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Palmerston North's Awatapu College is refusing to sell bandanas to raise money for teen cancer because it might encourage pupils who are gang prospects to don their colours.
Mongrel Mob red and Black Power blue feature among this year's CanTeen head scarves, the Manawatu Standard reports.
Awatapu is the local secondary school for the Highbury suburb where gang violence exploded a few years ago, with a 16-year-old boy, affiliated to Black Power, shot dead.
The school was "very vigilant" in keeping students safe, Awatapu principal Tina Sims said.
"We have never sold bandanas here because often bandanas do have an association with a gang...we work very hard to keep that out of the school.
"It's not a big problem for us, but we are really conscious to keep any gang element out of the school."
CanTeen sells bandanas annually to raise awareness and money to support young people living with cancer.
- NZPA
