By: Alan Chen

Special clothes and hairstyles cause friction in schools, because students are pushing for more recognition of their rights as people. A student at Melbourne’s Mordialloc Challenge has been ejected from his classes. The student dyed his hair recently to make a statement for social issues he is worried about. The student said, “I want kids in high school to feel like their voices are heard and matter. I have been told to study in the senior school office until I get my haircuts fixed. It’s really hard to study there. It’s really hard to study in there. I think if there is a reason for it, it should be okay to have coloured hair.”

The school has a policy that says that unnatural hair colors are not allowed. The student has been asked to wear a school beanie until his hair changes back to normal, which his mother thinks is discriminatory and violates his rights to advocate for things he supports. The mother said that despite attempts to get mediation, and to have her child’s voice heard, the school maintains that he must conform.

A few students from other schools have also been removed for not wearing school branded items. One student said that up to one hundred students have been removed for wearing black pants instead of black pants with the schools logo.