Pupil banned for England haircut

BBC
Jun. 14, 2006

A football-mad teenager has been told he will have to sit his exams away from his fellow pupils after having a patriotic haircut for the World Cup.

Martyn Woodward has had his hair shaved into the shape of a St George's Cross to show his support for England.

But Huntington School in York has now told him he has to sit his GCSE exams away from the other students.

The school says the haircut breaches its policy but Martyn has vowed to keep it until the end of the tournament.

Martyn said: "I did it to support England, get behind the team and celebrate. It's a bit stupid, I thought they would let it go because I am only going in for my exams, I'm not in full time."

Martyn's parents, who have also shown their support for England by covering their house with flags, say the school is being mean and petty.

Huntington School head teacher Chris Bridge said the style of Martyn's haircut was "extreme" and did not meet school standards.

"Anyone who breaks school policy will be kept out of the classroom until they conform," he said.

Earlier this month 13-year-old Lewis Whitehead was sent home from his school in Cornwall for having a special haircut in honour of the start of the World Cup. The teenager had hexagons shaved into his hair to make his head look like a football.

Related:
Why are children punished for expressing their individuality? This may be the most important writing you'll ever read:
• The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher - By John Taylor Gatto, New York State Teacher of the Year, 1991
What do i teach? "The fourth lesson I teach is emotional dependency. By stars and red checks, smiles and frowns, prizes, honors and disgraces I teach kids to surrender their will to the predestined chain of command. Rights may be granted or withheld by any authority without appeal, because rights do not exist inside a school -- not even the right of free speech, as the Supreme Court has ruled -- unless school authorities say they do. As a schoolteacher, I intervene in many personal decisions, issuing a pass for those I deem legitimate, or initiating a disciplinary confrontation for behavior that threatens my control. Individuality is constantly trying to assert itself among children and teenagers, so my judgments come thick and fast. Individuality is a contradiction of class theory, a curse to all systems of classification."