A 17-year-old Pāpāmoa College student and his father have launched a petition after the student and his school remain in a dispute over his beard.
The petition to Parliament launched by Victor Rosa and his father requests that the 'House of Representatives ban school boards from prohibiting students from having facial hair in state schools”.
The petition went live on the New Zealand Parliament website on Monday, June 26, and at time of publication had received more than 140 signatures.
This comes after Pāpāmoa College introduced new rules at the start of the school year – including a ban of facial hair with cultural exemptions applying.
With this new rule imposed, Victor's father says his son was stood down for a total of eight days this school term.
According to the college's principal Iva Ropati, Victor was 'stood down for an unrelated matter” to facial hair.
Victor says he was initially stood down for three days and then for another school week.
'They said I wasn't allowed back until either until I had proof [my beard] was cultural or I had shaved.”
Hailing from Brazil, Victor and his father's petition states that imposing rules related to facial hair is 'contrary to equality and inclusive learning, discriminates against students, erodes belonging, and disregards cultural practices and religious beliefs associated with facial hair”.
The pair believe that current school bans relating to facial hair is contrary to NZ Bill of Rights 1990 and the Human Rights Act 1993.
Pāpāmoa College school policy requires students donning facial hair provide cultural evidence.
'Our process is for him to provide evidence. It's not for us to change his appearance if he has grounds to remain unshaven. We just need to understand whether or not there is a valid cultural or religious reason for him to be unshaven,” says principal Iva Ropati.
Victor's father has provided a cultural letter from Brazil requesting Victor be exempt from the facial hair ban on cultural grounds. The letter was not accepted by the school as it does not meet the Board of Pāpāmoa College's criteria.
However, Victor's father notes: 'He's been give an interim exemption until the end of this term”.
Approaching the Human Rights Commission, Victor, his father and the school will have a mediation meeting to work through the dispute. Iva says the school is looking forward to resolving the matter at mediation.
'We're happy to use that opportunity to clarify, but our advice is still that there's been no breach [of Human Rights].' The mediation date is yet to be set by the Human Rights Commission.
In the meantime, Victor's petition will remain open until Wednesday, July 26, and is accessible at: https://petitions.parliament.nz/23507734-4bb2-415e-ed5a-08db75be6aa2
17 comments
Maybe
Posted on 30-06-2023 16:54 | By dave4u
NZ is not the place for you if you cant follow school rules what next the country's law rules as well, sounds like a family that is going to cause big problems later maybe.
school rules
Posted on 30-06-2023 17:55 | By peter pan
Life is full of rules you wont like so grow up,shave and get back to school.
Here we go again
Posted on 30-06-2023 19:43 | By Let's get real
Making excuses and exceptions for a very small percentage of a population (Whether it be boys in a mixed sex school or any other minority group in a country) Schools have uniforms and standards for a very important reason. Leave school and go your own way.
beard
Posted on 01-07-2023 06:46 | By dumbkof2
there is always one that goes above the rules
Predictable
Posted on 01-07-2023 08:48 | By laugeo
This is just another example of entitled youth who don't believe that rules should apply to them and whos only wish is to challenge authority. Unfortunately, many of them are aided and abetted by parents who believe that their own 'special' child should be exempt from any rule they don't like. There is plenty of time to grow a beard when you leave school, in the meantime you are a schoolboy and need to follow the school rules and your Dad needs to stop helping you to waste everyone's time and money. So, leave school and keep your precious beard or lose the beard and keep your education going, these are the choices that your human rights do actually entitle you to.
One weight, two measures.
Posted on 01-07-2023 09:14 | By BrDude
If all students were subjected to the same rules, that would be okay. However, there are other students who also have facial hair and have not been questioned, embarrassed, or had their access to school restricted. If there is a law, it should apply to everyone with the same level of enforcement.
clogs
Posted on 01-07-2023 10:04 | By dutch kiwi
where i came from every male in our town walked on wooden clogs.as soon as i arrived in new zealand i noticed nobody was wearing them here so i chucked them. now i am wearing jandals. way better
I reckon Peter Pan summed this one up.
