Stop Policing Curls — They're Not Breaking The Law, But Schools Might Be

Our Lil' Ones Need Protection — Change The Law!

Here’s a not-so-fun fact: your child’s hair can get them excluded from school. Not because of disruption. Not because of hygiene. But because it’s not "neat". Translation? Not straight.

In parts of Africa, children are required to get tight cornrow styles or have been banned from wearing dreadlocks. Some schools go so far as to require girls to shave their heads during term time. In the Caribbean, schools still enforce policies that discriminate against natural hairstyles. In the UK, Black children are sent home for beads, buns, and braids. Madness.

Case in point: The World Afro Day Hair Equality Report revealed that 1 in 6 Black children in the UK face discrimination due to their hair. That’s not a small number. That’s a systemic problem.

We’re still living in a world where Afro hair is treated like it’s inappropriate unless manipulated to mimic Eurocentric norms. And kids? They’re absorbing that message before they even know how to spell it.

Fun fact turned serious: The UK doesn’t explicitly protect Afro hair under the Equality Act. That means a headteacher can punish a student for their cornrows and get away with it.

But the tide is turning, and we’re pushing back.

Campaigners like World Afro Day and MPs like Paulette Hamilton are calling for changes to the law. We need Afro hair to be recognised as worthy of protection, like religion or disability. Because what grows naturally from your head shouldn’t make you a target.

Our kids don’t need to conform to colonial dress codes. They need classrooms that celebrate who they are, hair and all.

Take action: Share this. Talk to your school. Ask them if they follow The Halo Code. If not, ask why. And if they can’t give you a good reason? Give them a better one.