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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: 13 year old girl suspended from college for being the "wrong race" for her hairstyle
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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today
Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99
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posted 04-18-2005 09:57 PM
quote:
School bans 'wrong race' hairstyle
EXCLUDED: Olivia Acton
A TEENAGER was sent home from school after the headteacher ruled she was the wrong race to have a braided hairstyle.
Olivia Acton, 13, was told she could not join her classmates at Middleton Technology College because her tightly plaited hair was too "extreme" for the strict uniform policy.
However, two other pupils at the school who have an Afro-Caribbean background are allowed to attend the school with similar hairstyles because it reflects their cultural heritage.
The teenager usually has her hair brushed straight but had it braided during a family holiday.
She was stunned to be turned away when she returned to school. She was told she can only go back to the classroom if she unpicks the plaits.
Olivia's father, Michael, says the school's rule is discriminatory and should be changed. But the school insists the uniform policy is an important way of maintaining standards and ensuring all youngsters are a part of the school community.
Mr Acton said: "The headteacher is saying it's extreme for my girl to have braids. I'm disgusted by the decision."
Middleton Technology College headteacher Allison Crompton confirmed that braided hairstyles were generally banned in the school but she would make exceptions for hairstyles which are a reflection of cultural heritage rather than a fashion statement.
Strict
Ms Crompton said: "We don't allow any extreme hairstyles of any description at the school. We are a high-achieving school with high standards and we don't allow any street culture into school.
"We are very strict on appearance. Wearing a school uniform signals that children are ready and willing to be a part of the school community. We have smart children who work in a purposeful way because that's the ethos of the school.
"If we didn't allow some leeway for their cultural and ethnic background I think it would probably be discriminatory."
The row began when Olivia, from Alcrington, was excluded in February for a day for her failure to comply with the school's rule.
She told the school the braids could not be removed for two weeks, and was told that during that time she could return to school but would be taught in the learning support unit. Olivia chose to study at home and has not returned to school since while both parties refuse to give way over the hairstyle.
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."
Linky
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 04-19-2005 01:52 AM
Rochdale is a former cotton milling town (the actress Gracie Fields is probably its most famous native) situated in the foothills of the Pennines, near the north-east outskirts of Manchester. The Leeds/Bradford conurbation is about 30 miles east, on the other side of the Pennines. Most of the heavy industry in that patch collapsed during the '60s and '70s. Rochdale is now effectively a commuter town for middle-class professionals working in Manchester and Leeds - an ethos very much reflected in this school's hardline uniform policy, I guess. There is also some light industry and service sector activity there. Rochdale has done a lot better than many of the former mill towns in that region, notably Burnley, which, sadly, is best known for the ethnic and religious tensions involving its large Muslim population.
Any further comment this would inevitably involve getting political, except to say that this girl is clearly enjoying her 15 minutes of fame and that it'll soon be over. If she really wants to look like a hedgehog on chemotherapy then as far as I'm concerned, good luck to her!
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Carl Martin
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1424
From: Oakland, CA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 04-19-2005 03:11 AM
quote:
braided hairstyles were generally banned in the school but she would make exceptions for hairstyles which are a reflection of cultural heritage rather than a fashion statement.
quote:
we don't allow any street culture into school.
hmm. it seems that the school doesn't really have a consistent notion of what "culture" is. and yet they use it as the basis of a policy.
quote:
The school should concentrate on what goes into the students' heads and not what is on their heads.
speak up, voice of reason!
now personally, i'm as disgusted as anyone that people are so obsessed with their hair and getting their faces on and all that (and, to be fair, with our susceptibility to be influenced by the same), but surely we should, in the final analysis, be free to do as we please with our own persons!
schools sure do have the most assinine policies. i'd never send a kid to school, or even have one in the first place if possible.
carl
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 04-19-2005 03:29 AM
I think there is a valid argument for school uniforms (incidentally, do schools in the United States have uniforms?), which is to send the message that all pupils are equal within the school system and that a child whose parents can afford the latest fashions isn't going to have a demoralising effect on the child whose parents can't. Furthermore it gets children used to the idea that most workplaces have expectations of the way employees dress (though not always a full-scale uniform, granted).
But this headmistress has gone off the deep end, IMHO. It could be that she sees a slippery slope argument - if this girl is seen to get away with her hedgehog-on-chemotherapy hairstyle, then another might decide that she doesn't need to wear the school tie, etc. etc. But given that there was a high profile court case recently in which a schoolgirl from Luton went to the European Court of Human Rights, and won, when her school refused to let her wear a Muslim 'hijab' (sp?), it should have been obvious that attempting to ban a silly hairstyle would backfire, especially given the race element (i.e. she said that she'd allow Afro-Carribbean children with that hairstyle into school but not indigenous English ones).
