Cancer charity hair dye sees Kells student sent home from school

A Carlanstown family expressed their hurt and upset this week when their son was sent home from school because he had dyed his hair for a charity fundraiser. Leaving Cert student Jack Lawes was devastated when he was sent home from Kells Community School yesterday (Tuesday) because of his bright pink hair, which was dyed as part of the Today FM Shave Or Dye charity campaign to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society. The charity is particularly close to Jack's heart, as his mother, Cicely, has recovered from cancer. "I am not the type of person who would do this just for the craic. I would be afraid of other students making smart comments about it, but I felt strongly about it and wanted to this for charity," he said. What has really upset his family is that he was sponsored for the charity campaign by the school's deputy principal and two of his teachers. To date, Jack has raised over €350 for the Irish Cancer Society. His father, Gerard, is angry at the school's decision and said his wife had been particularly upset by the incident. "It is his Leaving Certificate year and he cannot afford to miss time off school, particularly after all the time they missed because of the weather," he said. "Jack has been a pupil of the school for six years and has never been in trouble before. My wife has had cancer and my father died of it. This was a major thing Jack wanted to do and some of the teachers actually sponsored him," he said. "They obviously knew he was going to dye his hair and why he was doing it. We are very hurt by this. There was no negotiating with them," he said. Jack's hair was dyed on Monday at the House of Colour salon in Dublin. The salon dyed the hair, a procedure which would normally cost €120, for free because it was for charity. He said he was in the school just five minutes yesterday when deputy principal, Ms Kay O'Brien, brought him into the office, his parents were contacted and he was sent home. He said the school wants him to dye his hair back to blonde and has told him he would still be in trouble if he shaved it off. "Dying it again would be expensive and would be too severe - the hair would break off," he said. "This will fade in two weeks and I wanted to just let it fade. They knew I was going to do this. Some of them sponsored me, so I thought it would be alright, especially as this is my Leaving Cert year," he said. Ms O'Brien said the school would not comment on any individual student.