KEY POINTS:
A Papakura High School student is claiming the school is denying him his human rights by forbidding him to have facial hair.
Tarl Stock, 16, contacted the Herald yesterday incensed that while he was legally old enough to drive a car or have sex, he was not allowed to sport a beard in the hallways of the South Auckland school.
"They drive us to achieve the impossible and to excel as an individual. Yet they deny us our every right to express ourselves as young individual males," he said in an email.
"Having facial hair at this school is considered something bad that you should be ashamed of."
Tarl says the school is sending an unclear message, given that many of New Zealand's top sportsmen wear facial hair, and most people support the Movember prostate cancer awareness promotion.
"If the Government can pass a bill that allows 16-year-olds to have tattoos and piercing, why can they not pass a bill that allows young males to have facial hair at school.
"Please don't let this keep happening here."
Tarl claims it is little wonder young men are leaving school early, and says a petition bearing the signature of "every male over the age of 16 in my school" was laughed at, then ripped up, by staff.
As a result of the school's stance, Tarl says he is "seriously considering giving up on the education system", which could jeopardise his goal of becoming a marine engineer.
But Papakura High was last night standing firm on its no-beards policy, which has stood for years.
Principal Angela Appleby confirmed Tarl was still enrolled at the school, saying if he had been stood down or suspended, she personally would have dealt with that.
She did confirm that Tarl had arrived at school this week sporting "a very specially shaped beard" and as a result had spent time in the "reflection room" - an area where errant students are left to consider their actions.
"It's nothing sinister, it's just called that."
Ms Appleby said it was possible Tarl's dean might contact his parents to discuss the matter if he continued wearing a beard.
However, most students backed down before matters got to such a point, she said.
Ms Appleby confirmed the school did not allow any facial hair at all, though sideboard length was often a judgment call.
She said students occasionally attempted to bend the rules, particularly when it came to haircuts.
"We have had some really interesting styles coming in."
Ms Appleby said it was a school rule that students be clean shaven, as the seniors were considered role models for younger children, and were required to set a good example.
