Haircut?

It should now be open.

Sorry, I was thought I was giving a ā€˜thumbs upā€™ to an answer. Iol. Iā€™m new.

Thank you for re-opening it.

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Iā€™ll do a proper research later, I have a few resources availableā€¦
The position may be slightly different now as both those cases pre-date the Equality Act and times have unsurprisingly changed. Itā€™s not just hair though, itā€™s loads of things. My Sgt ATC wears an earring everywhere but cadets. If he was female he could wear it there too. I just canā€™t see why he canā€™t if he wants to.

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Another excellent example where the rules are not uniform across males & females.

(pun intentional)

Or you could apply reason and be flexible.

They have no joined ā€œa military organisationā€ they have joined a military themed youth organisation.

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As I stated earlier a trip to the GP and a ā€˜biff chitā€™ is all that is required.

Loads of my cadets have long hair, so it would be hard to enforce on some others that theyā€™re not allowed.

A MG i think MattB was referring to the female variety of cadet who are allowed to have long hair. The irony was lost on you.

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The problem is Ap1358c is not very clear on what a good hair cut is and there is no mention anywhere whether male or female that hair can or cannot be tied up.

Much of what we do regarding hair is convention and what we have always done. Anyway what punishment can a member of staff on a sqn give. Chuck then out for having long hair?

Indeed - would also theoretically apply to Sikh or Rastafarian cadets (but I donā€™t have any).

And what happens when they say thatā€™s outdated and unfair?

Let them know that theyā€™re free to follow it up with Wing OC or higher, but until the rules are changed thatā€™s how it is and theyā€™re going to have to firm it.

because if it comes down to you being scrutinised for your cadets unpresentable state, you wouldnā€™t be saying ā€œthe rules are unfairā€ to a Wing Commander or Squadron Leader would you? End of the day, those are the rules, and although I understand empathy and humanity are a matter in this subject, it needs to be understood that most rules should just be followed, especially if it could bring down the rest of the teamā€™s presentation.

A good leader will always stand up for those below them that are having a rough time of it so I probably would.

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A Squadron Leader or Wing Commander is nothing against a medical practitioner.

Damn right I would.

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That is exactly what I do this job for. If you donā€™t do that yourself, you are every poor SNCO I didnā€™t look up to as a cadet.

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We have a Cadet who has more of a mop than a describable haircut. He has been constantly told to sort his Barnet out before he goes into uniform. Heā€™s a bit wired as a kid and would rather tell various stories relating to what is being spoken to him to take onboard. I asked if he was adhd or anything similar (but not so bluntly) cos heā€™s quite chatty but he said he just has too much energy. Personally I canā€™t see him wanting to have a haircut and will probably leave which too be honest is quite sad cos Iā€™m sure with time he would have a awesome personality for the Sqn in the future. With all these younger kids joining with our rules and uniform, they seem to come in and 3-6 months later leave. And when there is a group of friendsā€¦that has meant 2-3 leaving in the same week. Back in my day if we had bum fluff our WO would make us shave it off in the toilet with a bic razor and once that happened weā€™d rarely come unshaven again. We may as well get a revolving door fitted.

In the Air Cadets no ones carries any authority to make cadets do anything. This might upset some of our uniformed staff, but either they get their heads around this or they can leave. This frustrates our CO when it comes to doing things.
The Air Cadets only has club rules and expectations, even with regard to staff, that have no legal standing. Staff are not employed so there are no employer-like sanctions. We might dress these up with faint nod to the RAF and say things, but ultimately we hope that cadets and staff play along and donā€™t make too many ripples. This is one of the reasons a lot seem to despise us CIs, as we canā€™t be controlled by the club rules and bring a degree of sanity to the organisation.
I would go so far as to say that since the CFC any deference to the RAF is purely illusory and only there for the game we play by being in the Air Cadets, and there is no military authority at all, even for Air Cdres, Gp Capts etc who are still part of the RAF.

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