Giant hair ribbons are the latest craze among tween girls, thanks to JoJo Siwa, who became a huge YouTube star after appearing on Lifetime’s Dance Moms. But while kids might adore the huge, colorful bows, schools are banning them, calling them a “distraction.”
Siwa documents her life on the video streaming network, giving viewers an inside look at the mostly banal life of a middle school girl, who also happens to occasionally film for a reality show.
But tweens love it; Siwa averages more than a million views per video, and has a line of signature hair accessories at the cherished mall chain, Claire’s, to match the ones she wears frequently in her videos.
It’s those hair accessories that school principles are concerned about. At least two schools in the UK have already banned the bows, calling them an “added distraction,” that takes away from time spent on academics.
Mothers of girls obsessed with the ribbons, called “JoJo Bows,” disagree, and one mom, who spoke to the UK’s Manchester Evening News, even compared the ban to the school’s crackdown on dangerous weapons.
“I really can’t see any problem with the JoJo bows, they make out like it’s a gun or something really bad, but come on, they’re only hair clips,” she said.
Other moms called the move, “petty” and “totally ridiculous. One mother even insinuated that the school’s disciplinary action was sexist, saying that only girls are ever called out over their excitement for a trend, and that banning JoJo bows was simply a precursor to more dangerous victim-blaming.
“It’s always girls that are picked out – they mustn’t wear tight pants they mustn’t wear short skirts,” she claimed. “I dread my children going to high school to an age that school think the child is to blame for accessories or tight clothing that an adult gets distracted by.”
The schools have not issued formal statements but administrators say that they enforce rules about school uniforms (which are common in the UK) to build family and identity, and to stress tradition. Jojo bows simply have no place among the plaid skirts and navy cardigans.
