MPF judges action against ‘aesthetic standard’ in military public schools

Schools

For prosecutors, standards hurt freedom of expression and privacy

Action by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) filed in Acre wants to guarantee students of military and civic-military public schools the right not to follow “aesthetic and behavioral standards based on military culture” that are not related to the improvement of teaching. If accepted, the proposal will have national coverage.

According to prosecutors, the issue is related to the guarantee of fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression, intimacy and private life. Therefore, the conduct imposed by the military would not apply to students’ hair, nails, makeup, tattoos or ways of dressing.

In addition, the action asks that schools “refrain from punishing students for personal presentation”. For the MPF, imposing a uniform aesthetic standard on students has “disproportionate negative impact on individuals from minority groups”, in addition to revealing “true unjustifiable discrimination in the face of the current constitutional regime”.

Among the determinations presented by the military colleges is that “voluminous hair will be worn short or pinned”, while short hair can be let down, which represents, according to the MPF, “institutional racism with black and brown people, with curly and curly hair”.

According to the lawsuit, “the appreciation of afro hair means an expression of struggle and is part of the redefinition of black identity”.

limited vision

The MPF argues that these schools also prohibit behaviors such as “move excessively” or “read newspapers against morals and good customs”. In the opinion of the prosecutors, this is incompatible with the democratic rule of law and with freedom of expression.

In a note, the Federal Public Prosecutor Lucas Costa Almeida Dias states that the aesthetic restrictions implemented by the model of militarization of schools “follow a limited world view of reality, absolutely incompatible with the paradigm shift produced by the Federal Constitution and, especially, without any proven advantage in the learning experience”.

He adds that the recent deliberation of the Federal Executive to close the National Program of Civic-Military Schools (Pecim) does not affect the aforementioned public civil action because “the object of the judicial measure is broader, since it also covers the regime of state and federal military public schools”.

The MPF action presents data – including violence and abuses practiced in military schools – proving that the transfer of management of schools to soldiers without experience or pedagogical training, under the pretext of implementing discipline, “ends up importing other problems into the school environment. of military experience”.

*With information from Agência Brasil

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