But I am wondering why this skirmish between Lucan Battison and St John's College over hair length caused such a stir?

Why is it that a disagreement between a school and one of its students in a provincial town in a tiny country at the bottom of the world should cause such a tidal wave of chatter?

It featured all week on the front page of several of New Zealand's metropolitan newspapers.

It filled the talkback chat and the blogosphere. It even sent ripples out to England, Japan, the USA and elsewhere.

Of course the haircut war is an eternal warfare. There is no end in sight.

When I was a schoolboy the school sent students home because their hair was too short. Crew cuts were the fashion statement of the day. One fortunate guy who shaved his head earned himself a holiday until his hair grew again.

Later, I became a schoolteacher and we sent people home because their hair was too long. As we morphed into the austere 90s short was again the problem.

Now the possibilities are endless. Hair can be too short. It can be too long. It can be green, red or rainbow. It can have names or designs carved into it. You can make it took like a rooster's comb and add a safety pin through your nose for good measure.

It is easy to blame a cynical media by saying this kind of story sells papers. But we the readers are the real culprits. The story would not sell if we did not want to read about it.

And yes, I did want to read about it, I became fascinated by it, but why?

Well there is the Tiananmen Square syndrome, the lonely individual standing in front of the mighty tank. We do love the little kiwi battler.

The student was already a minor celeb. He had featured in a good news story after saving someone from drowning. Now here he is standing alone in front of the mighty educational institution.

Then there were the delightful incongruities: the photo of the board chairman as a school boy sporting long locks; the student and his dad all dressed up in suits and ties with their hair neatly groomed for the appearance in court.

But beyond that there remains something more primal - hair "censored and shaved, controlled and suppressed" as the Australian poet and cartoonist Michael Leunig wrote in his prayer "Giving thank for the mystery of hair."

Hair, says Leunig, is

"Complex and wild; Reminding us softly

That we might be animals.

Growing and growing

‘Til the day that we die.

And the day after so they say"

Becoming an adult requires a rite of passage, a journey from dependence to autonomy. And on that journey you have to challenge the rules.

A wise old teacher once told me we need a few unimportant rules for people to rebel against. He suggested we make smoking compulsory and forbid the eating of broccoli.

Then, he said, we would be picking up broccoli stalks rather than cigarette butts behind the gym.

Hair is so primal, it is not surprising that it became the battleground on which we wage our personal war of independence.

The school was right; it is the school's job to require compliance.

The student was right; it is a young man's job to test the boundaries. This is the way a human being finds a healthy balance between independence and belonging.

Conflict and tension are not always bad things. They can help us to learn and to change.

You can have peace only if one side wins and the other loses.

If the institutions always win we have a political dictatorship.

If the institutions never win we have another kind of dictatorship called chaos.

When chaos rules there is just one rule - the survival of the fittest; the powerful prevail and gentle people go under.

So long may the hairy battle continue.

Denis O'Hagan is a Marist priest. He is the editor of CathNews New Zealand, and former schoolteacher. He began his teaching career with a one-term stint at St John's College Hastings. At the time he had long hair, now he hasn't got any hair. It's neither here nor there.

Brother Patrick Lynch said the recent court decision had ramifications for all schools when it came to student grooming.

He said a law change may be needed to ensure schools retained the ability to set rules and govern behaviour.

On Friday a High Court Judge ruled that the suspension of Lucan Battison from St John's college in Hasting was unlawful because suspension should be used only for serious matters.

Justice Collins also found the college's hair rule was unlawful because it was open to interpretation.

On Friday St. John's principal Paul Melloy said: "Naturally we are disappointed of the decision made in Wellington today."

"The Board of Trustees are taking time to consider the judgment made by Justice Collins in terms of its impact, both on our school and on other schools."

Secondary Principals' Association president Tom Parsons said schools now faced the prospect of "lawyering up" simply to ensure rules that might already be clear to students and parents passed the legal test set by the High Court.

School Trustees' Association president Lorraine Kerr said although the ruling set a precedent, she hoped common sense would prevail.

She said other schools may need to look over their own rules as a result of the judgement, to ensure the intent of their policy is clear.

Principals' Federation president Philip Harding says principals shouldn't expect a rush of lawyers arguing against their rules.

However, he says they do need to take care in how they apply their rules.

Mt Albert Grammar headmaster Dale Burden said Lucan Battison's parents should have supported the school's judgment. "It should never have gone to court ... You back the school, you don't back your belly-aching teenager on everything.

"These judges don't make it easy for schools, they really don't."

Nigel Latta, a clinical psychologist and parenting expert , says,"There are implications for the rest of us, for our schools, for our kids now."

"It's not a small point that now schools will have to spend money on lawyers to vet rules."

"What it means for all of us is schools will be spending money on lawyers when they could be spending that money on textbooks or technology or professional development - that is where that money should go."

Latta said while he supported young people pushing limits, he didn't support the argument ending up in court.

Legal expert Dr Bill Hodge said the costs associated with having school rules scrutinised and drafted by lawyers would run into thousands of dollars.

Hodge said the ruling meant that amateur administrators serving on boards of trustees were effectively being held to the standard of professional law makers.

The Battison family's lawyer, Jol Bates, said when asked if he thought the college would appeal against the decision, "The judgment makes it very hard for the school to appeal."

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• 3News
• New Zealand Herald
• The Telegraph
• New Zealand Herald

Battison, a pupil at the College, has refused to get a haircut, after being told to do so by the school.

The lawyer representing the St John's College Hastings told the Wellington court on Monday afternoon that if the principal did not apply the school's rules that could lead to a breakdown in discipline. He said young men need to have boundaries.

But the Battison family's lawyer told the court the suspension breached the boy's bodily integrity and also breached the school's charter. continue reading and further reading