Poll: The school took my facial hair

[The Stonker]

I had a beard once.
My girlfriend tried to torch it.
She succeded.
Fuck her.
That's why I dumped her
Now just kidding, I dumped her because she cheated on me with my best friend.
That ass.
But well no, this is the land of the free goddamnit and you can have a beard windmill if you want to.

 

[Jewrean]

I'm a teacher at a private school and I had to shave mine off for professional reasons. As for you, you need to realize that the smallest complaint from anyone at a private school is listened to intently like an overly PC death-threat. The school sees you as customers, not individuals. And if a negative reputation of allowing students to do whatever they want reaches home then the school won't make as much money. They don't actually care about you or your feelings. Just the money in your parents pockets.

 

[vxicepickxv]

This reminds me of a terribly off topic song.

Spoiler

Technically, if you school has an enforceable dress code, then yes, you they do have the right.

 

[Hman121]

sorry, but being in a private school is all about taking whatever crap they throw at you, but if I was you, I'd regrow it. You know, for sh!ts and giggles.

 

[tha lime]

hmmm... if your school is the kind where you need school-uniform, it might make a little sense, some (weird) ppl might feel jealous, witch might lead to bullying. not cuz i find it realistic but a private school principal might be a little paranoid about such stuff.

but F that i would have kept it, beard4life ;D

 

[Jamieson 90]

Private schools are all about money, as a customer your a walking representation/advertisement for the school. Your appearance therefore needs to meet what they think is acceptable to represent the schools image and ethos.

The school can tell you to do pretty much anything regarding your uniform and appearance. Its not the only place where you will find rules that govern your appearance. Quite a few employers have strict rules regarding hair styles/facial hair and uniform etc. In the end it all comes down to looking smart and appropriate. So yes the school has the right and is right to tell you to remove it.

 

[lacktheknack]

Just say it's a religious thing.

Most religions have strict anti-shaving regulations (see: Orthodox Judaism, Islam). Your knee-jerk bile is invalid.

Which is exactly the point? Say it's a religious thing and that you can't shave, sorry.

Ergh... I'm used to anti-religious bile being spewed around here, making it easier to misread comments like this.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

IF theres no rule against facial hair, this means they have a problem with your facial hair specifically. make a scene

 

[Crazy_Dude]

Facial Hair is a personal choice and the school shouldnt have any control on it.

Same with Piercings/Tattoos I find it absurd that a school desides you should get rid of it.

You should fight for your fuzzy honor!

 

[Trivun]

If it's not hurting anyone, then hell to the no way should the school be able to control it! I went to a grammar school in the UK, and half the Asian people there along with a few white kids grew short beards/moustaches and were allowed to keep them, provided they were kept a decent, regulation length (unless they couldn't shave, you know, for religious reasons and whatnot...).

If it's beyond a certain length, where it just looks silly, then of course they should be able to enforce you shaving it. But something sensible should be up to you, and you alone. You mention growing one for a charity thing now, I assume you mean Movember (assuming you're from the UK)? In which case if you're doing it for charity then I fully support you myself, as well, and in such a case regardless of the circumstances the school shouldn't have the right to force you to shave, although I suppose we all have to concede (I certainly do) that they do have the right to suggest that you voluntarily shave it. But again, that leaves the final decision down to you, which is what really matters here.

 

[Skorpyo]

right here it is, my beard and moustache

-snip-

One teacher started calling me "Zoro" and another said it looked "demonic". I liked both these comments

I'd say that the douche who called it demonic is the one to hunt down for this.

And, unless it is specifically prohibited by the student disciplinary guide, tell them to "Fuggedaboudit".

 

[Nicarus]

As long as it's clean and well-trimmed, there should be no reason to have to shave off facial hair.

 

[DEATHROAD]

No right at all, you face, you do what you like(plus,beards are awesome) also, props for a supprisingly funny topic name when taken out of context

 

[TheJwalkR]

There is a specific rule at my private school. Although there are a lot of rules at my school that don't get followed.

 

[LandoCristo]

If it was in the school rules, or part of the dress code, they should be able to.

 

[Blemontea]

i understand your friends worshiping of facial hair, i used to do it for the slightest goatee. But whether or not a school system should tell you to shave. No they shouldn't if theres no rule against it they shouldn't be able to say anything. If it was a health concern i would understand but your not in a place of business, or food service so it shouldn't matter.

 

[malestrithe]

Private school, so you will jut have to deal with it.

Even if it were a public school, you will still have to deal with it if the school decided to do something about it. Thanks to a couple of high profile supreme court cases, the schools do have the authority to restrict free speech if the school feels that having such speech would violate safety.

Hairstyle counts as free speech.

If you don't mind me asking, how does having a beard violate safety?

No, I don't mind you asking. I'm afraid that I do not have an answer for you. I have a long winded rambling explanation as to why the schools can do it a little later on, if you are inclined to read further.

Furthermore, I am not going to hazard a guess on that one because frankly, I do not see an issue with facial hair. If I was in the administration, I would let kids get away with having facial hair in any style he or she wants. But I am not as conservative as many people that end up being on school administration.

I am just saying that the schools do have a right to make any rulings about censoring any sort of speech if it feels that allowing the speech would make for an unsafe learning environment. Even though it is now 13 years since I left high school, I remember similar situation when I was there. Someone was not allowed to have a mohawk, another kid could not spike his hair, a third one was not allowed to use blue hair dye, and so on. Even though we bitched and complain about it then, and some of my classmates still do, the school was within its right to stop those hair styles.

There are 3 rulings that govern school aged kid's free speech in the United States: Tinker V Des Moines, Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, and Bethel V Frasier. All three combined says that schools are allowed to restrict speech if safety is at an issue.

 

[Communist partisan]

right, this might take a while so pull up a chair. while back, I decided to try and grow a soul patch like Jack black; purely on a whim. later I decided to grow a moustache as well. they weren't terrible and they werent bum fluff, some of the teachers genuinly said it suited me.
Now, skip along a few months till after the summer holidays prior to my final year at the school and its stepped up to a full beard and moustache, not too far away from a goatee. I was genuinly proud of it and people liked it (only a few didnt like it) and one of my friends almost worshipped the damn thing.
now a few days or a week into my first term and the my form teacher drops the bomb "You have to shave it". Apparently the schools owner (Private school) had talked with the head mistress and had decided that i had to shave off my pride and joy.

Now I might be regrowing my facial hair for a charity event and I want to know what the people of the internet think: Is the school fair in making me shave?

heres a few points to consider
- I kept it neat; I even had a comb for it
- There was nothing in the school rules against it
- the school's motto is: "Where the individule counts"
- Even the head mistress said she liked it

If it happend to me I would answer "fuck you" but don't do that if your not looking for a fight (like I allways do) instead yust say no and don't do it they got no right to force you, you live in america right? yust say they are being commies by forceing you to shave it^^ (I know that goes against my ideals and username but still it works)