Source: Kathryn Nana Yaa Adorsu
A good book once said the glory of every woman is her hair, but the same cannot be said about the educational policies in Africa regarding female students and their hairstyles.
Hair holds significant cultural, spiritual, and historical importance in Native American communities, and cutting hair can symbolise mourning, life transitions, or, in some cases, forced assimilation.
In many Indigenous cultures, long hair carries profound significance—it represents strength, personal identity, and a sacred link to ancestors and the natural world. Far beyond aesthetics, hair is woven into the spiritual and cultural fabric of these communities.
Yet, cutting one’s hair is not without meaning. It often marks pivotal life moments or transitions. For example:
Mourning rituals: Hair may be cut to honour the death of a loved one, symbolising the release of sorrow and the journey toward emotional healing.
Spiritual renewal: Some individuals choose to cut their hair as a symbolic gesture of personal growth, transformation, or the start of a new chapter in their lives.
Practical considerations, including hygiene, convenience, and adaptation to contemporary lifestyles, also influence the decision to trim or shorten hair.
To truly understand these practices, it is essential to approach them with cultural sensitivity and respect. They reflect the rich diversity of Indigenous worldviews and the deep symbolism embedded in everyday acts.
While some people believe in cutting their hair to cast away curses placed on them, others do so to welcome blessings as they grow new hair. Again, some cancer patients trim their hair so they can receive chemotherapy treatment.
Senior High School students cut their hair in Ghana primarily because many public schools require short, uniform hairstyles for girls, based on the belief that it helps students focus on their studies by preventing distraction.
On the contrary, Western education policies generally allow secondary school girls to keep long hair because they prioritise individual rights, gender equality, and cultural diversity over uniformity in appearance.
Personal autonomy is a core value in many Western societies. Students are often seen as individuals with the right to express themselves, including through their hairstyle.
Courts in countries like the U.S., Canada, and parts of Europe have ruled that overly restrictive grooming policies can violate students’ rights to freedom of expression or religious practice.
Historically, some grooming rules disproportionately targeted girls or students of certain ethnic backgrounds. Modern policies aim to avoid gendered or racialised standards. For example, banning long hair for girls would be seen as unfairly limiting their choices, especially when boys may be allowed to grow theirs.
Western education systems often prioritise academic performance, critical thinking, and social skills over strict conformity in appearance. As long as a student’s hairstyle does not disrupt learning or pose safety issues, schools are less likely to enforce rigid grooming rules.
Many Western schools accommodate diverse cultural and religious practices, including hairstyles. For instance, Sikh boys may wear turbans, and Muslim girls may wear hijabs. Similarly, girls from various backgrounds may choose to wear their hair long as part of their identity or tradition.
In many Western countries, school dress codes and grooming policies are set at the local or school level, not by national education ministries. This allows for flexibility and community input, often leading to more inclusive and less restrictive rules.
In contrast, some African and Asian education systems—especially those influenced by colonial-era norms or religious missions—have historically emphasised uniformity, discipline, and neatness, often requiring girls to cut their hair short. However, even in these regions, debates are emerging about modernising such policies in line with global human rights standards.
Recently, the various social media platforms were awash with a viral video showing a high school scholar having a haircut under duress. The female student, according to various commentaries, had to cut her hair to qualify for senior high school form one (school year ten) admission. The girl was seen in a pensive mood, weeping, as the barber’s pair of scissors trimmed through her hair.
Several ‘keyboard warriors,’ bloggers, and the public voiced their concerns against what they term an archaic and embarrassing educational policy, demanding that female students who gain admission into public senior high schools must maintain a short and decent hairstyle.
Since I agree that schools should enforce discipline among learners, I also believe that some rules and regulations are draconian, with the tendency to traumatise and lower students’ self-esteem, and dehumanise them.
The African, and for that matter, must not cut off that daring spirit and the wings that our girls need to fly and explore.
Cutting a child’s hair can have several negative implications, ranging from psychological and emotional trauma to the violation of cultural traditions. For a baby, cutting hair too early can lead to stress, potential harm, and issues with scalp health.
Psychological and emotional effects
Asking form of abuse: When done as punishment or without consent, especially in a forced or humiliating manner, cutting a child’s hair is a form of abuse and can be deeply traumatising. It is an extreme abuse of parental power that can damage a child’s sense of self and violate their bodily autonomy.
Damages trust and relationships: Forcing a child to get a haircut or threatening them with one can destroy trust and create lasting resentment toward the parent. The child may keep these painful feelings hidden, only to have them resurface during their teen years.
Causes anger and rebellion: A child, particularly an older one, may feel deep anger or turn to rebellion if they perceive a haircut as an unfair consequence. Some stories recount lifelong strained relationships that began with a forced haircut.
Increases fear and anxiety: Many young children are afraid of haircuts due to the strange environment, unfamiliar person, and the unsettling sensation of having their hair cut. Forcing them through the experience can create a permanent aversion.
Cultural and identity-based harm
Insensitivity and discrimination: Hair is a powerful symbol of identity and heritage, especially for children in many Indigenous and Black communities. Discriminatory school policies or actions that target culturally significant hairstyles are a form of racism.
Forced assimilation: In the past, colonisers forced haircuts on Indigenous children in residential schools to strip them of their cultural identity. For these cultures, hair is a sacred extension of a person’s history and spirit, and to cut it without consent is to violate their memory and heritage.
Disrespects traditions: Many cultures have specific beliefs surrounding the timing and significance of a child’s first haircut. For example, some Native American tribes only cut hair during mourning, while some Latin American cultures believe cutting a baby’s hair before their first birthday can stunt speech development.
I concur with several online commentators who are calling on Ghanaian public senior high school authorities and education department officials to reconsider the hairstyle policy and make it more inclusive. I believe school girls can keep their long hair if they keep it clean.
Having said that, female students must see themselves as role models by ensuring personal hygiene and keeping a clean hairstyle, while abiding by their schools’ code of conduct.
Edited by Victor Yao Nyakey
Source: newsghana.com.gh
