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.
The point of my posts have been: which rules have been changed and what values do those changes reflect?
An examination of which rules have been changed in most institutions of western countries will reveal the same pattern of derangement - i.e. disturbance of order and function - by the same cultural forces in the same direction. (An example of one of these can be summed up as "boys should be more like girls or feminine.")
The UK has a Muslim problem and they’re booting kids from school for growing a beard?
But schools having the power to set standards on grooming and similar can actually be useful in terms of resisting these trends.
These are pictures from the webpage of the school in question.
Looking at them, what do we see. Well, I see a separate boys and girls uniform (similar, but different - boys are wearing collar and tie, girls are wearing blouses). We see boys with short hair, 'typical' of boys, girls typically with longer hair. Separate PE uniforms too (and it looks like boys and girls are also different sports).
Having these rules, if they are used to do it, actually allows schools to ensure that the differences between the sexes are acknowledged and not blurred out of existence. Now, it isn't always done well - some schools deliberately go for unisex uniforms and unisex standards, for example. But it can be done well, and to me it looks like this school is one that does try to do it well.
Boys are expected to dress and look like boys. Girls are expected to dress and look like girls. At least to the extent that this can be achieved with clothing and grooming.
If this school wanted to eliminate the differences between boys and girls, it wouldn't have different uniforms for them, and different expectations about hair and similar.
I was in high school from 1955-1959. Most of the guys were fully capable of growing facial hair. Not one of us would even consider it. First off, our fathers said “no facial hair, no way.” Then Sister Mary Doorgunner would be waiting for us at the entrance to St. Mary’s, armed with a T-Square to sort out any violators. It prepared us for basic training. I had a beard for about three weeks 40 years ago. I looked like a dog with mange. I had a rather luxurious handle bar moustache at one time, but I’ve been facial-hair free for decades now. Both of my sons sport goatees, and both of my wife’s sons do as well. I prefer the clean shaven look/feel.
Better him than some guy who feels like a woman.
And the ACLU would fiercely support his right to show up in class wearing a dress, if he went ‘that way’.
Well.
There’s the “problem” right there.
Throw a little manly fur on that face and there’s gonna be a riot amongst the girls.
:)
And we like you too, sweetie.
Happy Birthday to Brer Odin.
Thanks from the both of us....:)
Wow, where were you when I was young?
Every woman I’ve been with liked the beard. Before she died my late wife would sleep snuggled close, head on my chest with my beard over her neck like a scarf. My beard used to be long.
Probably hanging out with some hairy, scary dude.
:)
It’s a fine beard and you’re pretty scary.
She was a lucky woman...:)
p.s.
Hubby would kill for a beard like that.
Being Sicilian, his hair is wavy and his beard is coarse and frizzy.
He has a nice, long goatee that he braids [well, *I* braid for him] in a semi-Viking style.
[try explaining to your elderly parents why you keep having mysterious “brush burns” show up in funny places]
:D
I’d like to point out that Alice Cooper is a nice Jewish boy. ;-)
That might come as quite a shock to his gentile parents...:))
That’s odd. I watched a “behind the scenes” thing on Biography and he talked extensively about being Jewish.
Perhaps he’s a showman?
Fortunately my beard is soft and silky, more like soft mink.
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