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In September, see how schools in South Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom regulate students' hairstyles

author:Globe.com

Source: Global Times

Editor's note: In the beginning of the September school season, many domestic primary and secondary schools have strict regulations on students' hairstyles, and some students and parents have different views on restricting hairstyles, whether students' physical and mental health and growth are beneficial. In Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom, there are also different voices about student hairstyles.

South Korea: Hairstyle issues are a top priority

Walking on the streets of Korea, I am often attracted by the exquisite makeup and fashionable dress of Korean students. Their hairstyles are not simple and uniform standard student heads, many girls have fluffy and natural air bangs, and some girls have hot and wavy curls. The issue of hairstyle is one of the top concerns of Korean students, and ensuring "hairstyle freedom" is also a commitment made by the students' association every year.

When it comes to South Korea's requirements for student hairstyles, it is necessary to mention the Seoul Student Rights Ordinance issued by the Seoul Municipal Education Department in 2012. The regulation states, "Schools and staff may not regulate the appearance of students against their will." For example, if a teacher says to a student, "You go and dye my hair back tomorrow," the student can report the teacher's human rights violation to the education department, and the teacher may be punished.

In September, see how schools in South Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom regulate students' hairstyles

South Korean students have been campaigning for "hairstyle freedom" since the 1990s, holding numerous rallies and "no haircut" campaigns. At present, most elementary, middle and high schools in the Seoul area have school rules that restrict students' hairstyles and do not allow students to dye or perm their hair. After the regulation was introduced, students unanimously welcomed it, and teachers were generally worried. Teachers who confiscated students' cosmetics said that in the future, if students wear makeup, beautify their pupils, paint their nails, wear wigs, jewelry, and even tattoos, they really don't know how to carry out "educational guidance". A spokesman for the General Federation of Korean Teachers' Organizations also accused the regulation of listing only the rights of students, but not the corresponding responsibilities. At the same time, parents also expressed concern that if they did not even care about the school, it would be more difficult for parents to manage, and they would have to bear the beauty expenses of their children.

Despite requests from the education sector for deregulation of students' hairstyles, some schools have been slow to amend school rules on the grounds that the education department's recommendations cannot be implemented. At the end of 2021, South Korea's National Human Rights Commission issued another recommendation on student hairstyles, saying that the right to appearance, including hairstyles, is a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution. But many schools refuse to relax the rules on the grounds of creating a learning atmosphere. After years of hard work, according to the Seoul Education Department, 84% of junior high schools currently have no regulations on the length of students' hair, and 40% of schools allow students to perm and dye their hair.

In March of this year, a private high school in Gyeongsangnam-do made headlines because of its hairstyle rules. According to South Korea's Chosun Ilbo, the school announced late last year that it would revise student life rules. At the beginning of the new semester, when students returned to school full of hope, they found that the school's hairstyle policy had not changed at all: the hairstyle had to be kept neat; Still no long bangs are allowed. Students complained on social media, "I don't understand what the length of the bangs has to do with me being a student," "Even if I wear civilian clothes instead of a school uniform, I know which school I'm a student at by looking at my hairstyle." The battle for the hairstyles of South Korean students is estimated to be a long way off.

Germany: Rarely "hairstyle controversy"

Unlike the fact that hairstyle problems among students in some countries are often reported in the press, German schools rarely have "hairstyle controversies". German schools have fewer regulations on students' hairstyles, but this does not mean "sitting idly by", allowing students to "play freely" with their own hair, and they have their own hairstyle education.

"Like many European countries, schooling in ancient Germany placed great emphasis on the hairstyle of its students." Hendrick Stotts, a researcher on the history of education in Berlin, told the Global Times that first of all, the hair should be washed frequently and kept clean. Second, comb it neatly. People who don't pay attention to hair are often considered "barbaric" and "uncivilized."

Later, hairstyling education in German schools began to gradually highlight gender differences. Male students tend to have shorter hair. Schoolgirls have longer hair and are tied in various braids to keep their hair from covering their eyes. Some church schools are more stringent, requiring male students to wear hats and female students to wrap their hair in headscarves. At the time, the school believed that exposing their hair would distract students from their studies.

After World War II, hairstyles became the target of intergenerational conflict, and hairstyles became a means for young people to fight against mainstream culture. In school, students also learn about the hairstyles of young people in society, such as cutting the "mushroom head" of the Beatles, or dyeing their hair to make strange hairstyles. At that time, many schools had strict rules that prevented students from overly following the trend.

Nowadays, German schools have a looser control over students' hairstyles. "The German federal states have autonomy in education, and school uniforms and hairstyles are determined by the schools themselves." Lyanna, the head of a primary school in Berlin's Mitte District, told reporters that most public primary and secondary schools in Germany do not have uniform uniforms, nor do they have too many regulations on students' hairstyles, and generally require hygiene. Schools regard children's self-determination of hairstyles as respect for students' rights.

However, some schools will stipulate that students should not dye their hair, etc., but will put special emphasis on "health reasons" and will have a broad discussion before making a ban. Parents of students receive a questionnaire asking for their views on the hairstyle proposal. The ban will only be passed with the support of the majority of students and parents. After the ban was introduced, the school also had students sign to urge compliance.