Posted on 01-07-2023 12:02 | By morepork
Part of growing up is learning discipline and learning that you "can't always get what you want." The school have rules which they are entitled to implement. You don't have a "Human Right" to make them change their rules; you have a right to decide whether you will go there or not. The school will "bend" their rules if there are valid religious or cultural grounds for doing so, but they don't HAVE to. And certainly not just because YOU WANT them to. A rebellious attitude in the young may be no bad thing, but it must be tempered by recognition of what is being rebelled against, and the knowledge that "you can't win 'em all". Learn to pick your battles. Grow up and shave, or pick another school.
Little Snowflake
Posted on 01-07-2023 12:27 | By BJWD
Learn to follow the rules, you'll have to, once you enter the big wide world! Just have a shave, you little drama queen..
Hair, including facial hair has no impact on learning
Posted on 01-07-2023 13:13 | By Omni
Wow all these people talking like beards and moustaches arn't supposed to be OK at high school. These are young men (and woman) changing to be the next leaders of our country. Not only should (free) public school not dictate facial hair, they should not dictate any hair on anyones body. Nor should they be enforsing uniforms, unless they are provided free of charge. We are supposed to be inclusive, individuals. So many great people in the world and you are all busy judging.... it's not the 1800's anymore. Lets stop trying to be Colonial England and embrace USA no-uniform colleges and freedom to be individual human beings and still capable of learning, getting a job, owning a company and actually responsible for your own body and looks.
Pick
Posted on 01-07-2023 13:58 | By Bestlife
You won’t be there much longer. Get over it, shave for the rest of the time you are there and concentrate on your school work. Pick your battles when they really matter.
rules
Posted on 01-07-2023 16:12 | By dumbkof2
Has this person considered the fact that sooner or later he will have to get a job. employers see these rule breakers. do you think they are going to employ anyone who wont follow the rules
Omni you miss aspects of education
Posted on 01-07-2023 16:17 | By waiknot
Part of education is discipline and complying with expectations. Victor shave the beard.
Simple stuff.......
Posted on 01-07-2023 22:00 | By Bruja
Don't like the way we do things here?.....head back to Brazil. The school is allowed to have rules. Don't like them?....go elsewhere.
Once upon a time
Posted on 02-07-2023 18:06 | By Let's get real
In any of the services and the police force, a member of the service had to ask permission to grow a beard. But we now have children who believe that they have the "right" to do as they wish. There's nothing worse than seeing a straggly and patchy growth of hair on a face. With the rent-a-mob crowd, it's a requirement along with disgustingly matted dreadlocks.
yea na.
Posted on 02-07-2023 22:13 | By kiwisan
As I recall, originally father said it is a family tradition. Nothing about religious beliefs or cultural beliefs. Most all Brazilian guys I see around are not sporting cultural facial hair! Now we have an underperforming local college (see NCEA results) where a new principal was bought in to raise the standards and achievement of Papamoa College. There was wide community consultation regarding the raising of behaviours , presentation and performance. The principal has wide spread support. Unfortunately it is less the students and more the parents that are challenging any change. Well a few parents. The loud ones. My child doesn't have to follow your rules etc. The vast majority of the schools catcment are right behind our principal. Setting lines in the sand is part of this awaited positive change. Unfortunately these guys are on the wrong side of that line. It happens. Suck it up.
This is NOT about...
Posted on 03-07-2023 14:41 | By morepork
... a person's right to grow hair or not. It isn't about whether having a beard helps you to learn or not (it might make you look more intelligent, but appearances can be deceptive.) And neither is it about students being oppressed by capricious school rules. It saddens me to see that there is a lot of heated debate about all of these irrelevancies. The ONLY issue here is whether you accept the school's rules or not, and, consequently whether you will attend there. There is nothing wrong with questioning a rule, even making a case against it, AS LONG as you respect the right of the school to HAVE rules and their right to NOT accede to your suggestions. Red Herrings like Human Rights are not part of this issue. Rules encourage the development of discipline to comply with them, and that is important for growth.
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