Can Teachers Have Colored Hair?
Years back going to work with visible tattoos, facial piercings, or even colored hair was considered unaccepted in almost any industry, except for a few like the fashion industry.
People who expressed themselves differently in this manner were considered unprofessional leading to working professionals looking a certain way.
We all need our jobs to put food on the table and pay the bills, which meant everyone needed to conform or face the consequences no one wanted.
Unfortunately, as advanced and enlightened as our communities are becoming, the stigma associated with these forms of self-expression remains, although tolerated in some settings.
This challenge is also widely debated in the education industry as teachers in most communities are forbidden to have nose piercings, tattoos and other body art, and even colored hair.
Although having body art may be seen as cool by the learners, the educational institution and parents considered these as unprofessional.
Some parents even start to fear for the safety of their children as the social stigma associated with colored hair and body art.
The general thinking is that they don’t want their children to be taught by ruffians, deviants, and rebellious people.
This is an old-fashioned mentality with no real substance in our modern world but still carries weight especially with the older generation.
Why People Dye Their Hair
See these other popular picks in this category:
1. Cover Grey Hair
Grey hair is an eventuality for everyone but some get it earlier than others. While some people may like it, others, not so much.
When this happens they can decide to either leave them as they are or simply dye their hair to cover up the grey.
That said, some people like the grey hair look and choose to dye their hair grey whether to cover up or just out of love for the color.
2. Variety
There’re few parts of the human body we can tweak with little to no ramifications. These include the hair, nails, and eyelashes.
Both men and women can visit the barbering shop or the salon to get their hair cut or designed a specific way they want.
There’s a reason we keep changing hairstyles and experimenting with new ones we find interesting.
Being a professional doesn’t mean you become a robot who can’t express itself. These feelings of self-expression are inherent with all living things.
Ever found your body moving when there was a song playing? We’re conditioned to express ourselves and any form of repression can lead to negative consequences sometimes.
Someone deciding to change their hair color to try out a new look, simply means they want to try something different.
Knowing full well that their hair color doesn’t hurt anyone or hinder their ability to do their work.
3. Background
Having colored hair doesn’t mean you’re rebellious in any way. Yes, it’s true someone with colored hair can be rebellious but that’s simple mathematics.
Imagine growing up with parents who’re into fashion or growing up with a sibling who likes accessorizing.
Fashion is all about creativity and the ability to express yourself and that’s what a parent in that industry does.
Exposure leads to creativity and hindering a child’s creativity especially with that level of exposure can affect them negatively.
The child eventually starts experimenting with different hair colors, clothing, and more, simply because they like how their parents or their siblings look.
This in no way means the child is rebellious but chooses to express themselves and their creativity through their appearance.
4. Favorite Color
You know how most people have a favorite color or colors. It’s nothing strange to see someone add the color blue, red, pink, or any other color to their hair simply because they love the color.
It makes them feel good and by extension, increases their confidence. Unfortunately, the social stigma in most communities deters people from changing their hair color.
Although you might see someone in the community who took the risk, the person is tagged negatively in the community, preventing others from trying even when they want to.
5. Boring Hair
I’m tempted to think that even nature finds our hair color boring which is why it chooses to provide some variety by giving us grey hair.
Some people find their natural hair color boring and simply want to try out different colors, knowing full well that these artificial colors aren’t permanent and they can always revert when they want to.
Reasons Why Teachers Can Have Unnatural Hair Colors
1. Common
Although have unnatural was still seen as unique, strange and came with negative stigma in various communities, just some decades ago, this has become very common in our modern societies.
While having facial piercings, tattoos and colored hair in years past would have been seen as distracting, this isn’t the case anymore in our modern societies.
Learners are used to seeing people with unnatural hair colors and in some cases, learners also have different-colored hair. This makes it less of a distraction if any at all than it was in times past.
2. No Effect On Performance
Although some may not approve of a teacher or even other professionals having colored or unnatural hair, the truth remains that the hair has no negative effect on their capabilities.
Imagine going through the necessary training, acquiring your certificate, and applying for a job simply to be rejected over the color of your hair.
No one ever gives you an explanation for how the color of your hair can impact your ability to administer your duties.
The truth is that your hair color doesn’t have an impact on the knowledge you’ve acquired or the training you’ve received to successfully accomplish your duties.
3. Relate Better With Learners
Although the older generation might find colored hair strange, this is very normal with the younger generation.
With modern youth able to fully express themselves and their creativity, different colored hair is simply normal hair to them.
It’s easier for learners to relate and connect to such a teacher as they feel comfortable around them.
4. No Regulations Against
Although some people may think schools already have regulations around hair color, most schools have no regulations against this.
Some schools put no restrictions for teachers against nose rings, hair color, and even tattoos, knowing full well that these do not have any impact on the teacher’s ability to administer their duties.
In some cases, the rules are set in place against facial piercings and tattoos but hair color is usually exempted.
This is because hair color unlike the others isn’t permanent and can easily be changed if necessary for meetings with strict regulations.
Reasons Why Teachers Can’t Have Unnatural Hair Colors
1. Role Model
Teaching is one profession where your choices, especially those that have to do with your appearance need to be carefully considered.
This is because teachers interact with the youth daily and have some level of influence on them.
Imagine a learner going home and telling their parents they want green-colored hair because their teacher has green-colored hair.
Some parents are undecided about their children changing their hair color and some issues are difficult to explain to younger kids.
Parenting is a lot of work and the last thing you want is to make decisions that might impact your child negatively.
Although the population is becoming more accepting of these changes in appearance, some communities still hold their reservations.
This puts the parent in a tough spot making a decision that could impact how the child is seen in the community.
2. Societal Expectations
Teaching is an old profession and comes with some expectations in the community. Teachers are expected to look a particular way and it becomes difficult for others to accept anything else.
Society expects to look a particular way and a teacher with colored hair is something most people do not expect.
This sets off some form of alarm especially when the teacher keeps changing the color of their hair every time.
These parents start to think the teacher doesn’t belong in the profession and only chose to become a teacher because there was no other option for them.
Unfortunately, this may not be true in most cases the teacher simply likes that appearance, but society still sees things differently.
3. Distracting
Although colored hair is slowly becoming normal in our modern society, it can still be distracting to other staff members and learners.
This is especially true when teachers change the color of their hair frequently. It becomes a form of distraction in class when learners are more focused on new hair color and how it looks on the teacher.
4. School Regulations
Most schools don’t have laws against hair color, although some have laws against piercings and tattoos.
This can be because of various reasons from complaints lodged by parents to the school’s desire to present a favorable image to the community they serve.
In this case, teachers would need to ensure that they follow the regulations of the institution as failure to do so could lead to a termination of their contracts.
Our Recommendation
No. While most educational institutions have no outlined regulations against colored hair, any unnatural hair color is considered unprofessional and frowned upon by both institutions and parents.
Unnatural hair coloring is slowly becoming normal even in professional settings. That said, slowly is the word in professional settings.
Most schools have no real regulations against it and rightly so as there’re no negative effects of the teacher’s hair color on their ability to administer their duties.
That said, we recommend that you confirm with the school before taking this initiative to avoid any breach of contract.
In some cases, some moderation could come in handy making it easier for the institution to accept the transition.
Always be mindful that the school signs your paycheck and can easily cancel your contract if you break any of their rules.
Feel free to leave a comment and let us know your impression on this topic.
