WHAT IS HAIR DYEING? Simply put it is the use of hair colorants to change the natural colour of one's hair to some other colour. Although the process of hair dyeing has been around for a long time it was not as popular as it is today.

Advertisement everywhere have made hair dyeing very appealing. Therefore in our modern society hair dyeing has become a fast growing fashion statement for both the young and old.

Whatever their reasons this trend has become so popular that it is commonplace to see people with dyed hair. In fact it looks as if soon a day will come when it would be difficult to find a person who has not had their hair dyed. Therefore we are faced with having to address the pros and cons of dyed hair because it is fast becoming a huge issue among youths in schools today.

Generally students are impressionable by nature and as such they are influenced by the latest fashion trends. Despite school rules against dyed hair, they nevertheless go ahead and dye them.

This is becoming a common problem that even our own BB Boys are beginning to follow, which has led to a controversial issues about hair dyeing with respect to teachers, officers and primers. It is a Boys' Brigade regulation not to have dyed hair amongst the boys.

However this rule does not apply to officers, primers or even teachers instead they are merely encouraged not to have dyed hair.

Therefore the question arises on whether we should make it a rule for everyone who is a part of the BB or do we continue to impose the restriction only on the Boys. To answer this, we must take a step back to consider why the rule against dyed hair was imposed in the first place.

As with any privilege or right there is always the opportunity for abuse

. Allowing young impressionable Boys to dye their hair may inadvertently open the floodgates to weird and bizzarre hair colourings that may be totally inapporpriate.

Officers, primers and teachers are supposedly more mature, therefore should they not be allowed certain privileges like choosing what colour their hair is? Just because they do not abide by the same set of rules as their charges, does that mean they are bad leaders?

Likewise although we do realise that officers, primers and teachers in the BB have to abide by a strict code, does that automatically mean that they must abide by the exact same code as the Boys. It would also be prudent to consider that a majority of our BB volunteers are part timers. When there are too many rules, would these volunteers be willing to abide by all of them?

However, the larger issue at stake here is the Boys. Whether we like it or not officers, primers and teachers lead by example, and thus, inadvertently serve as role models for the Boys. No matter how unfair it seems, some of the Boys will definitely use their leaders as a point of reference to justify their own actions.

We need to respect the rights of the leaders as well as acknowledge the susceptibility of the Boys. Thus although the hair dyeing rule cannot be changed as far as the Boys are concerned, maybe officers, primers and teachers should first consider the effect their actions have on those who look up to them.

Leaders definitely have the right to make changes to their appearance but they have to be discerning in their choices so that actions do not become bones of contention. At the risk of sounding cliched, "with great power comes great responsibility" After all when one chooses to lead others, one must accept the responsibilities that comes with it regardless of their personal feelings on the subject and if they don't want to do so then maybe they should not be leaders in the first place.