Jaevion Nelson | Stop injustice in the name of grooming

It’s rather frightening the kinds and frequency of injustices meted out to children in schools, by teachers and school administrators, under the guise of teaching them discipline and in the name of a deity they may not even believe in.

Since September, when schools reopened, the public has been inundated with several stories of students who are, once again, locked out of schools, sent home (where they may be unsupervised) or unable to sit an exam because their uniform, hairstyle or haircut is in ‘contravention’ of the school’s grooming policy. As said in an article, titled ‘Faded haircuts, mohawks and school rules’, published in March 2016 in The Gleaner, “schools seem to be trying to outdo each other with the ridiculous ‘rules’ they have implemented”.

What lesson do educators think they’re teaching children with this kind of practice?

To be unequivocally clear, many people support the need for rules/codes of conduct and that these be adhered to, but are of the view that they can’t have silly subjective standards, with barely any rationale, that one or two people, seemingly with too much power, decide must be the standard. One can reliably assume, based on news reports and statements made by educators, that there are aspects of these policies that are archaic, poorly researched and serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever. They should be amended or repealed as some schools already have done.

These stories of children being locked out or turned away from schools are too commonplace. Public commentators and advocates have been bemoaning about the ridiculous grooming policies and the abuse meted out to students to the point that they’ve all become weary. Sadly, whenever this issue comes up, we flare up for a day or two and then move on as if we have come to a resolution. Of all the problems ladening our education system, this is one of the easiest things to do to make schools safer and more welcoming for our children.

ABUSE OF POWER

As previously said, ‘The practice of sanctioning students is ranked with abuse of power, and someone needs to do something about it!’ One wonders if those charged with the responsibility to protect and promote the rights of children, and, importantly, ensure that laws, policies, programmes, and practices are done in their best interest are au fait with what has been transpiring for so many years.

The deafening silence from most of our legislators about these incidents is most concerning. One reckons only a handful of them have been bold enough to speak out against this practice. Consequently, successive administrations have failed miserably to bell the cat (despite some modest attempt at addressing the issue). That, friends, is the only reason these incidents continue unabated.

In 2018, in response to the concerns raised and recognising the dire situation, the Ministry of Education published a Dress and Grooming Policy Guideline which should ‘provide a framework for all public educational institutions within which to work in establishing their own student dress code that best fits their local situation, which should promote good societal values, and which do not violate individual rights and/or laws.’ It has obviously not worked. Educators are allowed to set rules and discipline however they wish. The ministry announced recently that they are working on something – a policy apparently, but subsequent news reports do not give much hope at all.

It would be most welcomed to hear from entities like the Office of the Public Defender and Office of the Children’s Advocate on these matters that happen with such frequency and seemingly with a whole lot of impunity. Do they have remit to intervene in these cases? Can they make representation for the children and strongly urge the Government to do more to ensure schools operate in the best interest of our children?

Sadly, yet another school term has ended where there has been rampant abuse of children’s rights and another term will commence with no resolution, no clear policy, no proposed way forward, by the education ministry, to deal with the injustices meted out because of dress and grooming policies.

So, who will be brave enough to discipline the educators for their continued indiscipline, or will the system that makes this form of abuse permissible be entrenched even further?

Jaevion Nelson is a human-rights, economic and social justice and inclusive-development advocate. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and jaevion@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter @jaevionn.