Thinking about our school days might bring back good or bad memories. It’s a time with ups and downs, but one thing we all understand is the rules at school.
Some rules, like not wearing jewelry during sports, make sense. But sending someone home for wearing too much makeup or bringing in a certain soda seems like a waste of time and resources for everyone.
Schools sometimes have strict rules about how kids look, which can clash with the time when kids want to be unique and show who they are.
For this mom and her son, these rules went too far and might prevent an 8-year-old boy from getting a good education.
Farouk James, a boy from London, England, has really nice hair that model scouts like. He’s become a child model and has done photo shoots in New York and Italy.
But his long hair has caused problems at school, and he’s been turned down by several schools because of it.
James has a big brother. Their mom, Bonnie Miller, said that when he was in school, they told her his hair was too short.
Bonnie explained that Farouk’s dad is from Ghana, so they didn’t cut Farouk’s hair until he was 3 years old because of their culture.
Bonnie told CBS News, “At that time, both Farouk and I were really fond of his lovely hair.
We decided to keep it.” They live in the UK, where many schools have a rule that girls can have long hair but boys can’t.
Bonnie thinks making kids cut their hair goes against their rights as humans.
“I won’t stop trying to convince governments to make laws that protect kids from these old, strict rules,” Farouk’s mom Bonnie wrote on Instagram.
“Farouk didn’t do anything wrong, yet you’re rejecting him! He’ll have to say goodbye to his friends while they all go to the schools he really wants to go to.”
This made Bonnie start a petition on Change.org to stop hair discrimination in the UK.
She’s calling our group the Mane Generation and we’re going to keep fighting until these rules change. And we’re not just fighting in the UK, but worldwide too.
Farouk’s mom runs an Instagram account that shows his life as a happy boy and model, with over 250,000 followers.
But even with lots of love online, they still get mean comments. After they talked about their school struggle on a famous UK morning TV show, Bonnie got many mean comments.
“During mental health week, I’m surprised to get many mean comments about Farouk’s hair,” Bonnie wrote last May.
“Farouk’s hair is a natural part of him, and he won’t cut it just to please anyone, just like he doesn’t keep it long because I ask him to.”
Bonnie believes that school rules about appearance for boys and girls are outdated and sometimes racist, especially when schools ban dreadlocks and braids.
The mom promises to keep fighting for Farouk and other kids who face discrimination for expressing their cultural identity.