3-year-old boy forced to cut his hair to go to school. Mother says it looks like a “concentration camp” – International

“They’re running a school like a concentration camp.” That’s how Sophie Vernon-Jones, who lives in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, UK, describes the school her three-year-old son Kobie attends. This is because the boy, who has long hair, would have to cut it if he wanted to re-enroll in the next school year.

The school reportedly insisted that Kobie cut her hair or keep it permanently in a bun, something the woman detests. Sophie, who is a hairdresser, said she was “absolutely stunned” after being confronted with the school’s strict policy on children’s hair, according to The Sun, finding it discriminatory.

The boy’s mother went looking for clarification, especially because Kobie had a few centimeters of shaved hair, the aim of which was to give him a “more masculine identity”. However, the school insisted that any style that did not meet the standards was a reason to stop attending.

“Why does he even have long hair?”, was what they asked him. The hairdresser said she was surprised by the question and responded. “You don’t ask a girl why she has long hair, so I don’t know why you ask a boy that. It’s a question that shouldn’t be asked and that doesn’t need to be asked,” he explained.

However, the school proposed a parents meeting to evaluate Kobie’s hair at the end of the summer, something Sophie refused. She was then told that if Kobie’s hair was not up to standard in September, he would be barred from the facility.

Now, the hairdresser is considering writing a letter to the school’s directors, with the aim of criticizing the rigid and discriminatory policy, as well as emphasizing her displeasure with the situation. “It’s not a prison, it’s not the army, it’s not a barracks, it’s a school”, she explains, adding that “not being able to have long hair and style it is discrimination”.