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School officials cutting students’ hair, slapping or punching them and hurling insults… These are some of the punishments inflicted on students at schools in Iran. Now thanks to smartphones, students are able to record videos of these incidents and share them online. Our Observer, a teacher in Iran, told us that although these types of punishments have become more rare in recent years, they still exist in some schools.
A video published on April 13 on an Iranian Telegram channel shows a shocking scene: a school vice-principal grabbing students by their hair and cutting pieces out at random. The video appears to have recorded by a student in a classroom above, looking down at the schoolyard.
The video, filmed at a school in Iran, shows a well-known form of punishment for boys.
Iran’s schools are gender segregated – male and female students go to completely different schools. Both boys and girls are expected to abide by a conservative dress code. Boys must maintain very short hair and modest outfits. Girls are required to wear loosely fitted dresses to hide their shape as well as headscarves. Make-up is out of the question.
When they don’t follow the dress code, students can be subject to strict discipline. The video above shows one common punishment for boys who wear their hair too long. After having random chunks of hair cut from their heads, these students will have no choice but to go to a barber and have their hair cut very short to fix it.
This video went viral on social media, attracting the attention of public officials. On April 16, the Iranian government announced that the vice-principal in the video had been suspended and would be investigated by the administrative court. Two other principals at the school resigned.
Haircutting isn’t the only type of punishment…
Source : france24
