School Protests

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I'm just curious as to what everybody thinks on the recent school protests that have been going on?? One happened at my DD's school just today. They have been inspired by Rainford High School in St Helen's who started the first one.

Basically students refuse to go to lesson and protest for things like skirt lengths - teachers asking kids to roll their skirts down and demanding them to be knee length, and also protesting for the rights to go to the toilet and for the toilets not to be locked at lesson times.

What are your opinions on this?

Yes it does amongst many other factors including the use of SM.

Schools where this has happened are displaying a breakdown in safeguarding arrangement ( discipline, pupil voice, safeguarding curriculum, mobile phone policy and respect through the school ethos).

However, as far as funding, it doesn't help when CEO’s in academy trusts are paid a six figure sum ( Arrete MAT, Gorse)
. Just where are they now when this is happening, I see no mention, surely they are accountable?

I work in a school having 'protests' this week. All parents should spend a week working in a secondary school. It would be a hell of an eye opener.

Toilets are constantly vandalised. Kids are scared or uncomfortable using them because others damage them and hang out in there annoying others and vaping. If behaviour was good rules about toilet use wouldn't be necessary. Many of these protests are just another opportunity to piss about, cause trouble and disruption the core job of the school which is to educate students. Parents need to spend some time seeing how kids behave in school. Just get on a bus used by school pupils - that will give you a taster.

ThreeCurleyChips · Today 04:03

It was about the execution of the rule, male teachers measuring skirt length seems highly inappropriate.

I find it very surprising that the male teachers didn't think, "Hang on, this isn't right..."

cansu · Today 11:53

Toilets are constantly vandalised. Kids are scared or uncomfortable using them because others damage them and hang out in there annoying others and vaping. If behaviour was good rules about toilet use wouldn't be necessary.

I was at high school in the 80s and vandalised toilets were common then and before. The answer to it is to have an adult in, or outside, not to give an affront to the dignity of human beings (pupils) by denying them permission to relieve themselves.

• Herding girls like cattle
• Men bending down to examine girls skirt lengths - girls come in all shapes and sizes, school skirts don’t!
• Banning skirts
• Giving girls on their periods red cards
• Locking toilets - tummy bugs, food poisoning, ibs, bad periods…there are many reasons to need a toilet urgently - I have a family history of bowl diseases & issues, i don’t always get warning when I need to poo which is common in my family, my DDs can be the same.
• Expecting 100s or over a 1000 children in some cease to all use the toilets at the same time as well and eat and decompress in a very short time

I think the protests are very much needed.

surely if toilets are being locked because of vandalism and because teachers can’t monitor them then they could find an easy solution. Maybe each year group gets extra time through the day, yr7s & 8s get let out 5/10 mins before the other year groups so they can be able to use the toilets first, at lunch time they let yrs 9/10s out 5/10 min early to go first and give yr11s a little trust and responsibility maybe by helping monitor the toilets.

As for the comments from teachers about children getting a shock when they enter the real world, well those comments only come from people who have never worked in the real world.

Would you be willing as a parent to volunteer a day a week to stand outside a block of toilets?
Schools have no funding to free up adults to do this, so it's going to rely on volunteers. Assume volunteers are DBS checked, this should be possible.
The only way they are going to get enough adults into schools to manage behaviour is if the government gives more funding, or if community volunteers come in.

Dd started her periods in year 5 in primary school. One of her biggest concerns has been being able to go to the toilet during lesson time, particularly as her periods are still irregular.

The primary school has been great and very supportive. Do I need to now tell dd that when she starts secondary in Sept she will have to sit there and bleed and wait for break? Or carry a red card announcing her menstruation cycle to all?

Schools needs proper funding for proper resourcing so basic hygiene needs can be met.
How many of us at work would tolerate locked toilets?

EarthlyNightshade · Today 12:47

If you are being interviewed by the Police and you need the toilet, it's not legal for them to deny you. Why should children have fewer rights than suspected criminals?

I work in a huge, totally failing secondary school.
We have issues over skirts for sure, but I don’t much care about that, however the toilets are a huge issue.
Last year a bunch of kids destroyed the toilet block in an “incident” the toilets are now open but we have CCTV in the toilets (not cubicles)
Toilets are routinely used for eating, vaping, sitting on your phone, going in to cubicles 3 at once to bunk off, throwing toilet paper everywhere and occasionally having sex.

If they have a genuine need (IBS etc) then they are given a general toilet card so they can go. This is also abused.

The poor teaching staff cannot stop them going, to the point that said child simply walks out the class if told they need to wait a minute. Kids turn up late to lessons, then announce they need the toilet and simply leave.

Those who do not work in schools, especially failing ones, have absolutely no idea that going to the toilet in lesson is absolutely nothing to do with needing the toilet and is just an exercise in behaving badly. There is no “managing” this or bringing in a rota system. The toilet is a huge flashpoint for behaviour it really is.

I would like to see ours locked and monitored because it would certainly make everyone’s life much easier.

Where I work, we can go to the loo whenever we like, go for a cigarette/vape break when we like. Once kids get to college amd can wear their own clothes, things calm down.

You seem the worst person ever to be a teacher with thst attitude.

I work in a large secondary school, ofsted good, middle class area and I recognise every one of the behaviours you describe here. We have toilets vandalised and deliberately blocked with food and toilet paper, 5 or 6 students in one stall vaping, intimidating younger children and abusing staff, going to the toilet 5 minutes after arriving in lessons, walking out if refused a toilet pass. Schools cannot win.

@JackieDaws I think the hundreds of thank you cards I've got from my students during my career and some of the top exams results in the country would say otherwise! Apparently teachers aren't allowed an opinion now...

All of those parents on here protesting about the rights of children, can ONE of you please explain to the teachers how to manage the horrific behaviour issues in toilets (including total destruction of the facilities) cos I think the teachers are all out of ideas 🙄.

So what is your answer to the vandalism and vaping that takes places in the toilets?

<tumbleweed> from parents

Rather proves the point.

Yep, same. Parents have no interest in joint discussions about solutions. They just go on social media and complain and escalate tension.

@PupInAPram yep. Their attitude to teachers and failure to back them is the cause of very many of these current issues.