St Lucian lawyer Al C. Elliot Sr. says one of his sons was denied access to school on Monday morning because he decided to wear his hair grown.
Read the lawyer posting below.
These are 13-year-old identical twins in Form 3 at St. Mary’s College. They are my sons in whom I am very well pleased.
They may not look so identical in this picture, because one has decided to wear his hair grown, while the other has a flatter haircut.
One is being denied entry into his classroom this first day of school, because his hair does not conform to the rules of the school. Can you guess which one that is?
I am so disappointed in my alma mater. I am disappointed that this is a conversation to be had in 2022.
When I attended St. Mary’s College between 1991 – 1997, my principal then, the revered Mr Mondesir, wore his hair like my son on the left for the entire time that I attended. In fact, so subjective are our standards, that Mr Mondesir’s iconic (at the time old-fashioned) afro hairstyle was seen as appropriate for a gentleman, certainly more appropriate than the skinhead haircuts that guys my age wanted, made popular then by Michael Jordan. As a matter of fact, I remember my grandmother telling me then that the popular skinhead was inappropriate for me as a negro boy, having to do with it being the haircut of choice of white supremacists as she knew them to be back then.
The point is that haircuts and hairstyles are subjective, fluid and ultimately a matter of opinion.
So whose opinion should matter? Why should someone’s subjective opinion matter? What if that opinion changes tomorrow? And where does any of this fall in relation to the United Nations Convention On The Rights Of The Child? That convention guarantees every child the right to an education, but that right to an education can be taken away because a school has determined that a child’s hair is over one inch long?
I have always taught my sons to act within reason. Question the choices you make. Accept the errors you make and learn from them. But do not simply act without reasoning. How in good conscience do I tell my son to cut his hair for conformity? Is it good enough reasoning that there is a rule?
The educators in St. Lucia should be familiar with the law that we had which mandated that a female teacher who gave birth to a child while out of wedlock, could no longer continue in the teaching service. This wasn’t just some rule; this was the law of the land! Sometime in the 80s it was determined that, that was a bad law. It was unconstitutional to say the least!
We know that a bad law is the worst form of tyranny. We also know that the best way to repeal a bad law is to strictly enforce it.
It appears that this will have to be a teachable moment. All puns intended.
A letter was written to the Principal and the Teachers Union head posted by Jason Sifflet
