The mother of a 13-year-old boy who suffers from a rare form of alopecia has criticised his school after it banned him from wearing a baseball cap.
Dale Platts was diagnosed with bronchiolitis, a respiratory virus, when he was five-months-old. As a result he contracted alopecia universalis and lost his hair, toenails and fingernails.
Since attending secondary school the youngster has worn his New York Yankees baseball cap to protect his bald head and eyes, which don't have any lashes.
The blue cap also protected him from bullies who have called him names such as "slap head".
His mother Kenina Platts, 41, of Collingham, Newark, criticised Robert Pattinson School in North Hykeham, Lincolnshire, after he was told the cap broke its dress code.
The school originally allowed Dale to wear a beanie hat but during last summer term relented and allowed him to wear his cap as the hat made his asthma and eczema worse in the heat. But when he returned to school on the first day of term he tried to wear his cap because the hat continued to inflame his eczema and bring on asthma attacks.
He was then told he would either have to take it off, stay at home or be taught in isolation. At present he is staying at home and missing classes.
Mrs Platts said: "It makes me feel angry and hurt. A lot of my friends and family have been saying that it would be different if he had coloured skin. The school would never have been allowed to get away with it.
"Dale is upset about it. He just wants to be at school with his friends, getting on with school. We have had problems with previous schools and I have threatened to go to the press but Dale has asked me not to. But this has been a step too far. He just feels beaten by political correctness, red tape and silly rules."
Stuart MacFarlane, head teacher of the school, said: "We cannot comment of individual cases. We are always open to further discussions with parents on any issue."
source: ukpress.google.com
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