Discrimination, says mum as son told not to return to school with hair dyed blue
FOR Lewis Carlyle, a school day means buttoning up his smart blue shirt and knotting his tie emblazoned with blue stripes.
But when the five-year-old turned up with a shock of bright blue hair to match his uniform, his teachers were less than impressed.
The pupil was sporting the striking hairstyle, created with coloured hair gel, to show his support for Rangers, who recently won the Scottish Championship. However, he was asked not to come back with his hair coloured.
His mother, Leanne Carlyle, 24, said she was disgusted by the actions of his school, Logans Primary in Motherwell, Lanarkshire.
The school has denied sending him home, with the headteacher saying Lewis had simply been asked to return to class the next day minus the coloured gel in his hair.
Miss Carlyle said: ‘The teacher told him blue hair wasn’t allowed, I think he felt like he had done something really wrong. He’s in his uniform, so why should it matter what colour his hair is? Now he’s lost a full day’s education all because of his hair colour.’
She added: ‘He was really excited about it and wanted to show all his friends. It was only the top of his head we put it on so I didn’t think it would be a problem. It’s disgusting really.
‘We’ve paid for the uniform, which is the same as everyone else’s. He should be allowed to do what he wants with his hair – it even matches the uniform.’
In common with many schools Logans Primary has rules on the appearance of pupils, who are expected to wear ties, jumpers and cardigans as part of the uniform. This extends to their hair, with dye allowed only on ‘dress-down’ days.
As soon as Lewis arrived at school teachers contacted Miss Carlyle to remind her of the rule, after she used wash-out blue gel on his hair to match the Rangers team colour.
Miss Carlyle said: ‘I had to go and pick him up. They told me he had to wash his hair, but by the time I would have done that and brought him back it would be pointless, so I had to keep him home for the day.’
Miss Carlyle, whose youngest son Dylan, four, is due to start at the same school in August, said she was shocked by the school’s stance. She added: ‘He has been discriminated against all because of his hair. It’s ridiculous. I’m not having him being singled out, it’s not fair.’
Headteacher Angela Cusick said: ‘When Lewis arrived at school this morning we contacted his mum to inform her we don’t allow pupils to come to school with their hair dyed.’
She added: ‘Lewis was not excluded, we simply asked that he did not return to school with his hair coloured – he was welcome to remain in school for the remainder of the day.
‘She seemed fine with that and offered to collect her son from school so the dye could be removed. Coloured hair is fine on a dress-down day, but not on a normal school day.’
Lewis was due back at school yesterday – without his blue locks.
In August 13-year-old Lauren McDowell’s mother claimed her daughter’s human rights had been breached after teachers sent her home for arriving at school in Sheffield with her hair shaved on one side and dyed in a leopard-print pattern.
‘Why should his hair colour matter?’