South African students protest against school's alleged racist hair policy. - Polidicks

[QUOTE]South Africans are responding on social media after protests over alleged racist hair policies at a prestigious high school. And other schools in the country are seeing similar demonstrations. It all started with the protest by a group of young black girls from Pretoria Girls' High. A video posted on Instagram went viral, showing 13-year-old Zulaikha Patel and fellow schoolmates in a tense standoff with private security guards. The students can be heard yelling, with their hands in the air: "take us all, they're going to arrest us." Students say they spoke out after they were told by teachers that their hair is "exotic" and that their Afros needed to be tamed. "The issue of my hair has been a thing that's followed me my entire life, even in Primary I was told my hair is not natural, it's exotic, my Afro was not wanted or anything like that and then the issue followed me to High School" Patel told CNN. Pretoria Girls' Code of Conduct does not specifically mention Afros, but it does lay out rules for general appearance, including prescribing that all styles "should be conservative, neat and in keeping with the school uniform."[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/31/africa/south-africa-school-racism/index.html?sr=fbCNN090116south-africa-school-racism1015AMVODtopVideo&linkId=28280926[/url] Once again arbitrary school codes more concerned about how kids look then about their education.

I'll never get the point of school uniforms and strict dress codes. Aren't we supposed to teach kids self expression is okay? Like yeah I can see stuff to upkeep basic social standards but it's not like a common problem with the young today is learning that a lot of jobs need uniforms or something.

[QUOTE=Fapplejack;50993247]I'll never get the point of school uniforms and strict dress codes. Aren't we supposed to teach kids self expression is okay? Like yeah I can see stuff to upkeep basic social standards but it's not like a common problem with the young today is learning that a lot of jobs need uniforms or something.[/QUOTE] it's an outdated practice kept up by overly traditionalist morons, i don't see how anybody can argue in favor of it honestly

[QUOTE=Fapplejack;50993247]I'll never get the point of school uniforms and strict dress codes. Aren't we supposed to teach kids self expression is okay? Like yeah I can see stuff to upkeep basic social standards but it's not like a common problem with the young today is learning that a lot of jobs need uniforms or something.[/QUOTE] I only know of one school in my entire state that doesn't have a school uniform, and that school is a year 11 and 12 uni prep school. Uniforms are about stopping rich kids with name brands from shitting on poorer kids. That said, in the last few years of my highschool (6 or 7 years ago) they got really anal about it and were asking kids to pull up with trousers to see if you were wearing the "correct" black socks.

[QUOTE=download;50993290]Uniforms are about stopping rich kids with name brands from shitting on poorer kids.[/QUOTE] I'm sorry to hear that you fell for it

Im all against school uniform shit but exactly how is this racist? Unless im missing something here the policy covers all races not just one specific race.

[QUOTE=MistyVermin;50993335]Im all against school uniform shit but exactly how is this racist? Unless im missing something here the policy covers all races not just one specific race.[/QUOTE] the 'afro' is pretty inherent to one race like i'm sure it's not intended to be discriminatory, but that's pretty much what it ends up being

[QUOTE=Dissolution;50993257]it's an outdated practice kept up by overly traditionalist morons, i don't see how anybody can argue in favor of it honestly[/QUOTE] The actual reason is to prepare kids for work environmentso like you would show them proper safety precautions when using chemicals or woodshop. It's not 'outdated'.

[QUOTE=Swilly;50993357]The actual reason is to prepare kids for work environmentso like you would show them proper safety precautions when using chemicals or woodshop. It's not 'outdated'.[/QUOTE] What. [i]What[/i]. Do you seriously believe that kids need preparations for that? When you're an adult, if you happen to find work in a chemical factory, of [i]course[/i] you'll remember to wear your uniform, seeing as not wearing it could easily get you killed/horribly injured. What's the point of "preparing" kids for that? It's an overly-reactionary policy that just does more harm than good and is needless.

[QUOTE=Swilly;50993357]The actual reason is to prepare kids for work environmentso like you would show them proper safety precautions when using chemicals or woodshop. It's not 'outdated'.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I never had a school uniform and just the other day at work I burned off all the skin on my arms and legs because I forgot to wear our required hazmat suit, fucking school board setting me up for failure. Sorry, but 'preparing for work environments' is called a bad excuse. It has no merit in any real life situation. Do you think kids spend the entirety of their first 18 years just willfully ignoring how employees in any building they've ever been in have always followed a specific pattern in their clothing? Do you think the concept of a work uniform just never enters their mind until their job orientation?

