Farouk James has faced several detentions at hisschoolin London since Aprildespite the fact his hair was braided neatly for school.
HighlightsA 12-year-old in the UK faces expulsion for long, braided hair breaking ‘uniform rules’.Farouk James, a model with 250k Instagram followers, challenged the hair policy.Punishment for Farouk James’s hair began in April, with threats of expulsion.
The schoolboy, who models and has over 250,000 followers on Instagram, has since been threatened with expulsion if he does not chop off his locks.
Farouk reportedly said this was disrespectful, as “in Black British culture, black boys have braids,” he toldFirst News.
A 12-year-old mixed-heritage boy in the UK faces expulsion for refusing to cut his long, neatly braided hair
Image credits:faroukjames
She toldLBC: “Today is the first official day that Farouk James is to be punished for having long hair.
“His request for an exemption based upon cultural and medical grounds have been refused.
“This situation is devastating for us as we have been made aware the road will lead to permanent expulsion if his hair is now not cut.”
In a previous interview, published in February, Bonnie toldLittle Things: “His father’s fromGhanaso culturally, his family told me not to cut it until he was three.
“Well, that was part of the cultural thing, so I agreed to not cut his hair until he’s three.
“But obviously we didn’t expect it would grow as much as it did and it just kept on growing.
“Parents have shown me they have had to chop their child’s hair off, and the devastation it has caused.
“It’s a part of their identity.
“You are asking someone to take away a huge part of themselves, to fit in to what is socially expected.”
Farouk James argued that his hair was part of Black British culture
Bonnie has been challenging school uniform policies since at least 2020.
At the time, the little boy, who was already working as a child model, was prepared to move to secondary school while his mom expressed being terrified he would be made to chop off his locks due to school regulations.
Bonnie fought back and said not only were the “outdated” rulesdiscriminatory, but she was also prepared to go as far as declaring Farouk as non-binary if it meant he got to keep his long hair.
Image credits:badmotherblogger
In 2022, theEquality Human Rights Commissionpublished a non-statutory guidance aimed at governing bodies, academy trust boards, education authorities, and school leaders at all schools in England, Scotland, and Wales.
Hairstyles worn because of cultural, family, and social customs can be part of a pupil’s ethnic origin and, therefore, fall under the protected characteristic of race, the commission states.
This includes hairstyles such as (but not limited to): head coverings, including religious-based head coverings and African heritage head wraps, braids, locs, twists, cornrows, plaits, skin fades, and natural Afro hairstyles.
“Leave him be,” a reader commented
Thanks! Check out the results:Donata Leskauskaite
Renan Duarte
News
