“The Grooming Policy aims to promote cleanliness, neatness, decency, respect, modesty and a sense of identity among students while still providing them with opportunities for self-expression and the attainment of general comfort at school.” Goal of the National School Grooming Policy – Ministry of Educational Transformation.
No sensible person is saying that good order, discipline, hygiene, grooming and deportment, obeying school rules, and appropriate behaviour are not important, both in and out of school. Of course, these are also important life lessons. Some parents need to be more reasonable and vigilant about how they allow their children to dress for school. Broombrush type eyelashes, long claws for fingernails, unnatural hair colours, and untidy uniforms were never allowed in the school grooming policy. Children at secondary school are old enough to conduct and present themselves with pride in their appearance and behaviour. But this mindset must be taught from young. Unfortunately, what used to be basic standards taught in the home are not being taught by enough parents, some of whom either cannot, or will not, instil those standards, leaving teachers and principals to attempt to do so. Those parents must be held accountable.
The current grooming policy has, as its core purpose, the provision of ‘a framework to guide the establishment and maintenance of common standards of acceptable dress and deportment for students across the school system’. https://mes. gov.bb/News/Latest/National-Grooming-Policy-2023.aspx
It was never meant to be a free-for-all, with children ‘doing as they like’.
Week 2 of fulsome public discourse, in traditional and social media, on the 2023 national school grooming policy! Comments have largely centred around the hair of black boys. Many have linked these hairstyles, not popular with many adult Bajans, with the school children looking ‘musty’ and as if they ‘ent bade’. I still hold the view that much of the negativity comes from a discriminatory over-policing of the hair of black children, a legacy of our colonial heritage. Some of us, even experts, cannot see the extent to which this legacy has informed our own views – I know I fight it myself.
‘Neat and tidy’, for many, whether they are willing to admit it or not, still means hiding natural black hair.
What I find most encouraging in the public discourse is that the students are being given public platforms from which they can articulate their views, and they feel confident doing so. This is, indeed, the right of the child to be heard in action. The student feedback reported in the 8th April edition of the Nation newspaper filled me with even more hope about our nation’s future. Please read and digest what they said. Sometimes we focus too much on the bad apples. Many of our children and young adults are doing great things!
Gevariah Young, a fifth former who is president of Queen’s College Student Council and a candidate for president of the National School Council, spoke on the 2023 school grooming policy, on STARCOM’s Down to Brass Tacks last Tuesday. His contribution was reported in the news.
He was mature, thoughtful, cogent, respectful and articulate in his views and those of his peers. A credit to his family and school. He spoke of the need for better enforcement of the existing grooming policy.
‘A little child shall lead them!’
A takeaway from this public discussion: We need to give our children the confidence, and more opportunities, to present their perspectives, especially on matters affecting them! Sometimes we might not agree – that doesn’t mean we muzzle them. Gone are the days where children must ‘be seen and not heard’. Thank God!
The activation of the school councils in each secondary school, which is not the norm in CARICOM, is an important element in developing both the individual and collective character and voice of our nation’s children. It is noted that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has, as a fundamental right, that of the right of the child ‘to be heard’.
We adults are supposed to be parenting and mentoring our children to be our nation’s future leaders. That doesn’t start when they are 18. Sometimes, that training requires that we give them the space to present themselves, and express themselves, via their personal style – always within reasonable boundaries – even when we don’t always agree. I have learned that, as our children mature, we must pick our battles and emphasise less a total obedience from them in all matters. Some of the hairstyles (and fashion outside of school) are not my personal taste. But once they, and the overall student appearance, are ‘neat and tidy’, I’m good!
The students are not in the armed forces or the police force. They are children, so I find puzzling the comparison by some of a child’s grooming for school to the regimentation of these forces.
We can focus too much on conformity and passivity in our culture, which can manifest in a conviction that hair must also be policed. Often our black boys are victims of rigorous policing, to the exclusion of other more important attributes. It is more difficult to parent, guide and mentor a child by allowing them age-appropriate and situation-appropriate freedom to express themselves, always within the context of good boundaries and standards of behaviour, but often you build a more confident, innovative, less passive adult that way too.
In order for our children to not just survive, but thrive, we need to arm them with enhanced core attributes, especially critical thinking, beyond focusing on conformity, as tools to compete globally in the 21st century.
Additionally, teachers and principals always had the power to enforce the grooming policy on the school compound.
Therefore, contrary to popular belief, there is a school grooming policy with guidelines. But public feedback is clear: there has been a breakdown in its implementation and enforcement. The solution lies in the education leadership going back to the drawing board and clarifying the school grooming guidelines, communicating and regularly reinforcing expectations better with all school stakeholders, and ensuring that the grooming policy is better enforced.
Collectively, we can right this ship!
Paula-Anne Moore heads the Group of Concerned Parents, Barbados, and the Regional Coalition for CXC Exam Redress.
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