can find anywhere that supports the idea that wearing a school uniform (or imposing ridiculous rules on hairstyles) improves the standard of education. I've heard many anecdotes but no real evidence.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Theres also the bullying agurement to do with what clothes people wear

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Sigh!

As a parent I would have undone the braids and sent my child back to school....

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

If I'd been the parent I'd have gone down to the school and told them to stop playing silly buggers with my child's education and to get themselves a life or at least a sense of proportion!

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

I personally would have rather my child got on with it's education...I would have of course made my feelings known in no uncertain terms to the school governers namely through the serving parent governer but I would have made sure that there was no break in my child's attendance in the short term.

Matters of principle are all well and good but sometimes one needs to be pragmatic as well.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Our school has just banned those bands they wear round their wrists to support cancer, I went in and asked her why, so told me that it was not a fashion show!!!! I just cannot understand schools thinking anymore??

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

proably think that other kids will nick them off them :dozey:

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

I've had to confiscate several of these damned things because the kids use them like rubber bands to flick pellets and pens across the room... :mad:

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Long gone are the days of an empty cotton reel an elastic band and 2 thumb tacks hey...

:angel:

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

No she is just a miserable old bitch who will not let the kids have a bloody thing!!!

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Well with all due respect you may not know all that is going on in the school.I have heard of some kids being bullied into selling these items against their will. :(

I did ask if it was the antibullying one...

Frankly they were a nice idea but perhaps it's got out out of control like so many of these fads do..such as the dratted pokemon cards or those bluddy stupid clackers things from about 20 odd years ago.Number of kids with bruised wrists...

Anyway they can wear jewellry here BUT it must be out of sight and not worn during PE.Drama,Science experiments and all the Technology subjects.Doesn't leave much of the timetable for them to wear them.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

I have helped in that school and the kids are really nice, then she comes out of her office barking at them for no reason. We have shoot out cards at the boys school and we have a swop session on a break time, I go in and help and there is never any trouble. The problem is she is to old fashioned and isnt with 'it'. Yeah I do agree on the mobile phone and game boy issue, but to stop the kids from wearing a rubber band is just silly

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Not when they are put to the use I've already discussed earlier they are not. :rolleyes:

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

We keep a close eye on them, I mean its not as if the 13/16 yr olds who like doing stupid things llike that!!

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Allieyoung666, bear in mind Incog is a teacher, so she has some experience in these things.

It may not happen in your school, but things like Incog described certainly happen in other schools. I went to a good school (ex-grammar school that at that time still followed the same procedures), and we did stuff like that. Particularly from the ages of 13-16. Ok, not so much when we were 15-16, but we still did it.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

Lets broaden the horizon slightly shall we, and examine things that have been banned in schools etc...

Snowball fights - once a regular thing in every playground when it snowed. Recently some (I think the figure was in the 20s) kids were suspended for having a snowball fight in the playground.

Conkers - to play conkers in a playground now you have to wear safety glasses and be supervised.

Hairstyles - all I have to say on this one is remember the 80s?

when most of us were growing up none of these restrictions applied, we went out, we played, we had snowball fights, we played conkers, we climbed trees, we ran, we fell, we occasionally hurt ourselves, and we produced more free thinkers and innovators than most other generations. We knew the difference between right and wrong, and didn't spend time wreaking havoc, 1 generation ago there weren't any teenagers who had stolen over 100 cars, Antisocial behavior orders were unknown.

We have taken too many rights from the parents and handed them to the kids in the "kids best interests", we have restricted too much in the interests of "political correctness", we are afraid to sneeze in case it offends a religious minority, the lunacy has to end.

A kid won the right to wear a jibab in school despite being told not to as it was not part of the uniform, this was decided by europe, despite the school's muslim head saying it was ludicrous, and despite muslim leaders in the UK saying it was ludicrous. Where will the lunacy end?

This thread is about a white girl wanting to wear braids at school, but the issues are far greater, far deeper and far more widespread than just this one school.

It IS a clear case of racism insofar as it discriminates against a white girl wearing her hair in a style which the same school finds acceptable on black people. That is racism pure and simple. If the school banned black people from wearing their hair in that style as well as the white, then it would be a uniform policy and would not be racist.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

All good points.

I think part of the reason a lot of stuff (like conkers and snowballs) has been banned is purely that the school (or education authority) are terrified of being sued if a child should injure themselves.

When I was a kid, we were allowed to do things like have conker matches, and snowball fights etc, but we did get injured. But the school first aider just patched us up, we went home and I usually got told by my parents "Well, you'll know to be more careful next time!". Nowdays, it does seem like the first thing parents do is complain to the school, and sometimes threaten legal action. Not saying anyone here would do that, it does seem like a lot of parents would though.

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

"It's not a fashion show!" :D Oh that just soooo takes me back.
I also remember a favourite reply was, "Yeah? Well it aint 'Tom Brown's School Days' either!".

Re: School bans pupil for hairstyle
 

What is the name of this school?I'd love to work there!! :D