It has been claimed that a teacher at private Lourdes Hill College in Brisbane "humiliated and reprimanded" a student who shaved her head for charity. Photo / Google
It has been claimed that a teacher at private Lourdes Hill College in Brisbane "humiliated and reprimanded" a student who shaved her head for charity. Photo / Google
A Queensland private school has come under fire for allegedly telling a student to "wear a hat at all times" after she shaved her head for charity.
The year 11 student, from Lourdes Hill College in Brisbane's east, who asked not to be named, had raised more than $900 for the Leukaemia Foundation's World's Greatest Shave campaign and shaved her hair off in accordance with the charity's tradition.
Lourdes Hill College principal Robyn Anderson sent a letter to parents welcoming comments from parents. Photo / News.com.au
Despite informing her school two weeks prior to shaving her head, she was allegedly told to cover her bald head in class on Monday, a move that has created controversy among parents and students.
A Facebook post shared by the mother of a fellow Lourdes Hill student has gone viral this week after it described the alleged treatment of the girl at the prestigious school.
"This particular girl was advised that she was not allowed to remove her hat at any time during the day because her head was shaved, for a great cause," Deanna Tezak wrote.
Tezak claimed the girl was "humiliated and reprimanded" by a teacher because she had shaved her head.
"This teacher then went out of her way to ask other teachers if she had her hat on in class (in 35 degree heat)," she wrote.
"When this female teacher found out that she had taken her hat off in class, she was pulled out of the classroom, in front of the other students, and reprimanded for 20 minutes before being allowed back into the classroom."
"Not only did she raise money, she had the courage to shave her head," Tezak said.
"What kind of message do you think this is sending to the rest of the students at the school?"
The post was shared nearly 400 times and liked by more than 500 people, many of whom demanded the school apologise to the girl.
In response, another student posted in a private online group calling for other students to wear hats in support of the student.
"And it we get told to take our hats off in class, we stand together and say no," the post said.
World's Greatest Shave looks to raise money for those fighting blood cancer. Photo / Facebook
Speaking to news.com.au, Tezak said the move was an incredible show of support for the girl.
"They put their hats on their heads and refused to take them off, and then posted photos of them on social media," she said.
The Courier Mail has also reported donations to the student's fundraising page have soared to more than $3200.
Lourdes Hill College would not respond to questions from news.com.au but released two letters to parents yesterday.
In the first letter, Lourdes Hill College principal, Robyn Anderson, assured parents that the college "has a long history of supporting charitable fundraising initiatives" and that the protection of students was a major priority.
In a follow up email, distributed yesterday afternoon, Anderson advised parents that the family of the girl in question had asked that the school refrain from commenting publicly on the matter.
She did, however, strongly encourage "direct conversations with parents at any time".
According to Tezak, the school administration called an "emergency assembly" yesterday to address the issue.
"How are you, as a student, supposed to feel when you do this fantastic thing by raising money for a charity, then you get to school and get torn down for it?" she said.
