Hair related news article, hope not to ruffle any feathers

[JCFantasy23]

Debated on including this here or not but then decided to since its related to hair and I found the story quite sad. Basically a Catholic school has suspended a 15 year old girl who shaved her head to donate to charity as a way of dealing with her father's impending death of leukemia.

It's a Catholic school but there shouldn't be discussions of religion, just the oddity of the schools ruling and the mother's reaction. Can anyone figure this one out and what do you think about it? She apparently had long hair prior, which her mother said she loved and didn't want her daughter to cut. I kind of take this more as an emotional therapy tool the daughter is trying to cope with the cancer.

Here's the article (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/schoolgirl-suspended-for-cancer-head-shave-20091110-i6ee.html)

[JamieLeigh]

That is sad about the girl's father, and very sad that the school has come down hard on her for this action. I attended a public school, so I don't know what you can and can't do at a Catholic school. I wonder what rule she broke by shaving her head??

[marikamt]

hmmmm..... I don't know what to think. I read the article then did a google search. There seems to be some controversy as to what she was actually suspended for.
One article had a number of sources stating she was suspended on Friday for "abusing her homeroom teacher", then shaved her head over the weekend, came back to school on Monday and blamed the suspension on the shaved head.
Another article stated the school sponsers a "Shave for the Cure" event every year, and that the girl was invited to participate and the school even offered to sponser her.

My view is if she was suspended for shaving her head for supporting cancer- very wrong!

If it was for behavioral reasons and she is using this as an excuse, shame on her!

[pinchbeck]

I don't get why there should be shave your hair for cancer and not cut your hair chin length for cancer which would enable the person donating their hair to be able to regrow their hair easily.

This girl may have shaved her hair for numerous reasons as she is under emotional stress and is acting out. It could have been partly due to wanting to donate for a good cause or that deep down she wants to suffer because her dad is.

The school has no right to suspend her based on her choice of hairstyle.

[SurprisingWoman]

The article quotes the school saying she had violated dress code. That's horrible. When a school knows there is trauma at home they should be more understanding not less.

And a Catholic school.... even odder, considering what the Bible says about Job.

Idiotic.

[Lamb]

I've read the articles and the comments, too, two of which are worth noting:
"My sons were attending a SE-Qld private school four years ago when I was diagnosed with leukaemia. As much as they would have liked to shave their heads for the Leukaemia Foundation's World's Greatest Shave (WGS), we knew and accepted that it would be unacceptable with their school. They still got involved by temporarily colouring their hair and we still raised lots of money and awareness for the cause. If this student was participating in the WGS, she and her parents should have known that under 18s need written approval to shave from their parents AND their school. If other fundraising organisations don't issue that warning, then they should. Even if it's independent fundraising, it's common sense to get a school's permission."
And
"Oh and one more thing, the t-shirt is great PR for Harcourts New Farm of which Barbara Pridham is licensee. Sorry to be so cynical - I had leukaemia and a bone marrow transplant myself, so I know what the family is going through - but there are lots of ways to support leukaemia sufferers and their families without resorting to a slanging match with the school via the media."
Both by the same reader. I'm inclined to agree with her.

ETA: reading more into the issue, I think we are getting one side presented in a very biased way. There is lots more to why this girls was suspended, I'll warrant.

[RancheroTheBee]

I don't get why there should be shave your hair for cancer and not cut your hair chin length for cancer which would enable the person donating their hair to be able to regrow their hair easily.


I think because some people want to show their solidarity to people who have lost all their hair to cancer. My dad shaved his head to show his support for my uncle. It was quite cute.

[florenonite]

According to the school handbook (http://www.mta.qld.edu.au/student_diary_2009_student_section.pdf), which was linked in one of the comments, 'Hair must be tidy and appropriate to school uniform' and 'Students with inappropriate hairstyles e.g. colours not in the natural range, will be required to change them.'

Hence she should have spoken with the school about shaving her head in advance, because a shaved head could be deemed inappropriate. I do suspect there's more to it than simply her shaving her head for her father and getting into trouble over it.

ETA: the school's website says the following:


Sadly for our college community, the media reports that have been aired do not accurately represent the situation.

and


The college has guidelines on fundraising and has in the past allowed students to shave their heads to raise money for cancer.

This might not be accurate, given that it's their own website, but it does suggest that there's more to the story than her simply being suspended for shaving her hair.

[amaiaisabella]

This is being discussed on an etiquette board I visit, and I believe it was known that the shaving heads in support had been done before, so long as it was approved by the school in a school-sanctioned event, or if they had permission before the event. So this girl could have organized a school-wide shave, or gotten permission before she went ahead, and she'd have been fine. It looks like the school is the big bad, but I think we can't automatically call them unfair. Also, apparently the girl had gotten in trouble regularly there, but I can't remember where I read it, so that's just my impression.

