De Britto High School Allows Long Hair, But Cheating Leads to Immediate Suspension

SMA Kolese De Britto has revealed that it allows its students to have long hair, wear the standard white-grey uniform only on Mondays, and even wear sandals to school. However, De Britto does not tolerate students caught cheating, issuing them an immediate second warning letter (SP 2).

Deputy Head of Public Relations and Networking at SMA Kolese De Britto, Christophorus Danang Wahyu Prasetio, explained that what sets De Britto apart from other high schools in Yogyakarta is its flexible rules. He believes that more rules indicate more violations within a school.

“So rules are not made to restrict, but to invite children to think. Because for us, the more rules there are, the more violations there are,” he told detikJogja at SMA Kolese De Britto, Demangan Baru, Caturtunggal, Depok, Sleman, on Monday afternoon (15/6/2026).

Danang assessed that De Britto focuses more on challenging students to truly adopt the 1L+5C values, particularly consistency and commitment. He sees these two principles as reminders for students when they make mistakes.

“If a child has made a commitment, then he will be consistent with what he has expressed. For example, if they break a rule, we just turn it back on them: what kind of commitment was that? So it is not about convicting them, but inviting the child to have a good mindset about their decision,” he said.

All of this, Danang noted, stems from the early 1960s when other schools were, figuratively speaking, obedient to the government. That obedience included obligations such as wearing uniforms.

“Well, in the 1960s, De Britto was already a free school. Back then, students wore sarongs, could wear flip-flops, could wear T-shirts and so on. Why? During the New Order era, the government always imposed its rules on schools. We made a different breakthrough, freeing children to be creative and to experiment,” he stated.

With such freedom, Danang said students become more critical in their thinking. He disclosed that currently, students at De Britto are only required to wear the white-grey uniform one day a week.

“Nowadays, they wear the white-grey uniform only on Mondays. Then from Tuesday to Friday, we are free, but the freedom means wearing a collared shirt. For trousers, they are free as long as they are not ripped,” he said.

Furthermore, De Britto also permits students to wear sandals to school, though flip-flops are not allowed.

“Wearing sandals is allowed, but sandals that have a back strap,” he specified.

As for long hair, Danang confirmed that De Britto permits it. However, the hair must be natural, meaning it cannot be dyed in various colours.

“Long hair is free, but it must be natural hair; it cannot be coloured. If someone dyes it, the consequence is a haircut,” he said.

Regarding whether students allowed to have long hair are the clever ones, Danang dismissed the notion. But he noted that most students with long hair would typically feel embarrassed if they lacked additional abilities.

“Actually, it is not that. It is part of the child’s expression. But sometimes, if a child does not have extra ability, if they lack competence to offer, they would feel ‘isin’ (embarrassed in Javanese) to behave differently from others,” he said.

“However, when they do have ability and potential, it is part of their experimentation and expression, and that is fine. But it is not really about being clever; it is just expression, and we respect children’s expression,” Danang continued.

Behind all these freedoms, Danang revealed that De Britto is extremely intolerant of students caught cheating. The school does not hesitate to immediately issue a warning letter if a student is caught cheating.

“So for us, according to school rules, cheating results in an immediate SP 2, a second warning letter. We are firm on cheating because what we are training is honesty,” he said.

Danang disclosed that several students have been expelled from the school this year. After receiving an SP 2, these students did not change their behaviour.

“This year we have expelled several children: 10 students from Year 10 and four students from Year 11. On average, these were related to dishonesty violations. So from SP 2, if there is no improvement, it goes straight to SP 3 and expulsion,” he concluded.