Girl punished for natural hair color violating school dress code maliciously complies

Editor's note: This article was originally published on January 7, 2022. It has since been updated.

Many schools exhibit a double standard in enforcing dress codes, with girls often facing stricter scrutiny over their appearance. At a private Christian high school, a strict adherence to rules led to a girl being asked not to dye her hair. Unbeknownst to the school, she had poliosis—a condition where parts of the hair lack color due to reduced melanin, as explained by Bored Panda. She had a natural patch of white hair in the front of her head. The color difference made it look like she had tried the "rogue" hair trend. School authorities mistakenly believed she was intentionally dying her hair, which set off alarm bells.

Ironically, she initially dyed the white patch black to comply with the dress code, even though it meant breaking the rule against dyeing hair. When her hair grew back, she informed her parents about her condition, compelling the school to retract their demand. The story was shared on Reddit. A Reddit user stated the incident had happened to their cousin, a senior at a private Christian high school.

"So my cousin has a natural patch of white hair at the front of her otherwise dark head of hair. She's had this all her life and it's gotten bigger as she's gotten older. She used to get teased a lot for it at school...until bleaching/dyeing the hair at the front of your head a different color than the rest of your hair became a trend, and now she blends right in with other girls her age," they wrote.

They then explained that the school's very strict dress code stated that no hair should be dyed "unnatural colors" and extreme hairstyles should be avoided. She appeared to be in violation because of her condition. "When in-person classes resumed at her school, one of my cousin's teachers took one look at her hair and sent her to the principal's office, insisting my cousin's 'unnatural, extreme' hair was in violation of the dress code and 'too distracting,' despite the fact that she's never dyed/bleached any part of her hair in her life," he wrote. She defended herself but the principal refused to listen to her. "She told my cousin 'When you come back tomorrow, I expect you to have dyed your hair back to its natural color and don't dye it again! As long as you are at our school, you are to adhere to the dress code!' My cousin smugly replied 'Of course, I will comply with the dress code from now on!'" he wrote.

Dua lipa sporting the "rogue" hairstyle that matched the hairstyle of the student:

She dyed the white portion black and teachers complimented her on her "natural hair" but within no time, her natural hair started growing, revealing the white portion again. Her teachers got on her case and one of them took her to the principal's office to complain again. When questioned, she replied that she had complied with their requests. "Well, you told me to dye my hair back to its 'natural' color and to never dye it again! So I did just that. I dyed my hair the color of the hair on most of my head to get rid of the white streak, which, by the way, is how my hair naturally grows and didn't dye it again, so now the roots are showing! I did exactly what you told me to do!"

The principal wasn't "buying it" and suspended her. The school authorities asked her parents to come to pick her up from school. They produced her old photographs to prove that it was her natural condition and that the white patch was there throughout her life. If that wasn't enough, her father also had a white patch in the front of his otherwise dark head of hair. It runs in the family they convinced the school authorities. They lifted the suspension but cautioned, "extreme hair is still a distraction to the other students, and they are going to wonder why you're getting special treatment. Consider yourself lucky!" She has since proudly worn her white patch in school while continuing to attract disapproving looks from school authorities. Her cousin later confirmed that she wasn't returning to this school after this incident.