Why Are Schools That Preach “Diversity” So Strict About Hairstyles?

The other day, I saw a high school girl on a train with extremely tightly curled hair. Her scalp was visible through it, to the point that I felt sorry for her.

Of course, I do not know how she herself feels about her hair. I only thought that if I had had the same hair as a high school student, I would probably have been very self-conscious about it.

Adolescence is already a time when people worry about their appearance.

Something an adult can dismiss by saying, “That is just part of what makes you unique,” can feel like a matter of enormous importance to a junior high or high school student.

A family I know also has two children with very tightly curled hair. Their father has only slightly wavy hair, but both children have much stronger curls.

A boy has the option of cutting it very short. But a girl may also be at an age when she wants to enjoy different hairstyles. Some girls probably spend a great deal of time styling their hair every morning.

That brings me to schools.

These days, schools everywhere frequently use phrases such as “diversity,” “respect for individuality,” and “being yourself.”

But the moment the subject turns to hair, the rules suddenly go back decades.

This tendency is especially strong at traditional schools, prestigious girls’ schools, and private schools.

They speak of freedom, diversity, and independence, yet prohibit dyed hair, perms, and wigs.

Some schools have even caused controversy by requiring students with naturally brown or curly hair to submit certificates proving that it is their natural hair.

When you think about it, this is strange.

To a student who is troubled by the hair they were born with, a school says:

“We respect your individuality. That is why you must come to school with your hair exactly as it is.”

Is that really diversity?

If the student likes their hair, there is no reason to change it.

But if the student feels deeply self-conscious about it and wants to straighten it, wear a wig, or style it so that it is less noticeable, is that not also the student’s choice?

The freedom to accept the traits we are born with and the freedom to change them should come as a pair.

Yet under some school rules, only the first is accepted as “natural” and “individual,” while the second is prohibited as “alteration” or “fashion.”

That is what feels wrong to me.

An insecurity is not so convenient that it disappears simply because someone else says, “You do not need to worry about it.”

If a student dislikes what they see every morning when they look in the mirror, the words “That is part of what makes you unique” will not necessarily provide comfort.

In fact, it may sound more like this:

“It is part of your individuality, so you must put up with it as it is.”

Sometimes that is all the school is really saying.

Schools do, of course, need certain rules. But there is no need to put someone who wants to dye their hair blond to attract attention and someone who wants to straighten their naturally curly hair or wear a wig because they are distressed by it into the same category of “altering one’s hairstyle.”

Technology also offers more options now than it did in the past.

There are hair-straightening treatments, wigs, and hair-care products.

If using them helps a student go to school with even a little more confidence, they should be free to use them.

Rather than demanding that students endure their natural features simply because they were born with them, should schools not ask what the students themselves want and allow them to choose?

“Diversity” is a convenient word.

Put it in a school brochure and the school looks progressive. It also sounds good at an information session for prospective students and parents.

But a school that truly recognizes diversity must go further.

It should recognize not only “the freedom to remain as you are,” but also “the freedom not to remain as you are.”

Only then can they claim to respect individuality.

“Please live in a way that is true to yourself. But your hairstyle must follow school rules.”

That is not so much diversity as diversity with a school-designated hairstyle.