Should he be allowed to go to school with this hairstyle?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....lishment-mohican.html

/// I would feel ridiculous without it, it makes me an individual. All my mates like it and some want it too.' ///

Yes a ridiculous individual it would seem.

[NOX]

Or alternatively gran he might be very well versed to say how he feels ( seems pretty eloquent to me) and NOT wish to look like other people. I fail to see why the 'uniform and rules are such a great thing' brigade have to resort to name calling of he and his parents or doubting their mental / moral capacity to understand their own viewpoints. It's absurd.

[shaneystar2]

If you cared to go and look at children on the continent very few of them wear a uniform of any description in state schools .I've seen schoolchildren in all sorts of clothes and hairstyles in various countries .
Their education doesn't appear to suffer because they don't have a uniform .
In fact they are far better behaved than some of the unruly yobs in uniform that you get here .
I had the pleasure of getting caught up in Wimbledon some years in a riot between Ursuline Girls School and Ricards Lodge all in their saintly uniforms . .Charming they were .And the language was very colourful .

[sherrardk]

From experience, parents will try every trick in the book to subvert school rules (I can understand why they would want to 'back up' their children even if it's not something I would do myself). I don't understand their need to do this. You get the uniform list, complete with make-up/hair style requirements. The boy has full uniform so why do they, as a family, find it so difficult to comply to the hair style requirements?

I do, however, find it absurd that the school would allow him into a class of less able children with his Mohican - have rules and stick to them or don't. It's just double standards.

[NOX]

Perhaps then if so many parents ' want to subvert school rules' the school rules are judged as silly or irrelevant by most parents? Might be time that teachers re-thought their input and stuck to teaching rather than telling people off for what they choose to wear perhaps?

[joggerjayne]

Why do the parents want him to go to this particular school?

This is a school that does not welcome the unconventional.

The parents should dislike this school, and refuse to send him there.

[NOX]

I tend to agree with that Jayne- we didn't like the authoritarian petty way of most schools so home educated our kids for exactly that reason.

[Kromovaracun]

@JTH: Regarding this:

""Emphatically there really is no difference between students who are forced to wear uniforms and those who are not"
Prof David Brunsma
= Let the uniforms remain as they have no discernible negative impact on education'. "

The former would only serve as evidence for the latter if that's actually what Brunsma concluded. But it isn't. On the basis of this research and work he's done since, Brunsma remains sceptical that there's any reason for sustaining them:

From his review article here - http://www.knowledge-...policiesinpublics.pdf

"Despite media coverage, which has been exceedingly selective and misrepresentative, and despite the anecdotal meanderings of politicians,
community members, educators, board members, parents, and students, uniforms have not been effective in achieving the outcomes they were assumed to aid"

"What is clear from the research is that school uniforms, as a policy and strategy, do not play a role in producing more parental involvement, increased preparedness, positive approaches toward learning, pro-school attitudes, a heightened feeling of school unity and safety, or positive school climates. Therefore, such a policy should not be touted as increasing the educational atmosphere at any level of schooling."

And yes, I agree there's a slight problem with the fact that his research is American-based. But I still think it undermines the argument made by so many that to abandon uniform policies is tantamount to anarchy and will destroy the jobs market.

"but I don't believe that something should be jettisoned purely because there are some people who prefer to mark themselves out as 'individuals' and can think of no other way of doing so... "

This actually gave me pause for thought. Not entirely sure how to respond to it, to be frank. But while I'll admit you've assessed my personal motives quite accurately, I think you're portraying the reasons for removing a uniform policy as a bit more facile than they actually are. If the research indicates that they don't achieve anything they're intending to, then they should go. If the only justification provided for them essentially just boils down to control and a subtle kind of intolerance (which I've demonstrated above), then that's just not enough.

I'll admit to some idealism regarding freedom, but if we can at all help it, then I sincerely believe that the way we arrange our society should be done in the most justifiable (on some grounds or another) way possible.

