Posted on 07/11/2011 10:23:42 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A BOY of 15 has been banned from class because he has grown a beard.
Teachers put 6ft 2in Harrison Cerami in isolation when he refused to shave.
But mum Kerry, 41, claims razors would trouble her son’s acne and has taken him out of the school in protest.
She said: “There are children with earrings, nose rings, eyebrow piercings – yet Harry’s being singled out for having a beard.
“He’s hit puberty and is just a hairy lad who wants to have a nice, trimmed beard.
“I could understand the isolation punishment for something more serious, but to be put into a small room for a day is disgraceful.”
Mrs Cerami, of Blackburn, said Harrison will not go back to Ribblesdale High School unless it changes its rules.
Headteacher Simon Smith said: “Our policy for boys is they attend clean shaven.”
He added that Harrison could return to his classroom if he shaved his facial hair.
Some men really look their best with beards. I like a trimmed beard with short hair, it’s a masculine look.
-ROFL-
(I had to explain that term to a friend just yesterday.)
No, it’s a matter of discipline.
I know the US doesn’t have a tradition of school uniforms in the way that the UK and much of the Commonwealth does - but they are used in Britain and the Commonwealth as a way of teaching children self discipline and they work very well in that role. This includes standards on grooming. As I say, the US doesn’t have this tradition in the same way as other places - and that’s fine. That’s a feature of American culture that should be respected. But the same applies in reverse - in places where this is a long standing cultural tradition, which is in place for a reason, that should be respected as well.
Most schools in the UK require boys to be clean shaven, because that is the standard that society expects for male children. Adults have beards. Children do not.
In general, in Britain and the Commonwealth, schools that have abandoned these standards have also abandoned other expectations concerning children’s behaviour. The things tend to go together.
Yes, exceptions can and generally are made in cases where there is a religious reason - such as there is for Sikh’s - to have facial hair. But a child who is following their rules of their religion in terms of these issues, is a child who is learning self discipline through that, and so that doesn’t go counter to the idea behind having uniform and grooming standards.
What this is, as most such attempts are, is a mother who wants her son to be exempted from following the rules of his school. In other words, she wants her son to be treated as special and she is sending a message to her son that any rule he doesn’t like can be ignored. That isn’t a good message.
Give him the part of Lincoln in the school play.
Even the US military, steeped in tradition and expectations, allows beard exemptions not related to religion.
In this case, it’s not clear this rule existed before this kid. But they said they allow any kind of piercing etc. If they allow all that stuff, I don’t see how they can ban the beard. If there overall rules were strict, then yes.
BOYS DRESS CODE
IFFEMINATE - YES
MASCULANT - NO
He could claim to be a Mooooslim and it would be his “right” to have a beard.
Simply having a beard is not a problem, but obviously you’ve never kissed a guy with one. There may be other reasons for the preference against them.
The mother who has a bee in her bonnet about this claims other children are allowed to have piercings. No evidence is provided for that - it’s just her claim.
The school’s rules - which are publically available - state that only ear piercings are allowed and only one basic piercing in each ear. They also set rules on hair and grooming - yes, the statement on being clean shaven seems to be new, but that’s an extension of the existing policy added because this boy is trying to claim the rules were unclear. Not really to anyone who reads them and applies common sense.
The school has also said that if there is a medical reason the boy needs an exemption, he can have one. But they need a doctor to sign off on that if that is the case.
It’s a school with high standards in discipline, including grooming. They are not letting this boy and his mother undermine that simply because they don’t like a rule.
I remember one kid in elementary school that had a mustache. And lots of guys in HS had beards. No one ever cared about it then ... why now?
"There are children with earrings, nose rings, eyebrow piercings..."
You post:
"...ear piercings are allowed and only one basic piercing in each ear."
AND
"It’s a school with high standards in discipline, including grooming."
If the boy has foliculitis, get a note from the doc. Then the school can’t force him to shave.
