Remembering our time at school can bring back good or painful memories; it was a chaotic time full of highs and lows, but one thing we can all connect to is school regulations.
Some regulations make sense, such as not wearing jewelry during sports, but sending someone home with too much makeup or having snuck a specific soda drink in appears to be a waste of resources and valuable lesson time for the students concerned.
Often, the rigidity with which schools operate when it comes to a child’s look contradicts that moment in their lives when they desire to be unique and expressive.
For one mother and her son these rules went, arguably, too far and could mean an 8-year-old boy misses out on a good education.
Farouk James, from London, England, has a magnificent head of hair that has attracted the attention of model scouts. He now works as a child model and has done shoots in New York and Italy.
However, his appearance has caused him nothing but trouble at school, and he has been rejected from a number of schools due to the length of his hair.
James has an older brother, whose mother, Bonnie Miller, stated that when he was in school, he was told his hair was too short.
Bonnie stated that Farouk’s father is from Ghana, and for cultural reasons, his parents did not trim his hair until he was three years old.
At that point he was attached — and so was I, to be honest — with his beautiful hair,” Bonnie told CBS News. “We just kept the hair.”
The family lives in the United Kingdom, where most schools have a policy that prohibits guys from wearing long hair but girls are permitted.
Bonnie claimed that forcing youngsters to cut their hair violates their human rights.
“I will not give up trying to persuade governments to put legislation in place to protect children from these outdated, punishing rules,” his mom Bonnie wrote on Instagram.
“Farouk hasn’t done anything wrong and YOU REJECT HIM! He will say good bye to his friends as they all get accepted into the schools he so desperately wants to attend.”
This situation even prompted Bonnie to start a Change.org petition to ban hair discrimination in the U.K.
“We’re getting a real team together and calling it the Mane Generation,” Bonnie said. “We’re going to fight this until these rules get changed. And it’s globally, not just domestically in the U.K.”
Farouk’s mom manages an Instagram account highlighting him and his life as a fun-loving boy and child model, which has over a quarter of a million followers.
Despite all of the love and support he receives online, they continue to receive unpleasant remarks. Bonnie said she received many harsh comments after appearing on the prominent UK morning show ‘This Morning’ to address the family’s difficulty to locate a school that will accept Farouk and his hair.
“This week is mental health week so I’m surprised to be receiving lots of negative comments about Farouk’s hair,” Bonnie wrote in May last year.
“Farouk’s hair is a God given part of him and he will not be cutting it to appease anyone, just as he does not keep it long at my request either.”
Bonnie contends that school appearance policies for girls and boys are antiquated and, in some cases, discriminatory, with many schools prohibiting dreadlocks and braids.
The mother declares that she would never give up fighting for acceptance of Farouk and his hair, as well as all other children who face discrimination because they want to display their cultural history and identity.