[QUOTE=Swilly;50993357]The actual reason is to prepare kids for work environmentso like you would show them proper safety precautions when using chemicals or woodshop. It's not 'outdated'.[/QUOTE] I really doubt that people who didn't have to wear a uniform as a kid are at any kind of disadvantage in the workplace compared to those who did. You don't need years of preparation to wear a uniform or formal clothes.

[QUOTE=Swilly;50993357]The actual reason is to prepare kids for work environmentso like you would show them proper safety precautions when using chemicals or woodshop. It's not 'outdated'.[/QUOTE] I have literally never heard someone having a problem with wearing uniforms for jobs, whether it be dress code or safety code. And even if it is a problem to someone somewhere it's not worth killing off individuality in schools.

An afro is "exotic" in South Africa?

[QUOTE=Fapplejack;50993247]I'll never get the point of school uniforms and strict dress codes. Aren't we supposed to teach kids self expression is okay? Like yeah I can see stuff to upkeep basic social standards but it's not like a common problem with the young today is learning that a lot of jobs need uniforms or something.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Dissolution;50993257]it's an outdated practice kept up by overly traditionalist morons, i don't see how anybody can argue in favor of it honestly[/QUOTE] theres many reasons for and against, many countries uniform is standard. Some reasons for having uniforms is so everyone is viewed as equals, promotes discipline, gets you used to uniforms in general where they are required in the workforce. could also argue that poorer kids will be easier to spot and judged without uniforms, it's easier to dress when you have to wear the same thing for most of the year rather than having to change clothes every day. Dress codes are also easier to follow and make up when there's an uniform. Personally I'm for keeping uniforms but keep in mind I'm Australian so it's normal here.

Uniforms would be nice if they didn't look so damn ugly.

If someone had their afro out like that in front of me in class, I would take my seat and move it in front of her. I didn't see the article talk about hair bands and people with afros that I've met did such that.

[QUOTE=Paramud;50993334]I'm sorry to hear that you fell for it[/QUOTE] He's actually right though. There's stories about kids being bullied for wearing poorly fitted hand-me-down clothing. I remember specifically reading about one case in Steven King's memoir where this girl got bullied for her clothing and when she came back the next year with new clothes and renewed self-confidence all the kids bullied her even harder because of it. She eventually committed suicide.

Uniforms are a great way for schools to suck even more money out of parents Make it a bunch of overly specific shit or have them embroidered so you can't just get generic stuff, then jack the prices up 5x and make everyone buy it [editline]3rd September 2016[/editline] And don't forget to make separate uniforms for senior grades just so you can ask for even more money

[QUOTE=Darth Ninja;50993626]He's actually right though. There's stories about kids being bullied for wearing poorly fitted hand-me-down clothing. I remember specifically reading about one case in Steven King's memoir where this girl got bullied for her clothing and when she came back the next year with new clothes and renewed self-confidence all the kids bullied her even harder because of it. She eventually committed suicide.[/QUOTE] Do you really believe that wouldn't have happened with school uniforms? Bullies would've found a reason to latch onto someone in a shittier situation regardless. They wouldn't just give up if everyone had the same clothes as there's more things differentiating people from another. Maaaaaaybe they would've found another target if not for the clothing, but that's not an acceprable outcome. It's fixing the symptoms instead of the actual problems.

[QUOTE=RandomGamer342;50993650]Do you really believe that wouldn't have happened with school uniforms? Bullies would've found a reason to latch onto someone in a shittier situation regardless. They wouldn't just give up if everyone had the same clothes as there's more things differentiating people from another. Maaaaaaybe they would've found another target if not for the clothing, but that's not an acceprable outcome. It's fixing the symptoms instead of the actual problems.[/QUOTE] That's true, but you won't get targeted based on how much money your parents make though. Which is out of your control. Also it makes identifying intruders on school grounds a lot easier.

[QUOTE=Darth Ninja;50993668]That's true, but you won't get targeted based on how much money your parents make though. Which is out of your control. Also it makes identifying intruders on school grounds a lot easier.[/QUOTE] 'Uniforms are good because they avoid rare to extremely rare problems' I don't know how Australian conditions are, but over here the world isn't quite shit enough that you need to extort money out of your students with pseudo-justifications like protecting them from evil bullies and murderous intruders. Teaching the positive sides of individuality and acceptance of it is objectively better, culturally speaking, than covering them up and pretending they don't exist.

[QUOTE=Talishmar;50993464]An afro is "exotic" in South Africa?[/QUOTE] Funny isn't it? Reveals the underlying psychology of the white society in SA.

