A teenager who shaved his unruly hair to raise hundreds of pounds for a cancer charity has been put in isolation on his return to school.
Taylor Jones, 15, lost his locks in a sponsored trim at the weekend and raised £850 for Cancer Research.
But when he went back to Launceston College in Cornwall he was ordered straight into isolation because of his ‘extreme haircut’.
Taylor, who is due to take his GCSEs in less than a month, has been told he cannot return to lessons until his hair grows back to a more suitable length.
But as a result of the row more people have donated to his fund-raising and boosted his effort.
His dad Nick Jones angrily accused the school of acting like a “dictatorship”.
He said his son was so upset after his first day in isolation he had to persuade him to go into school the next day.
He said: “He has been growing it for a while and it had got very unruly and most people said his previous hairstyle was more of an extreme haircut than this is.
“We did try to get him to do it in the first week of the holidays, but unfortunately the people who were going to cut his hair weren’t available, so he decided he would take the consequences and do it on Saturday.”
Taylor returned to school on the first day back after the Easter holidays and was almost immediately put in the Internal Exclusion Room.
He was told he would be forced to spend break times, lunchtimes and lessons until his hair grew back.
His dad added: “I’m very angry about it. Taylor has been made very upset, I’ve persuaded him to go back in tomorrow.
“He’s nearly 16 so trying to dictate what length his hair should be is a bit ridiculous. They’re basically saying if you’re bald that’s not an acceptable look.
“The deputy principal spoke to me and said they were trying to teach children there are rules to follow.
“It sounds like a dictatorship to me. It is petty red tape and it’s not helping anybody.
“We’ve been bowled over by the support he’s got. He’s taking his GCSEs in four weeks’ time.”
A friend posted on Facebook: “We thought our school wouldn’t mind what he had done as it was for a good cause, apparently the fact that he’d raised over £850 pounds wasn’t good enough and before he had even gotten to his first lesson they put him in isolation labeling it an “extreme haircut”, telling him that he’s not able to return to normal lessons until his hair grows back to a more a more suitable length.
“This is not only bad because of the fact it was for cancer but also that his gcse’s are coming up and they’re making him miss out on vital lessons that’s could boost his chances of being successful in them (not really what you’d expect from a place that’s supposed to be setting up children for the future).
“Personally I don’t think it’s fair to punish a student for trying to do something that should be celebrated just because our school is so caught up in its own image.”
The Facebook post on Launceston Notice Board immediately prompted a furious reaction with many people condemning the college.
There were also hundreds of offers of support for his charity fundraising and Taylor has now set up a JustGiving page to raise more money for Cancer Research UK.
Jobi Hovis Hold wrote: “Absolutely horrified reading this! Shame on you Launceston College……..I suppose you’d put a student having gone through chemo in isolation too for not having hair! Disgraceful, this school gets worse by the day.”
Stephanie Barret said: “That is absolutely shameful of Launceston college you should be making a positive example of this young man achievement surly this is something for the school to be proud of I hope they think again.”
Deb Oliver commented: “Well done Taylor on thinking of others & raising a terrific amount of money for charity. Launceston College should be ashamed for punishing you for this. They should be proud to have such a kind pupil , not put you in isolation for it, it’s a disgrace!!!!”
Mo Richard Andrews posted: “Launceston college you should be celebrating what this young lad has done for charity ,not punishing him ,these kids are our future big them up ,don’t put them down ,well done Taylor ,is there a just giving page for this as would like to show my support.”
