A furious mum claims her son was isolated from his class on his first day of secondary school after his hair was dubbed "'extreme" by one of his teachers.
Student Jaylen Mason, from Dagenham, East London, was allegedly told he might have to remain in isolation away from his friends and his class until his hair grew back.
Mum Aimee Mason, 32, said that she was devastated to see her 11-year-old child return home from school - and was left depressed and upset by the experience.
She claims the actions were a form of racism and showed "a lack of understanding of Afro hair".
Although her son had been nervous for his first day at Robert Clack School, Aimee said Jaylen had been excited to see his friends and start at a new school.
But he was almost immediately excluded from class, spending the day first in isolation and then in the school's 'learning resource centre' away from his friends and teachers, EssexLive reports.
Aimee says she described Jaylen's appearance on the day in question as "immaculate" but the issue raised was with the sides of his head, which because the hair was "shorter than a number two cut" were deemed unacceptable under the school's uniform policy.
She added that her son's textured Afro-Caribbean hair has even further significance in that it is one of the few connections to his father who tragically died when he was only two years old.
She said: “I know that if Jaylen's father was still alive now he would not have even really wanted us to shave the sides, he really wanted Jaylen to keep that connection to his culture.
"We are not talking about just a fashion hairstyle. These things come with history, a sensitive history that is important to understand.
"There's so much more to him having those cornrows, Jaylen’s hair is so important. There is a much deeper kind of meaning and connection than just the obvious."
Aimee added that the school should have recognised that her son was vulnerable and that he deserved the best possible start to the school year.
The next morning, she went with her son to school and says she had "no intention of giving them any leg to stand on".
She said: "I told them everything. I said that it wasn't acceptable. You affected my child's mental health, socialising, and his education on his first day of school. You cannot take that back."
She continued saying that the uniform policy was unfair adding: "The rule saying that they can't have anything less than a number two haircut, including a fade, actually disproportionately affects Black people, which is not OK.
“That in itself is still a form of racism because it shows a major lack of understanding of Afro hair. For most Black people that I know, getting their hair done is traumatising, painful, time-consuming and costly.
"We're not saying that [the school] did this out of malice or intentional racism. Racism is uncomfortable but it's a learning process.
"Sometimes things are going to be racist, even if you don't mean it to be, and it is for you to then learn and change that going forward.”
After the first meeting with the school came to little conclusion, Aimee wrote about the incident online, and a screenshot of her private Instagram post shared by another started to gain traction across the internet, soon resulting in another meeting — this time with the school's headteacher, members of the school's governing board and a member of the local council.
It was here that things started to get better, and Ms Mason commended headteacher Russell Taylor for his compassion as he was also "clearly upset by what had happened" as well.
Jaylen's hairstyle had been brought to the head's attention as an "extreme hairstyle", but mum Aimee claims that when Mr Taylor actually saw it in person he admitted that it was not "extreme", and in fact should not have been deemed a breach of the school's rules.
Jaylen, who now gets to keep his hairstyle, has since received a verbal apology from the school, which is now also revising its uniform policy to make it "more accessible".
Mum Aimee has since praised the school for doing "what no one thought would ever happen and take responsibility for the situation".
The schools' headteacher Russell Taylor said: “The school head and chair of governors have met with the family and have reached a satisfactory conclusion.
"We have acknowledged that the issue of the policy on the website was a technical omission for which we have apologised.
“As a school, we have a responsibility to our pupils and accept that Jaylen should not have had to stay in our Learning Support Centre on his first day.
"I have since spoken to Jaylen and apologised for any distress he may have felt, and he has reacted positively.
“As head, I have made it clear that Jaylen should not have been asked the questions he was asked, and the member of staff concerned has since been spoken to.
"We have offered our apologies to the family for the distress this may have caused and once again, we tender our unreserved apologies.
"The welfare of our young people is of paramount importance, and I am glad that the family has committed to work with the school in future, and we are certain that, together we will ensure that Jaylen is successful and happy at Robert Clack School.”
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