[sherrardk]

The school rules are thought up by the head and governors, the teachers have to implement them regardless of whether or not they agree. The head and governors are generally nowhere to be seen and ao can have the rules without having to actually do anything to implement them. When I was working it took a disproportionate amount of time to do all the senseless rubbish that took time out of the actual lessons, but it was my job. If the school my children argued has a uniform code (which it does) they will adhere to it. They are there to learn, they can show off their own clothes on non-uniform day (my six year old hates having her hair tied back but she does for school that is just the way it is).

[joggerjayne]

Yes. Far from fighting to keep him at this school, the parents should refuse to have anything whatsoever to do with a school whose ideology is so alien to their own.

[sherrardk]

Attend ^ even!

[LoftyLottie]

I would agree Shaney! The teacher I speak of was a language teacher, so obviously had taught on the continent. I don't know where though so can't answer AOG's question. Ha, ha, I went to school in Wimbledon - a posh girls school which doesn't exist any more - so I wasn't part of the unruly mob you mention.

St Trinians comes to mind.

I agree with you completely NOX.

What I don't agree with, however, is his parents keeping him away from school. I do however think they have the right to question the particular rule that they think is stupid. I think we all have the right to question the reason behind rules and not just accept them. There has to be a reason for a rule in my opinion. Stupid rules will be flouted anyway. Rules should be about safety and courtesy and general behaviour in schools, not about hair!!

[askyourgran]

I wasn't aware that anyone resorted to name calling the parents. I do support all schools who have a dress code for their pupils. Rules of behaviour and dress at schools and academies seem to be the only establishments trying to bring some order and discipline into the lives of the children in their care. Sadly lacking in their homes it seems. His mother looks as though she needs a bit of wardrobe advice.

[NOX]

Seriously sherrardk, if it took hours and hours to do useless rubbish instead of teach, didn't you feel it was a moral obligation to try to change that by addressing the head and board of governors? If that's the honest state of the education system in the UK then that just reinforces the 'no school uniform/ senseless rules for their own sake' camp surely? Does your daughter really learn better because her hair is tied back? I find the whole thing so absurd to be laughable if it wasn't so serious.

[sherrardk]

Honestly NOX, I was on the senior management team and I did question many of the things held to be the norm. I got nowhere and got serious grief for it. Hence, this was part of my decision to quit (even though I was on really good money and holidays). Anything outside the norm is really hard to challenge, I did try.

[LoftyLottie]

I agree Jayne. The parents should try to get him into another school which is more suitable for him and for themselves.

[Ann]

When I was at Grammar school nearly 50 years ago we had strict dress codes we had to obey to the letter, no nail varnish, no dyed hair, no wearing ankle socks over stockings (the latest fashion in 1963!!) no short gym shorts - we had to kneel on the hall floor and the headmistress came round measuring the gap between bottom of shorts and the floor (yes really!!) Even the height of our backcombed hair (beehive style) was measured!! My cousin was temporarily expelled for wearing false nails! But that boys hairstyle is just plain ridiculous - you would think everyone would laugh at him .......

[LoftyLottie]

Well done Sherrard! I don't have a lot of kind words to say about the teaching profession and the school system, but I admire teachers that try to change things they find unfair.

NOX, their is a lot of sense in tying back hair in school and is quite a good rule actually ;o). A rule that does make sense - science lessons, cookery lessons, sport, etc!!

[askyourgran]

NOX tying a childs hair back for school prevents the nits that are so prevalent in some schools. My neighbour is in despair sending her child to school after hours of washing and combing.

[sherrardk]

I once sat through a very tedious debate about the difference between shoes and boots (boots weren't allowed) - who cares as long as their feet are dry?

[LoftyLottie]

Anne I went to a similar school as you did. I left school in 1963. But you mention beehive hair styles and backcombing. We all did it. In mind mind that looked far more ridiculous than this lad's hairstyle!!