[pepperminttea]

When a school knows there is trauma at home they should be more understanding not less.

Exactly. Even if she was suspended for something other than her choice of hairstyle, her stress from home has to come out somewhere. If the worst way she copes with things is through a charity head shaving and a bit of acting out, I'd say she's doing pretty damn well.

[InTheCity]

Gosh Darn Catholic schools - I'm starting to hate them!
(For the record, I went to one and my little brother does now.)

It's no freakin' joke to lose a dad to cancer, ask my brother who just turned 15.

Now here's what bugs me. This absolutely is emotional therapy and schools - or anyone else - have no right to tell a person what they should or shouldn't do to cope, short of committing some kind of crime. Second, when you pay that much to send your kid to school, you should decide the length of your hair. I was especially infuriated with my brother's school making him get constant haircuts when the tuition cost stretched my mom pretty thin.

And how about the latest news I read - a young lady unfortunately found out she was allergic to her husbands "stuff" on their wedding night and can not have kids with him. She teaches at a Catholic school which made her sign that she would never have IVR as a means of conception, even with her husband. :mad: Is that not the cruelest thing?

[Kris Dove]

I hate these unnecessary restrictions schools and workplaces place on appearances. Even if she just shaved her hair because she wanted to change her appearance, it should never, ever have been any of the school's business in the first place. The fact she done it to show support for her ill father just makes their reaction even more appalling.

[Lamb]

And how about the latest news I read - a young lady unfortunately found out she was allergic to her husbands "stuff" on their wedding night and can not have kids with him. She teaches at a Catholic school which made her sign that she would never have IVR as a means of conception, even with her husband. :mad: Is that not the cruelest thing?
That's nothing, I hear nuns in Africa eat children boiled in holy water for breakfast on Christmas Day.













:rolleyes:

[Kat]

I think some of the dress codes at schools are ridiculous. Okay, don't come to school in a micro-mini and a tube top with your thong hanging out, but some of it is just stupid. Who really cares if you have pink hair?? Any kid who's entirely unable to pay attention in class because of another student's hair color, piercings, or shoe style is the one who needs help, not the unconventional classmate.

A person has to conform enough for most of the day once they grow up and get a job and have to wear "work clothes"...seems to me they should be able to have the time to be themselves when they're kids.

[adiapalic]

If she shaved it for a charity in honor of her father, I can completely understand why. If she shaved it for behavioral reasons, I can completely understand that too.

She's going through a lot, obviously. Shearing of the hair can be a symbolic thing for a person to cope with pain and suffering.

If she was suspended for shaving her head -- for any reason-- shame on the school.

[florenonite]

For those of you saying the school has no right to tell her what's acceptable or not for her appearance, it's a private school. I don't know if any of you have gone to private schools in the past, but I have and it's pretty standard and acceptable for the school to govern your appearance with uniforms, etc. If you don't like the rules, you find another school or you obey them anyway.

I got into an argument with my teacher in grade 9 (this was one of those teachers who is always right :rolleyes:) because I said that making us wear a uniform was not the same thing as prohibiting boys from having long hair, because the uniform is transient but the hair long-term. I stand by that to this day: schools, IMO, have the right to govern your clothes and they have the right to ask for you to tie your hair back, but I do not believe this is the same as governing what you can do with your hair/piercings outside of school. That said, if I attended a private school that told me I wasn't allowed my hair the way it is because it violates the dress code, I would accept that because that is in the rules of the school, and I chose the school therefore I chose to accept the rules.

There is a difference between public and private schools in this case. Public schools, IMO, should never expect students to comply with standards for hair length/colour, piercings, or tattoos, because they generally don't have much choice in what school they attend. OTOH, private, fee-paying schools do regulate these things and it's up to the pupils or prospective pupils as to whether or not they will accept them.

Do I think it is right for the school to suspend her purely for shaving her head? No, but I'm not sure that's what happened. Even if it is, the handbook does say hairstyles ought to be appropriate (which sounds rather like my old school's prohibition on "ostentatious hairstyles"), and it is easy to see how a shaved head could be construed to violate this rule. IMO she should have discussed it with the head of the school before doing so and explained her reason. There is a difference between asking the school to do something that's not quite acceptable under the rules and getting permission to do it, and just going ahead and doing it.

[Kat]

I dunno. I feel a student's private life is their private life. School is not the be-all, end-all of their life, and any time a school dictates what a person can do in their private life (of which hair length, piercings, etc. is one), I think they're overstepping their bounds. If they want to say students can't wear micro-minis, fine. If they want to say they can't wear plaid socks, that's getting a tad too nitpicky. IMO, it's all an excuse for snobbery and forcing kids into a "status quo" conformity--as I said, if any student can't do their schoolwork because another has a shaved head, the problem DOESN'T lie with the shaved-head kid (what if she had cancer or alopecia? Would they force her to wear a wig too? Or is that kind of no-hair situation magically not "distracting"?).

