NZ schoolboy wins right to not cut hair
Print Edition
A JUDGE ruled yesterday that a New Zealand schoolboy need not cut his hair before returning to class and that his Catholic high school had been wrong to suspend him for having long locks.
Lucan Battison, 16, was suspended last month from St. John’s College in the town of Hastings. Principal Paul Melloy said the boy had breached a rule that states students must keep their hair short, tidy, off their collars and out of their eyes.
But Battison argued his naturally curly hair would look unruly if cropped and he was prepared to wear it in a bun to comply with the school’s standards. Rather than cut his hair, the student and his family took their case to court.
In his decision, New Zealand High Court judge David Collins found the schoolboy’s actions weren’t harmful or dangerous to other students, didn’t amount to serious misconduct, and therefore didn’t warrant suspension.
He also found St John’s didn’t provide enough clarity in its hair rules to ensure students could comply with them.
While the school disagreed with Battison’s hairstyle, it didn’t dispute his description of himself as a “typical teenager.” In fact, it described him in court as a “nice young man.”
The judge said that an insight into Lucan’s character could be gleaned from the fact that in March he received a civil bravery award for helping rescue two young women who nearly drowned at a Hawke’s Bay beach.
The boy’s parents Troy Battison and Tania Doidge said their son hadn’t broken the rules because his bun kept his hair off his collar and out of his eyes.
“In 2014, when girls’ hair lengths at school aren’t questioned, why should the rules be different for boys?” they said.
Battison was allowed to return to his school earlier this month after the judge said he could stay in class while the case progressed.
In a statement issued yesterday by St John’s, which contains grammatical errors, Principal Paul Melloy said: “Naturally we are disappointed of the decision made in Wellington today.”
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