Uniforms and appearance

Uniforms

Does my son Adam have to wear his uniform?

Yes. The Education Act gives a school's board of trustees power to make rules for its school. By enrolling Adam at the school, it's implied you have accepted those rules - including any uniform requirement. A school can also insist that students wear their uniforms on trips (including out of school hours).

Charlie wears his uniform trousers in the "lo-ryder" fashion and has been told he will be sent home if he doesn't pull up them up. Can the school do this?

If Charlie continually refuses to wear his uniform properly, the school can warn him of the likely consequences. "Continual disobedience" can be punished through detention, stand-down, suspension or even exclusion/expulsion. A student can only be sent home if he or she is actually suspended or stood down which will take effect from the next day.

Danika wears a piece of jewellery that is culturally important to our family, but the school rules forbid it. What is the law?

The right given to schools under the Education Act to set their own rules and regulations is not absolute. It is subject to the general laws of New Zealand, one of which is the Human Rights Act (HRA).

The HRA forbids discrimination on the grounds of sex, religious or ethical belief, colour, race, ethnic or national origin, political belief, disability or age.

The Human Rights Commission (HRC), which administers the Act, has upheld the rights of Maori students to wear jewellery taonga (a bone or greenstone pendant) at one school, even though jewellery was banned under that school's uniform code.

But a 15-year-old Indian girl was excluded from Onehunga High School for wearing a tiny traditional nose stud that she argued was of cultural importance to her. It would appear the school breached the HRA on this point, but no complaint was made to the HRC.

When the HRC investigates a complaint, it first tries to mediate a solution between the parties. If this is unsuccessful, the complainant could apply to have the matter heard before the Human Rights Review Tribunal. If the tribunal found in your favour, and the school refused to accept the ruling, you could take your case to the High Court to have it enforced.

Appearance

As with uniforms, schools can set standards of appearance. They usually advertise those standards in their prospectus and students who enrol impliedly accept them.

My daughter Erica has just had a ring put through her lip - but the school won't let her return to class. That's a breach of the Human Rights Act isn't it?

No. Contrary to common perception, the HRA does not prohibit discrimination on the grounds of appearance. Schools can decide that piercings - along with tattoos, various styles of clothing, dreadlocks, dyed hair and the like - are against the rules.

Is discrimination based on appearance ever a breach of the HRA?

No. But it is illegal to discriminate against someone's ethnicity or nationality. If the dispute is over a piece of culturally significant jewellery, then the discrimination is probably a breach of the HRA. This is why Onehunga High could have been challenged when it prevented the Indian girl from wearing her traditional nose stud.

The school wants our son Frank to get his hair cut. What's it to them?

No one knows the answer to this one, because the law hasn't been tested in court since 1974. On that occasion, the court upheld the right of a school to enforce its rules, including those covering hair length and style.

Maybe it would again today. But the difference is that today the judge would have to balance the student's right to freedom of expression - guaranteed under the Bill of Rights Act - with the school's right to govern itself, granted by the Education Act.

It is likely the court would find in favour of the school, but it's a grey area for now.