Banning "unnatural" hair colours, hair cuts, piercings and makeup is a real issue, and very unnecessary. Here's why:

• Schools preach for students to always be themselves, but these rules stop them from changing their appearance in a way that expresses who they are, stopping them from being themselves, which is going against their own words, 
• The usual excuse is that some looks are "unprofessional" or "distracting". There is nothing unprofessional about someone's bright green hair, or another's septum piercing, or another's thick eyeliner, or another's mullet, and so on; schools and workplaces are just using it as an excuse to exclude uniqueness, which is what makes us who we are. If someone changes their look, it'll get attention for a little while, but then people will get used to it. It's not distracting in any way, shape or form,
• These rules are simply just unnecessary. There is nothing wrong about having a different look to other people, and it isn't going to be in the way of someone else's education either. Universities see this, why can't primary and secondary schools?
• By having these rules, it is hiding students from things that make people unique. This is why discrimination against the way people look happens in the first place - as soon as students see someone who has several piercings, a bright hair colour, big winged eyeliner, etc, they see them as "weird" because they were taught not to do anything else other than what people would call "normal" with their look. If everyone at a young age was able to experiment and discover themselves through appearance, it wouldn't be seen as weird so much.

I, myself, have and still am struggling with myself and how I look. If I were free to do whatever I wanted with my appearance, I really think I'd feel much better with who I am and what I look like. I know I'm not the only young person who feels like this, which is exactly why this needs to change. 

I strongly believe having rules against "unnatural" hair colours, hair cuts, piercings and makeup is a huge setback for young people. If we were all able to have freedom with changing our appearance from a young age, it would give us a head start on our journey to discovering who we are as a person. No one, no matter who they are, should fear or shy away from uniqueness.