Every single week, thousands of school students across Tamil Nadu face intense anxiety, fear, and public humiliation.

Why? Not because they failed a test or misbehaved, but because of arbitrary, outdated school codes that treat minor uniform errors, hairstyle preferences, language slips, and unavoidable transit delays as severe behavioral offenses.

In many schools across our state, teachers and administrators resort to extreme policing. Students are routinely pulled out of morning assemblies, shamed in front of their peers, barred from attending crucial classes, or made to stand outside in corridors. Children who miss a bus or arrive minutes late are locked outside gates or told they "will not be entertained." Personal belongings like basic accessories are permanently confiscated for an entire academic year, and students are penalized simply for speaking their native language, Tamil, with friends during recess. In severe cases, boys are subjected to forced haircuts right on school premises without parental consent.

This is not discipline. This is institutional harassment and systemic overreach, and it needs to stop now.

Why This Must Change Immediately (The Legal Framework):
It Violates the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 - Section 17: Under Section 17(1) of the RTE Act, physical punishment and mental harassment of children are strictly illegal. Section 17(2) mandates disciplinary action against any educator violating this. Forcibly cutting a child's hair, locking them outside school gates for being late, or publicly shaming them in front of an assembly causes severe psychological trauma and constitutes a flagrant violation of this law. 

It’s a Crime Under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 - Section 75: Section 75 explicitly criminalizes cruelty to children by anyone in a position of authority or control over a child. Subjecting minors to public degradation, emotional distress, or altering their physical bodies against their will inflicts unnecessary mental suffering, which is a punishable offense carrying heavy prison sentences and fines. [1, 2]
It Directly Defies Binding State Guidelines (Tamil Nadu Education Department Circular, 2024): In April 2024, following explicit orders from the Madras High Court, the Tamil Nadu School Education Department released strict state-level Guidelines for the Elimination of Corporal Punishment (GECP). These guidelines explicitly classify public shaming, forcing children into uncomfortable physical positions, and isolation as prohibited forms of mental and physical trauma. 

Constitutional Rights are Violated (Article 21): The Supreme Court of India has repeatedly ruled that the Right to Life and Personal Liberty explicitly encompasses the Right to Live with Dignity. Forcing conformity through public humiliation strips away a child's constitutional right to study with dignity.

Global Precedents Exist: Neighboring nations, such as Nepal through its National Child Rights Council, have completely banned forced student haircuts and aggressive institutional shaming, making it a punishable offense to protect children's mental well-being and self-esteem.

What We Are Demanding:
We are urging the Tamil Nadu School Education Department and the State Child Rights Commission to issue a mandatory directive to all school boards (State, CBSE, ICSE) and Chief Educational Officers (CEOs) across the state to:
Mandate Zero-Tolerance for Public Shaming: Explicitly forbid school authorities from calling out students in assemblies, making them stand in corridors, or humiliating them over uniform, hair, or punctuality infractions.
Ban Classroom Lockouts and Entry Denials: Ensure no student is ever locked outside a school gate or barred from attending classes or exams due to lateness or grooming issues. Punctuality and dress code issues must be resolved privately and respectfully with parents.
Prohibit Forced Physical Alterations: Explicitly declare that forcing a student to cut their hair or doing so on school premises is an act of physical and mental harassment. Shift school guidelines to focus strictly on hygiene and basic tidiness, not cosmetic uniformity (such as banning specific types of short haircuts or fades).
End Language-Based Penalties: Stop the practice of fining, punishing, or emotionally targeting students for communicating in their native languages with friends outside of formal classroom instructions.
Enforce Reasonable Asset Return Rules: Ensure that any items confiscated due to classroom distraction are safely returned directly to the child's parents or guardians within a reasonable timeline, rather than being withheld for months. 

School should be a safe space where students learn, grow, and build self-esteem—not a place where their bodily autonomy and human dignity are systematically violated.

Please sign this petition and share it using #DignityInEducation to protect the rights and mental health of students in Tamil Nadu!