It would be bloody stupid if some bolshy adolsescent teenage rebel, doing what such people tend to do, were to become a cause-célèbre just because some bolshy, menopausal headmistress insists on making an issue out of this. What's more, if the case does go to court and the kid wins, that's their whole uniform policy down the pan.
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Aaron Mehocic
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 804
From: New Castle, PA, USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 04-19-2005 10:57 AM
I agree with Leo that the hairstyle is in poor taste. With that being said, I don't necessarily think it is a disruption to the learning environment at the school, so therefore, if I was head master, she would stay.
quote: Leo Enticknap
I think there is a valid argument for school uniforms (incidentally, do schools in the United States have uniforms?), which is to send the message that all pupils are equal within the school system and that a child whose parents can afford the latest fashions isn't going to have a demoralising effect on the child whose parents can't.
Over the years I have worked in many schools with and without uniform policies. Uniforms first became hot topic issues in my area after the school shooting in Jonesboro, Arkansas - but before Columbine.
Normally a school will announce a uniform policy one year before initiation and offer advice to parents as to what is acceptable and what is not. Most schools ask for some type of uni-sex look usually comprised of a dress pants accompanied with a polo shirt and in the colors associated with the school. Except for tee shits or athletic wear, any article of clothing with the school logo is also acceptable. Girls may wear skirts so long as they are non-denim and knee length. Opposition usually comes from the parents of the class asshole who claims his "individuality" is at stake. This often means he stinks of alcohol and looks as if he hasn't washed all week. About 90% of the student body will grudgingly accept uniforms without any opposition. Within two or three years hardly any complaints are heard. Most of the "individualists" either drop out or transfer to what we call a vocational technical school where dress standards are somewhat relaxed due to the course of study . . . carpentry, masonry, auto body mechanics . . . and the like.
As a teacher, uniforms were always a pain in my ass. Principals required us to inspect each kid every morning and report any violations to their offices. People in the community would sometimes make snide comments in my presence about how it was costing more to uniform the kid than it was to send him in the rags he liked to wear in the first place. Most of the kids I had in first period were good people who weren't out to cause any disruptions through their clothing. As the day went on, kids came in with shirts unbuttoned or tails untucked. I quit going to the teachers' lounge just because I did not want to hear any more bitching and moaning from my so-called colleagues either. In the end, I was there to teach my subjects, NOT play Joan Rivers on the E channel.
Although my comments above might seem to degrade school uniforms from the teacher's perspective, I've never really had a problem with them as a tax paying American. When I was in school in the 1980's I knew even then shit was getting out of hand. Remember Motley Crue's Metal Up Your Ass tee shirts, or the Co-ed Naked whatever craze. When you're a kid, those are cool. Its only afterwards you see just how crass they are. Now with pierced noses, lips, and eyebrows, as well as fat girls wearing cut-off shirts ![[puke]](graemlins/puke.gif) something has to be done.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 04-20-2005 01:57 AM
quote: Stephen Furley
As long as it's not a safety issue, i.e. it's not going to get caught up in a milling machine or something, what business is it of anyone else how she chooses to wear her hair?
It's the business of business, for one thing. Employers can, and some do, require staff to conform to dress and appearance codes which which that sort of hairstyle wouldn't comply. But this kid will find that out sooner or later, and as you say she has the right to do so without anyone else interfering. But what we're really talking about is a teenage rebellion attention-seeking stunt. It's a bit surprising that a headmistress with umpteen years of experience in the classroom fell for it hook, line and sinker.
I remember one incident at high school in which a well-known troublemaker and minor bully made a point of smoking in the school grounds during break times, despite (or, more accurately, because) this being strictly against school rules and him being at least two years under the legal minimum age for buying fags. He was trying to show how 'hard' he was by sticking two fingers up at authority. In one geography lesson he kept getting up and asking to go to the loo. On about the third time this happened, the teacher looked out of the window a moment after he'd gone, then picked up a biro, put it in his mouth and then imitated an awful smoker's cough. The whole class burst out laughing, and from that point on he was ridiculed as a moron by everyone from fourth formers to the headmaster. This was far more effective than suspensions or expulsions, which would have got him the 15 minutes he was after. We never saw him smoking again after that day.
My guess will be that after a few weeks of being called Little Miss Hedgehog (or perhaps a less printable variant thereof!) in the playground, this girl will soon decide that enough is enough.
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