In contrast, private schools will have uniform uniforms, and the rules for students' hairstyles will be relatively stricter. The Berger Private School, located near Düsseldorf in western Germany, stipulates that students are not allowed to wear strange hairstyles and do not use hair gel. Students must follow these rules. In this regard, the head of the school said in an interview with the West German newspaper that when students are very careful to shape their hairstyles, they usually distract them from other things. The school's educational approach does not have to be popular, it must be consistent and the rules must be easy to understand. Of course, these rules are also supported by most students and parents. Students who violate these hairstyle bans are punished: reflect for 3 days.

Many schools also infiltrate hair education through thematic discussion activities or in German language classes, social classes and other courses. Lucas, a fourth-grade elementary school student who lives in Hamburg, told reporters that he originally wanted to imitate the hairstyle of a singer, with long, fluffy hair on both sides and dyed green. Mom told the teacher what he thought. The teacher let him decide after the hairstyle theme activity class.

Before the hairstyling activity class, the teacher asked each group to collect a literary work related to hair to evaluate the beauty of the protagonist's hair. In the activity, the students talked about "The Devil's Three Golden Hairs", "The Shepherd Girl", "Rapunzel", "Peter with a Hair", etc., analyzed the relationship between the protagonist and the hairstyle, and experienced beauty and ugliness. After class, Lucas felt that the singer's hair was not suitable for him and gave up the plan to dye his hair.

The teacher will also introduce the requirements for employee hairstyles in various occupations in society. For example, the German army required male soldiers to have clean hair and not to cover their ears and eyes. Female soldiers' hairstyles cannot cover their eyes, and hair that touches the shoulders must be tied into a ponytail or pinned behind the head. These explanations are particularly touching to children, because many children have dream careers, so they will pay more attention to their hairstyles in the future.

Because German schools work meticulously on student hairstyles, engage in extensive discussions and then formulate rules, there are few "hairstyle controversies" in Germany. Many parents say that students are learning-oriented in school and should not pay too much attention to hairstyles. But they also believe that in this pluralistic society, it is not necessary to manage student hairstyles too strictly, and we should listen to students' ideas.

UK: Hairstyle management has always been strict

No matter how the times develop, British primary and secondary schools still adhere to the traditional requirements for students' hairstyles: boys have short hair, and girls' hair can be long or short, but they cannot be dyed. It is a British public school tradition to have a simple hairstyle and be consistent with your classmates, as a way to reflect the equality of everyone in the school. The British media has reported that British schools, like the prohibition of the use of certain weapons and stimulants, prohibit boys from having long hair, and students will be punished at every turn, but the challenges of students and parents to hairstyle regulations have never stopped.

In 2020, Lily Lane, a 12-year-old secondary schoolgirl in Somerset, England, dyed one of her blonde hair white and the school asked her to return it to its original form. The incident alarmed local media, and Lane reportedly claimed to have colored her hair in honor of her Jamaican ancestry. Eventually, Lane restored the white part of the dye to its original form. The school where Lane attended later said that the British school had a uniform standard of grooming and appearance, and there was no room for compromise. The hairstyle requirements of british schools for students are not because they are worried that students spending time and energy on haircuts will affect academic performance.

Something similar happens to other children. The 10-year-old Tom was very fond of argentine star Aguero, so he imitated Aguero's hairstyle and shaved off the left and right sides of his hair, and the school considered his hairstyle to be "too avant-garde" and said that he could only go to class if he returned his hairstyle to normal. A 13-year-old girl makes her hair look like a Christmas tree in order to welcome Christmas. She was denied entry to the school, which the school said was "not suitable for showing up at school." According to the British "Mirror" report, this girl named Bobby wrapped her long hair around an empty plastic water bottle and tied it with colored lights to make it look like a Christmas tree. However, when Bobby arrived at the school, she was told by the school that her hairstyle was not appropriate. Bobby told her mother that a teacher at the school also praised her hairstyle but still asked her to tear it off before entering the school.

In 2015, a 14-year-old British teenager shaved his hair to raise money for a charity, but the school isolated him from other students on the grounds that he had violated school rules. The student, Stan Locke, who attends Churchill College in North Somerset, England, said he shaved his hair to raise money for macmillan cancer assistance centres. Stan's mother, Marlene, said she was incredibly proud of her son's actions. After shaving his hair, Stan quickly raised more than £200 for charity, and many friends wrote text messages to show their support for him. Macmillan Cancer Assistance said they could not comment on a specific school's policy, but said it was grateful to Stan for raising money, which it thought would bring warmth to cancer patients and their families. More than 600 people signed a petition calling for the lifting of the punishment for Stan's "quarantine."

Strict school management of hairstyles has forced some parents to take their children to areas with looser management to go to school. There are also British MPs who said that although schools can restrain students' behavior, they cannot manage students like military camps, and students should be given more freedom, so that they can help students grow up healthily.

There are not a few school rules introduced by British schools to rectify discipline, such as banning chewing gum in schools, not wearing shoes with decorations or buttons, and not having certain hairstyles, otherwise they will be punished. The school said it was just to create a good learning environment, but some students and parents did not buy it.

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