JOHANNESBURG – There’s been mixed reaction over a British school’s treatment of a 12-year-old Rastafarian boy’s hairstyle.

He was told to cut his hair or face suspension.

eNCA’s UK correspondent, Natalie Powell explains: “This is probably the first story that has come out in this way very publicly. Other children have faced similar things, but very often the parents will comply with these school uniforms regulations and cut the child’s hair. This is the first publicly outspoken parents.

“The response has been quite significant – a lot of people are quite shocked by this. On the hand, you’ve got those that say this is the school uniform policy. Interestingly, this regulation has only been introduced recently.”

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The CEO and founder of natural hair products range, Afrobotanics says society needs to relook at traditions, particularly those around black hair.

Ntombenhle Kathwane was part of a discussion on the treatment of a Rastafarian schoolboy at a British School.

She says: “There are other things that have changed according to tradition, for instance, the way we disciplined our kids. Corporal punishment used to be a norm, used to be a tradition, it no longer is,

“When it comes to how black children look, it perpetuated a generation of racist young kids, not just black children who don’t feel good about themselves, but white kids who think that black kids are dirty. We still have schools that check if kids have lice in their hair because they have natural hair or braids. We need to embrace diversity as a tradition.”

eNCA