School stand-off over hair
Family told to lop boy’s locks but they want to wait for his traditional cutting ceremony
Pressure is mounting on an Australian private school that is demanding a 5-yearold Cook Islander boy cut his long hair. Cyrus Taniela attends Australian Christian College Moreton in Queensland with his hair tied neatly in a bun.
But after his first week at school, his mum was pulled aside and told she had to cut his hair, “cultural or not”. The school’s uniform policy says boys’ hair must be above the collar. Ponytails and buns are not permitted.
Australian Christian College has now doubled down: Gary Underwood, the principal at Moreton, near Brisbane, has told mum Wendy Taniela she must cut Cyrus’ hair or he’ll have to leave the school.
His family are considering taking their fight to the Queensland Human Rights Commission because keeping the hair long is a custom in their Cook Islands and Niuean cultures.
Cutting a boy’s hair for the first time is a traditional rite of passage and Cyrus’ family want to wait until he is 7. They have been planning the ceremony for the past three years.
Cyrus’ father, Jason Taniela, is from Auckland and Jason’s family are from Mangaia, in the Cook Islands. Wendy’s family are from Samoa and Aitutaki, also in the Cook Islands.
“They don’t understand what it is, coming to Australia,” Wendy Taniela said.
Queensland Human Rights Commission spokeswoman Kate Marsh said it would try to resolve the issue if a complaint was made.
The Queensland Anti-Discrimination Act prevents discrimination on the basis of race at all educational institutions, including nongovernment schools.
The commission says the school’s uniform policy could be in breach of the law, which prohibits indirect racial discrimination.
Wendy Taniela said both her and her husband’s cultures had haircutting ceremonies.
“For us, we decided that it would be when Cyrus turned 7 that we would cut his hair,” she told Redcliffe and Bayside Herald. “We thought he’ll have finished kindy and be able to understand what is happening.
“Traditionally, [on the Cook Islands] it [ a boy’s hair] is lovingly cared for by the boy’s aunts and all the women and then there is a ceremony to cut his hair and traditionally the whole village celebrates.”
Family in New South Wales, Queensland, Samoa, Niue and the Cook Islands are saving money to come over for the ceremony in Sydney. More than 100 family members are expected.
Wendy Taniela said she had met with Underwood, who asked them to bring the ceremony forward.
“But this is a big cost, and we have other family commitments,” she said.
The school is the same one Cyrus’ older sister Jaylia-Anna has been at for two years.
Underwood has now posted a statement on the school’s Facebook page, saying he has spent time in the Cook Islands and is “an enthusiastic supporter of Islander people and their customs”.
However, he adds: “Respecting the college’s policies, procedures and guidelines allows the college to be consistent across its many cultural groups.
“Further, to be consistent across all of the student body, all students are to conform to the board approved policies, procedures and guidelines which includes — ‘ Boys’ hair is to be neat, tidy, above the collar and must not hang over the face. Extreme styles, ponytails and buns are not permitted’.”
To support his assertion that he was “an enthusiastic supporter of Islander people”, Underwood issued a photo of Pacific students performing a lunchtime show for classmates.
But the photo was issued without their permission — and Wendy Taniela said some of the girls in the photo were her own family, whose parents shared her concerns.
“For him to be so naive and to put up a photo of all those Islander kids — some of those girls are my nieces!”