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More high schools abolish old rules, provide freedom with underwear, hair and dating

20 Comments
By Oona McGee, SoraNews24

Controversial school regulations have been under the spotlight in Japan recently, with an overwhelming number of people calling for reviews to be made after it was revealed that students were being forced to dye their hair and even show their underwear to teachers.

These rules, which have been in place at a wide number of schools across the country for decades, ultimately aim to uphold uniformity amongst students. However, when students with naturally brown hair are forced to dye their hair black to align with a school’s no-dyed hair color policy, and student handbooks advise that pupils’ underwear must be white or beige for “hygiene reasons”, basic human rights start becoming a legitimate concern.

▼ If you were a student born with this hair color, chances are you’d be accused of dyeing it, and would have to dye it black.

Brown-hair-school-Ja.jpg

Because of these concerns, schools and prefectural boards of education are now under pressure to review outdated regulations, dubbed “black school rules” for their negative nature. Thankfully, this pressure is slowly leading to change, with Saga Prefecture recently announcing it would do away with underwear and hair checks, and now Western Japan’s Mie Prefecture has revealed it has followed suit.

According to Mie’s prefectural board of education, as of this spring all public high schools in the prefecture have abolished school rules regarding hairstyles, the color of underwear, and also dating. The changes came into effect after a 2019 survey found that out of 54 public high schools in the prefecture, 24 had provisions banning the “two-block” undercut hairstyle (short back and sides), 17 required students to submit a form stipulating their hair color and quality (to check for dyed hair), and 18 schools prohibited dating among students.

In addition, two schools required that clothing underneath uniforms should be light-colored to make them less visible.

All these rules have now been abolished, with a representative from the board’s Student Guidance Division describing the regulations as relics of the past, and unsuitable for current times.

The prefectural education board played an instrumental role in bringing about the changes, asking schools and principals’ associations to review school regulations at meetings with guidance counseling staff in attendance.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is now encouraging other education boards to ask schools to review their policies, sending out notifications to boards around the country earlier this month. These moves look set to bring about wide-sweeping change throughout the education system to bring it up to speed with the changing times, and put to rest concerns expressed by pupils, parents, teachers and members of society as a whole.

Because a step forward for students’ rights is a step forward for individual rights, which helps to create a happier, healthier, safer path for everyone, especially the adults of tomorrow.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun via Livedoor News via Jin

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- Majority of Nagasaki high schools and middle schools have white-underwear-only rules, study finds

-- Tokyo public schools will stop forcing students with non-black hair to dye it, official promises

-- Naturally brown-haired Osaka student sues government for forcing her to dye her hair black

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

20 Comments
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Hopefully nationwide changes will come into effect by the time that my daughters enter high school, and they can enjoy their studies without worrying about these outdated draconian rules....

10 ( +11 / -1 )

announcing it would do away with underwear and hair checks

Creeps

the regulations as relics of the past, and unsuitable for current times.

I can't believe this is coming from Japan. Good job.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

School can be a traumatic experience for children, even without being forced to submit to panty checks and to conform to a single hair color.

I wonder how many teachers with pedophilic tendencies use these rules as an excuse to molest kids? Protecting the children would seem a better priority than subjecting them to humiliation.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

This is great news! I hope the trend continues!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Because a step forward for students’ rights is a step forward for individual rights, which helps to create a happier, healthier, safer path for everyone, especially the adults of tomorrow.

Yes, tomorrow. Around the year 1956. Well, you know the old saying, better late by about 65 years than never.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Welcome to the 20th century japan. Still a bit behind but we all know you take baby steps

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Next? Uniforms!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I don't live that far from Saga about an hour away, but I think it's a great move. My daughter's school starting from this year has changed their uniforms, they're trendier and the girls have the choice between wearing a skirt or slacks and you could see at this years entrance ceremony that the some of the girls (3) wearing slacks looked so happy and relieved and it was just nice to watch, they definitely felt liberated and confident.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

As someone who has a few items of underwear in white, I can tell you, white is NOT a good idea. Bleach doesn't help!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

pupils’ underwear must be white or beige for “hygiene reasons”

Let them wear big black pants, like the rest of womanhood, when they need to.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

forced to dye their hair and even show their underwear to teachers.

Thank goodness someone has a bit of intelligence and common sense! as for checking kids underware, eeeer, no, not now, not ever!

pupils’ underwear must be white or beige for “hygiene reasons”

Hygien reasons, please explain that one to me please! are we still in the 16 century? will they start ducking kids in rivers as they might be whiches if they have black underware on??

As for there hair, natural colour is ok with me, so long as the kid does not have a rebliuos streak in them and comes into school with bright green or blue hair natural colour hair is ok.

I do beleave in school kids wareing a school uniform, but I dont want them to be robots, kids are under a lot of social and peir pressure as it is, this might lead to less suicides, for goodness let kids be kids.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

shogun36June 22  02:04 pm JST

Because a step forward for students’ rights is a step forward for individual rights, which helps to create a happier, healthier, safer path for everyone, especially the adults of tomorrow.

Yes, tomorrow. Around the year 1956. Well, you know the old saying, better late by about 65 years than never.

About time. Welcome to 1960, Japan. Don't you know that men started sporting longer hair and wearing blue heans to school? Nice to see you starting to catch up with the rest of the Universe.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Depends on how you bleach them. I use a combination of things to get my whites sparkling. It can be done.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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