Private school or no, a kid should be allowed to get a good education (and face it, in some areas kids go to private schools because the public ones suck) without that sort of crap, IMO...they're there to learn, not to be taught to be drones. That'll come soon enough when they're grown up.

[florenonite]

I agree with you, Kat, I was just explaining that the school see it differently and when you decide to attend a school you make the agreement to obey its rules, and being a private, fee-paying school it can make those rules whatever it wants. My uni could suddenly decide to resurrect the gowns for everyday wear, complete with the blazer and tie underneath, and prospective students could choose another, equally good university if they didn't like that.

[Marions]

I think even if she had behavior problems the school should be more understanding under the circumstances.
As for schools telling students what to wear, I read about it all the time here, but it still makes me angry. I don't want to offend anyone, but I think it's very sad if your education system is so bad you'd want to go to a private school.

[danacc]

My assessment is we don't know what happened. The school has decided not to talk about it. Basing an opinion on just one side of the story leads to false conclusions.

The first thing that struck me about the articles in the media is that all of the quotes are from the mom or the student. I didn't see any quote from the school. The school now has a statement on their main website http://www.mta.qld.edu.au/. They say:

"...I write with reference to the media reports of the suspension of a student from Mount Alvernia yesterday. Sadly for our college community, the media reports that have been aired do not accurately represent the situation. We value and respect the rights of every young woman in our community and we will continue to respect this student’s right to privacy by not making public details of the disciplinary issues involved.

As a Franciscan school our philosophy is to actively assist those in need and we do this on a daily basis. It is distressing that necessary caring guidance provided to this student over a range of issues has been misrepresented. Her father’s illness has been known at the college and we have continued to actively support the student and her family throughout the years they have been associated with the college. It is unfortunate that this head shaving incident has received wide publicity when all the facts are not known..."

Bottom line is we don't know what happened. The school refuses to disclose their side of the story other than to say that there is more to the disciplinary issues than the head shaving. I agree that the school should be compassionate in this situation. We can't tell to what degree they are or aren't. Even under these challenging circumstances, there is a behavioral line where I would expect them to take action. (Head shaving isn't it, but we don't know what else is happening here.)


As to whether private schools should be able to dictate what students do with their hair, I'd say sure. Any private business can make rules about what is acceptable customer behavior. Who am I to say what their rules should be?

Employees need to be protected, and the rules around freedom in public spaces needs to be protected. The protection for customers is that if they don't like the rules, they take their business elsewhere. I personally don't care what rules a private business (including a private school) puts in place. I will choose to be a patron or not. Their rules will affect my decision. I think it would be wrong of me to make demands about what rules they can and can't make for folks that decide to become their customers.

Folks choose private schools for a number of reasons. It's not necessarily that the school provides the best academics. I expect schools to be broader than academics alone. Rules outside of academics don't surprise me, whether I agree with the published "dress code" rules or not.

[Kat]

Okay, so I'm confused. I keep seeing references to "college"--is this a college and not a high school or middle school? maybe I didn't read carefully enough.

In the case of a college, a student might be able to choose, if they're willing to move their locale. In case of an earlier school, where the private school might be the only one of its like in the area, a kid may not have a choice unless the whole family moves to a different area...

[ericthegreat]

My thoughts go out to the poor young lady and her family. She is dealing with so much pain and grief, so its rediculous that the school is further adding to her troubles instead of helping her in this difficult time.

I would strongly vouch for not even going back to that school and sending her to a more tolerant school.

[teela1978]

Okay, so I'm confused. I keep seeing references to "college"--is this a college and not a high school or middle school? maybe I didn't read carefully enough.

In the case of a college, a student might be able to choose, if they're willing to move their locale. In case of an earlier school, where the private school might be the only one of its like in the area, a kid may not have a choice unless the whole family moves to a different area...

To my understanding, in certain areas of the world (e.g. UK, Australia) 'college' is a term used for what people in the USA would generally call 'high school' and is a prerequisite for 'university'... slightly confusing :)

[florenonite]

Okay, so I'm confused. I keep seeing references to "college"--is this a college and not a high school or middle school? maybe I didn't read carefully enough.

In the case of a college, a student might be able to choose, if they're willing to move their locale. In case of an earlier school, where the private school might be the only one of its like in the area, a kid may not have a choice unless the whole family moves to a different area...

In Britain, and by extension parts of the Commonwealth (incl. Australia), 'college' is often a term applied to a secondary school.

The school's also in Brisbane, so I doubt it's the only one of it's kind ;) Even where I grew up, which was a town of less than 100 000, when we were looking at private schools there were quite a few we looked at. They weren't all in our town (indeed the one we chose wasn't), but none of them were particularly far away. And there's always the option of the state school if the rules of the private schools do not appeal.