CORRECTION: your = you’re
Way back when I was that age we had a “Maynard G. Krebs Day” (anyone remember the Dobie Gillis TV show?) at our school. For a week before the administration would remind us that anyone who was not clean shaven or in violation of the dress code would be suspended.
On Monday morning nearly every student showed up in jeans and T-shirt, those of us who could sported a beard. There were too many to suspend.
See... this is what aggravates me...
Sentences like “Adults have beards. Children do not.”
Dude! The “child” is now 15. Guess what? Nature (via God) is giving him a beard. DEAL WITH IT
You cannot force him back into a boy. He is more a “man” than a “child”. And stop with the stupid “British tradition” nonsense. Till 100 years ago, a 15 year old would have been a wage earner and would not be considered a “child”
You cannot fight Mother Nature. What next? Ban 15 year old girls from having a period??? I mean it is the same thing, innit?? After all they are “girls” and not “women”
Dude, the guy is willing to trim his beard and keep it looking good. He has not done this to himself. Nature and God did this to him. Let him be.
As I said, this is all very homosexual lobby. Keep men looking like little boys forever.
Yes, the article refers to students having "earrings, nose rings, eyebrow piercings". I don't believe that is accurate. The only person who is saying that is the case is the mother of this student who wants to break the rules. The school's rules do not allow students to have nose rings or eyebrow piercings. It allows only the ears to be pierced, and only one piercing in each ear. That is what I am pointing out.
A single ear piercing in each ear is not, in my view, excessive or deranged. Your standards may be different. You're entitled to hold them if you wish, but I am quite comfortable with the rules as the school states them. I would not agree with them if they allowed nose rings or eyebrow rings, but my point was that I believe that is a fabrication by the boys mother trying to excuse her son's attempt to escape the rules.
Well, I'm sorry it aggravates you. It doesn't aggravate me. What aggravates me is parents who tell their children that rules don't apply to them - that they are special and can do whatever they like and that any rule that they do not like should be evaded and ignored.
Dude! The “child” is now 15. Guess what? Nature (via God) is giving him a beard. DEAL WITH IT
Nature is also giving him BO, and on occasion, will give him diarrhea. In both cases, I expect him to know how to deal with the issues those things raises and to do them.
Do you want the school to let him turn up stark naked as well. What's natural about wearing clothing?
Where do you draw the line? You have to draw it somewhere. In the case of this boy's school, they have chosen to draw it within the norms of English society.
You cannot force him back into a boy. He is more a “man” than a “child”. And stop with the stupid “British tradition” nonsense.
It's not nonsense. School uniforms have been a standard part of English schooling for over a century now.
Till 100 years ago, a 15 year old would have been a wage earner and would not be considered a “child”
In Britain, he would have been. Yes, he would have most likely been working at 15, but he would have still be considered a minor child - still subject to the dictates of his parents, or his employer acting in loco parentis. That could persist until the age of 21 in some cases. Believe me, I know how this works - I joined the Royal Australian Navy when I was 15. That didn't make me an adult. The two things were not assumed to go together. Boy Midshipmen were one of the last remnants of that old idea but it does give me a bit of an insight into this.
You cannot fight Mother Nature. What next? Ban 15 year old girls from having a period??? I mean it is the same thing, innit?? After all they are “girls” and not “women”
No, we don't ban 15 year old girls from having periods. We do expect both boys and girls though to manage the things that come along with puberty and adolescence. This includes expecting them to maintain a reasonable level of cleanliness and grooming despite the challenges that come from a changing body.
That's what this schools rules require and to make it simple, they make their expectations clear.
As I said, this is all very homosexual lobby. Keep men looking like little boys forever.
It has nothing to do with homosexuality. Learning how to manage your body is part of being a man.
Go and tell a US Marine that proper grooming makes him gay and see what reaction you get.
There is nothing masculine or manly about being an unkempt slob, or choosing to ignore society's normal expectations about appearance.
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