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Perth student sent home for having ‘boy’s’ haircut

Simon WhiteThe West Australian
The haircut that got the Corpus Christi student sent home from school.
Camera IconThe haircut that got the Corpus Christi student sent home from school. Credit: The West Australian

A Perth student’s decision to get a “boy’s haircut” for a weekend wedding has backfired, with the school sending home from the last day of the year and participation in an end-of-term social event also in doubt.

The boy, a year 10 student from Corpus Christi College in the southern suburbs, had gone to get a spruce-up before the weekend wedding.

But when he arrived at school on Monday he was apparently told he was no longer welcome because the sides of his new do were “too short.”

“This morning he went to school for the last day to get his test results,” his mum Sandra told Radio 6PR’s Gary Adshead.

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“He texted me and said ‘Mum I’m been told I’m not allowed to be at school, it’s too short.’

“We had a wedding on the weekend and he had it cut short on the side. It’s a little bit longer on top it’s not even two centimetres long on top, so it’s not like it’s a fringe down to his nose or anything like that.

“It’s just a boy’s haircut.”

Sandra said the outcome was doubly heartbreaking for her son because it stopped him getting his year-end results in the way he would have liked and also may prevent him attending a riverboat cruise planned for tonight.

Not even a “barber’s note” explaining the teen’s hair was just a “no. 2” but potentially looked shorter because of its fineness, seems to have helped.

“If they want to go to the Rivercruise they have to go to school on the last day,” she said.

“He studied his butt off, he wanted to do really well – he was more excited about school today than the river cruise.

“He hasn’t got a shaved head, stripes or swirls to say he looks gangster-ish. It’s a boy’s haircut.”

Sandra said a staff member later said they no longer had an issue with her son but had taken issue with her attitude.

Asked for clarification about the situation - or even background information as to what its haircut policy might be - Corpus Christi declined to comment.

In a statement, Catholic Education WA said it was not appropriate for the school to comment on an individual situation.

“The college has a clearly defined and consistently applied uniform policy, and parents and caregivers agree to this policy when enrolling their child as a student of the college,” the statement read.

“It is intended that uniform standards will be adhered to by all students, whenever attending school.

“Decisions by college staff regarding the enforcement of the uniform policy are always made in the best interests of each student’s education.”

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