Move Over Hijab, This School Has Banned Ponytail for Girls

This school rule was criticised for infringing on students' human rights and privacy since some school staff members were said to check students' underwear when they changed for their sports activity.

Japanese schools have a reputation for enforcing some strange restrictions, some of which are downright alarming. For example, female students are not permitted to wear their hair in ponytails.

Female pupils are not allowed to wear ponytails at school because the "nape of their necks" could "sexually arouse" male classmates.

Ponytails have replaced the white-only underwear policy.

Also Read: UG Admissions To Augustana University For Fall 2022 With Scholarships Worth Up To USD 1 Lakh

Former middle school teacher Motoki Sugiyama told Vice that the logic is comparable to the schools' white-only underwear regulation, which ensures that they don't show through the uniforms.

"They’re worried boys will look at girls, which is similar to the reasoning behind upholding a white-only underwear colour rule. I’ve always criticised these rules, but because there’s such a lack of criticism and it’s become so normalised, students have no choice but to accept them," he said.

According to Vice, a 2020 poll found that one out of every ten schools in Fukuoka's southern prefecture forbade the hairdo.

For the past 11 years, Sugiyama has taught at five different schools in Shizuoka prefecture, all of which have banned ponytails. He has been attempting to reveal unfair demands on students as he believed the gendered restrictions were sexist and inhibited students' self-expression.

The Japanese school dress code has been criticized.

Japan's public schools have been criticised for enforcing ludicrous dress code regulations. After a public outcry, schools were obliged to abandon the all-white underwear policy last year.

This school rule was criticised for infringing on students' human rights and privacy since some school staff members were said to check students' underwear when they changed for their sports activity. Some even pull on their female classmates' bra straps.

After the regulation drew criticism and parents labelled it "disgusting," one governing body concluded that something needed to be done. An investigation of problematic policies at 51 managed middle and high schools by the Saga Prefecture Board of Education revealed that 14 of them had a white-underwear requirement.

After much deliberation, the board decided to repeal the rule. Since the previous school year, there have been no checks on the colour of kids' underpants.

To be more welcoming to anyone who identifies as non-binary or gender fluid, the board also eliminated laws that required the labelling of different uniforms for male and female students.