[QUOTE=Dissolution;50993730]'Uniforms are good because they avoid rare to extremely rare problems' I don't know how Australian conditions are, but over here the world isn't quite shit enough that you need to extort money out of your students with pseudo-justifications like protecting them from evil bullies and murderous intruders. Teaching the positive sides of individuality and acceptance of it is objectively better, culturally speaking, than covering them up and pretending they don't exist.[/QUOTE] Well according to the internet 1 in 4 kids reported being bullied in Australia compared to 1 in 3 in Canada so maybe there actually is some merit to making kids economical class standings indistinguishable. When I was at school we had free dress days to donate money for charity and there was always some cunt taking a stab at what you were wearing. I'd also like to say it helps a lot to prevent students from portraying poor behaviour because when you're wearing a uniform people can trace you back to your school. Makes it harder to wag and commit crimes in uniform. Apparently schools in the US have been increasingly adopting uniform polices because of the positive impacts it has on the school community. Also the whole, school uniforms are expensive argument is kind of true, but most schools will sell second hand uniforms at discounted prices and you can pass them down to your siblings when you outgrow them. Also I'd prefer to be accepting of peoples personalities over their attire.

school uniforms are such a bizarre concept i cant even wrap my head around them i wear womens clothing to school and nobody gives a fuck :D

I get the use of uniforms as a means of prepping kids for wearing work clothes but seriously schools are way too moronic about it. I remember getting harrassed over not tucking my shirt in or keeping my collar straight. Or what happened with my uncle's stepson who basically passed out because his dumbass school made them wear blazers in the middle of a blazing hot summer for fuck's sake.

If oversized afros get in the way of people seeing the front of the class, then yes, i believe they can ask to stop hindering the class and do something about the hair being obstructive.

I dunno about you lot but as far as I know one of the main reasons we have uniforms in schools here is for identifying our students. For example whenever a class got taken out for the day on an outing, having a uniform made it easier for teachers to keep an eye on us and keep track of us. In the end of the day if one of us went missing, it wouldn't be us the parents would blame, it would be the school. So it was helpful. And mind you trips out were frequent given how sporty my schools were and how often students were taken in sizeable numbers to support our teams. Only thing I didn't like was the fact that my hair was always borderline "too short". We had two extremes: too short like mine or too long where the hairline at the back grew down past the collar of the shirt or was too long elsewhere along the hairline. Don't know what the stance on afros would be since those are a rare sight here anyway.

School Uniforms can be nice, calm down lads [editline]3rd September 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Dissolution;50993257]it's an outdated practice kept up by overly traditionalist morons, i don't see how anybody can argue in favor of it honestly[/QUOTE] like jesus christ calm down with that hollier than thou shit

[QUOTE=Darth Ninja;50993811]Well according to the internet 1 in 4 kids reported being bullied in Australia compared to 1 in 3 in Canada so maybe there actually is some merit to making kids economical class standings indistinguishable. When I was at school we had free dress days to donate money for charity and there was always some cunt taking a stab at what you were wearing. I'd also like to say it helps a lot to prevent students from portraying poor behaviour because when you're wearing a uniform people can trace you back to your school. Makes it harder to wag and commit crimes in uniform. Apparently schools in the US have been increasingly adopting uniform polices because of the positive impacts it has on the school community. Also the whole, school uniforms are expensive argument is kind of true, but most schools will sell second hand uniforms at discounted prices and you can pass them down to your siblings when you outgrow them. Also I'd prefer to be accepting of peoples personalities over their attire.[/QUOTE] As someone said, if a bully wants to target something about you, if he can't target your economic class he'll just find something else. Not to mention how shitty it is that self-expression is shat on and replaced by dumb uniforms. And maybe people wouldn't pick on what you were wearing on your free-uniform days if your school didn't have mandatory uniforms to begin with. If they're exposed to normal clothing regularly instead of [i]just[/i] uniforms, then they might open up to people wearing normal clothes and accept that instead of bullying people about it. This is like the burkini ban, in a way- tackling the [i]symptoms[/i] of the problem rather than the [i]problem[/i] itself. If people are getting bullied due to their economic class/what they're wearing, you need to crack down on bullying, not crack down on what people are wearing.

This school in the article doesn't even have uniforms, it has a dress code. Every school in the world has a dress code, some are just more restrictive than others. Most schools wouldn't you walk in with "fuck school" on your shit or let you walk in naked. This doesn't seem like an issue of race either, unless there's an example of a non-black student getting away with an afro or similar style. Just because your hair is part of your identity and your race is part of your identity does not make your hair part of your race.