Why can't students wear what they like in the classroom - and why do mostgirls have to wear skirts? What about sexual equality, asks Kusi Okamura.

Kyle from Cork is a regular teenager. He's a good student and got 3 As and 5 Bs in his Junior Cert last year. A couple of weeks ago he was surprised when the principal of his school approached him. Never a troublemaker, he was sure the principal barely knew who he was.

His hair, which he had been growing and could now tuck behind his ears, was the problem. He was to get it cut. That afternoon Kyle went home and went straight out again to his part-time job, not giving his hair a second thought. The next day he was suspended and told not to return without his hair cut.

Kyle's class signed a petition about the treatment of their long-haired classmate. Every day they pass the old school photos of 20 and 30 years ago, when all the students had long hair, so why the problem now?

Kyle's mother, who asked for the school's name to be omitted, also supported him, because it wasn't affecting his education. But after a few days Kyle cut his hair. He preferred to stay in the school, which he likes, with his friends. And though his hair's not much shorter now than it was before, after an inspection he was allowed back. His mother knows it's just a matter of hair growth before the trouble starts again, however.

These incidents are not uncommon. Dress codes have been a source of contention between schools, students and parents for as long as teenagers have wanted to express their individuality. But now secondary students in Ireland have a voice.

The Union of Secondary Students (USS), born out of the teachers' strike two years ago, is taking up uniform policy with the Department of Education and Science. It sees some of the policies enforced by schools - such as hair-length limits for boys and compulsory skirts for girls - to be not only too strict and outdated but also inappropriate for a society based on equality.

Edel Ní Shuillibháin (15) would like to wear trousers at her school, Coláiste Chilliain in Clondalkin. She finds skirts uncomfortable and, she says, would like to be "an equal in a mixed school".

Emer Ní Chúagáin of the USS, who is also a student at Coláiste Chilliain, says: "We're not supposed to question our uniforms, but we're taught about equality in Irish society in our classrooms and when it comes to our uniforms the policy is not equal. There are different rules for boys and girls and this is very confusing for students."

The school's principal, Finín Máirtín, says there is no hypocrisy in teaching equality in the classroom but not practising it in school policy. He says the issue of trousers for girls has come up before and is seen as problematic by some of the students.

It is "open for debate", however, and will be decided on by the board of management. (Unusually, although it is strict on uniform code, Coláiste Chilliain lets its students address their teachers by their first names.)

Neither the girls nor the USS say they are anti-uniform, nor are they calling for skirts to be taken off the uniform list. They just want trousers to be an option.

Sexual inequality is not the only issue of concern. Olivia Lee (16), the USS treasurer, goes to St Paul's, an all-girls school in Greenhills. She approves of the school uniform, and although she would like the choice of trousers she thinks most of the girls like the look of their skirts.

There is one dress policy they do not agree with, however. The girls in the school are organising a petition in response to the school's ban on "cult or inappropriate" hairstyles, which apparently refers to the trend of wearing braids or a full head of small plaits.

Black girls at the school are allowed to have braids in their hair, she says, but other girls who have attempted the hairstyle have been told to undo it. "It's probably because it's part of their culture that they're allowed, but isn't that racial discrimination towards us?"

But many students are happy with their uniforms, such as Philip Mortimer (16) from Mile Park in Clondalkin. He thinks his school is fair in its uniform policy, "neither too strict nor too lenient". Mile Park students are given leeway when it comes to self-expression, however.

"There are guys with hair past their shoulders," he says happily of a hair code that would make poor Kyle green with envy. "And I've got my hair bleached." He particularly likes the fact that if his trousers haven't dried out after a wash he is allowed to wear ordinary clothes with a note. The only improvement he suggests is that they could make the uniform "less grey".

Self-expression is also very important for the USS. "We want to stand out and be different, especially in the classroom. We are all individuals," says Emer. "Students should not be punished and lose out on school time because they don't conform to a school's image."

But Gemma Tuffy of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland says: "It's a complex issue and most schools are trying to preserve the balance between individual rights and the need for individuals to interact effectively within the school community."

Derek West, who is principal of Newpark co-educational comprehensive school in Blackrock, Co Dublin, agrees that finding a balance can be hard. Operating a limited uniform policy - school jumpers are compulsory from first to third years - he says it can be difficult to lay boundaries between school as a workplace and as a place for individual expression when there is no clear uniform policy.

He feels issues such as drugs, smoking and bullying are more important, however. "How people appear is not a big issue. Unfortunately, it is often the case that the school is judged by external parties by the appearance of the students. But in reality you can get the most badly behaved students in perfect uniforms and great people who mightn't be dressed in clothes appropriate to work in an accountant's office."

The USS believes its members have the right to exist both as individuals and equals within a school environment, regardless of school policy. But the Department of Education and Science says uniform policy is a matter for school boards.

So does the USS have a valid gripe? The Equality Authority says it does.

According to the authority: "Under the terms of the Equal Status Act 2000, providers of goods and services - which schools come under - cannot discriminate on reason of gender or race.

"A precedent has also been set a number of years ago by a case brought against CERT [the tourism training agency\] by a female trainee who had to wear a different uniform to that of the male trainees.

"The court found that her uniform did have tones of subservience, was discriminatory and was therefore illegal. Because of this precedent, yes, the USS would definitely have a case."

There certainly appears to be an anomaly when schools' policies can differentiate between individuals on the basis of gender and race while the students are being prepared to enter an Irish society based on equality. But there must be something right with our education system when students actually realise this.