Government's grooming policy reasonable, says Crawford

 

The opposition People's National Party is in agreement with the Ministry of Education that schools should take a collaborative approach in creating grooming policies for students.

 

The Ministry of Education has provided a grooming policy framework to guide school administrators in facilitating discussions with their stakeholders to create their own grooming policies.

 

But the ministry has faced criticisms from the Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network, which argues that school boards still have a lot of flexibility under the policy and that it lacks punitive actions for institutions that bar non-compliant students from entering school compounds.

 

Still, Opposition Spokesman on Education Senator Damion Crawford believes the approach being taken by the ministry is reasonable and acceptable.   

 

"There is a need for balance between the ability to conform, i.e. discipline, and the social norms of what are the things that should be enforced as it is. As those continue to change, there needs to be a collaborative and informed approach by those who are policymakers.

 

"None of us can accept that there should be no limit on the grooming of students. None of us can say you can comb your hair any way you want, you can colour it any way you want, and you can wear whatever uniform you want. So all of us have some limits in our minds. It is that consultation that will lead to an agreement on what is an acceptable limit," he argued. 

 

Mr. Crawford said students should be taught how to lobby school boards to make changes to grooming policies. 

 

"In my time, big pants was the order of the day and tight pants was a nerd. In their time, tight pants is the order of the day, and big pants is a nerd. So they should be able also to say, based on our culture, our reality, our exposure, our socialisation, these are the rules that we believe are adequate," he asserted, noting that this type of lobby would give students real-life experience in how changes are made in the adult world. 

 

Mr. Crawford, who was speaking Tuesday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106, suggested educators must also find other methods to discipline students who are not compliant with dress and grooming policies instead of barring them from school compounds. 

 

"You need progressive punishment if persons are unwilling to acquiesce to the rules that are in place. So day one, you get a detention. Day two, you clean school. If you continue, there must become a day that you must be separated because of your unwillingness to conform. Indeed, when the student becomes an adult, they will learn that reality if they should break the laws of the country. So there is a duty for schools to teach discipline...."

 

He argued that society will be worse off if students are not taught to conform.