To be really shocked by the amount of make up school girls are allowed to wear?!

[BoobleBeep]

Ok, I'm 30 so it wasn't that long ago I was at school and I wore a bit of mascara but have just watched educating Essex and these girls are CAKED in make-up! Am really shocked

I am on a teacher training placement where the trowel-it-approach prevails from Y7 upwards. It's a difficult school and a lot of the kids have really not very nice lives. Being at school and learning matter far more than superficial appearance and the emphasis, rightl, is on the first two. I wore an alarming shade of bright blue eyeshadow and a variety of poodle perms when I was at school and still went on to get a first at uni etc.

All that said, there is no way I would be happy about my DDs wearing lots of make-up when they are still basically children.

My DDs watched Educating Essex to cries of 'we would NEVER get away with that much makeup', whilst I sat there feeling smug. Then DD1 said 'oh but their skirts are quite long' End smug feeling.

DD1 has been caught plastering the eyeliner on before now, and both DD1 and DD2 wear mascara to school.

I'm not a fan of the total makeup ban either, to be honest. Whilst I think some of the girls in Educating Essex could do with a wet wipe, my DDs are paranoid about their blonde eyelashes, and although so far (touch wood) their skin is still lovely and blemish free, I remember the teen spots stage being very traumatic.

If I'm being truthful, as soon as my DDs get spots, I'll be the first one to show them how to cover them up with makeup (subtly, of course!). Self esteem is so delicate at that age, it seems overly harsh to ban something that most adult women rely on.