SKATEBOARDER Jamie Plant has spent all this week under his mum’s feet after his school sent him home – for having tramlines in his hair.
Angry single mum Claire Plant says Fallibroome High School told her the 13-year-old would not be welcome back until he has another haircut, or the shorter sideburns grow out.
She says she cannot afford to send him back to the salon, so he will remain at home for a fortnight or so until the tramlines fade.
"Is it so extreme that the school should deny him an education?" asked Claire, 35, of Cedar Grove on the Moss Estate.
"Apparently it is an extreme hairstyle, but I asked the hairdresser to give him something suitable for school and I think it is – and so does everyone else I’ve asked. If it had been purple or green I could understand it."
Ironically, as a keen skateboarder, Jamie had long hair until recently – when his mum insisted he make it "less scruffy".
"Why is it girls can have streaks or beads in their hair?" she said. "I got a call from the secretary – not a teacher – informing me Jamie was being sent home on Friday morning. I have had nothing in writing. All he wants to do is go back to school. It will be summer in a few weeks and it isn’t as if he was disturbing his class."
She feels that her son’s hair would look more "extreme" if it was cut even shorter.
A spokesman for the school said: "Jamie has not been excluded and can return as soon as he has his hair cut. A judgement is made on each case and what is considered to be loud or unnatural hair colour or an outlandish hairstyle. Tramlines are regarded as an extreme hairstyle and the school has spoken to Jamie’s mum and hopes that Jamie can return to school soon."
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