Rules or robots?

So, I was reading R's blog and managed to spark a heated debate in our house last night.

The issue? Earrings, and the fact that Japanese schools ban them, along with colouring hair, make-up and anything else that distinguishes a kid's individuality. OK, to be fair I'm already slanting this in my favour by saying that, but basically we were arguing whether kids with a parent who isn't Japanese should be allowed to bend the rules due to their culture being different.

I was all for rule bending, surprise surprise. And Ryochan was against it, saying if we let girls wear earrings, it will never stop, there has to be a line, he also said, "If you don't like it you shouldn't live in Japan, piss off to your own pierced country!" (said in different words and with a slight grin as he knew it would fire me up.) Despite me getting quite stroppy in the argument, I actually don't know the best answer here, I totally believe that bringing different cultures in to the Japanese system is the only way it will change in the future, but he's kind of right, we choose to live here, we really should follow the same rules...

It's funny, sometimes I agree with the Japanese side, but feel I should fight against it just for the sake of 'the fight.' Whaling is another thing, people expect me to get fired up about chowing down on whale because I'm Australian but it really doesn't bother me that much, killing a whale is the same as killing a cow or pig for me, I don't like killing any animal but I must like it a little bit because I still eat them pretty much every day.

Ryota also argued that natural things are allowed for kids from different cultures, like Ash will have lighter hair but he won't get in trouble for it like J-kids will, and I tend to agree with this but my point was, yes, earrings aren't natural, but they also aren't something you can just wash off, like make-up. If you don't wear earrings when they are first done, they close up, so until they close up you should be allowed to wear little studs. But then I realised that if it came to it, I probably would fight the school on it, because I hate the fact that all Junior high school kids here are actually like little cloned robots. They look the same, sound the same, study the same things, group together in the same clubs, have the same interests and hobbies, same school bags, same shoes... I don't want my kids to be robots, yes they may be unruly rebels, but at least they'll have some sort of spirit and individuality...

But then.... I kept flipping on myself, I would get really riled up about the robot thing, and then realise that the robot mentality does have a few good points. One good point is the fact that no poor bastard can get bullied for having crappy shoes or for being goth, or being 'too' individual. Of course, there are many other reasons that kids in Japan get bullied, but it would take one element of bullying away that is quite common in Australia I think. Another good point is that all kids here know what is expected of them, and tend to work together as a team, where as in western countries individualism is encouraged, but this then leads to nobody wanting to work together and everyone doing their own thing...

I really am torn.

What do you think?

Would you fight for your kids to be able to carry on their home country's traditions despite where they were living and where does the line of culture and tradition finish anyway??