to tell DD to stay put and not do what her teacher has just told her?

[quackermoomoo]

DD1 is in 6 form - they don't have a uniform, their rules just say that nothing lowcut or very short, beach attire etc

I'm spanish - my great GP all fought on Republican side in civil war, GP involved against Franco as were parents.

My Grandfather bought my DD a t-shirt for her birthday a few days ago. She really likes it (okay so it is winter so she is wearing a long sleeved black top under it) and went to school wearing it. It has a montif of Dolores Ibarruri on the side. (DD has just got very into our family history)

She has just phoned to say she has been told to go home. She is obviously shocked. The school send people home to get changed if clothes dont match the code. Head of 6 form told her that political symbols are againt school rules - I just checked no where in cotract she signed does it say that.

I have seen students walking to school past our house wearing tops with Che Guevara on and one person in DS1 class wore a Tory party top when the elction was on (he is at uni) and they were allowed to wear it.

She doesn't want to go home and change and I don't think she should have to.

I told her to stay put and if head says anything tell him to phone me. We shall wait and see

AIBU to not back up school?

Oh they're all the same them politicals, innit?

A Trotsky jumper would've provided a brilliant discussion about the Russian revolution, Lenin etc. much less insulting then a JLS top IMO

I don't know why you have to bring FACTS into it, Boffy.

So what are the objections to Trotsky?

Wish we had freedom of expression in the UK. The ACLU would be all over this in the US and the school wouldn't stand a chance.

clams, what is your evidence for saying Trotsky was a mass-murderer?

clam et al

What are the objections to Trotsky?

Trotsky and Lenin were (at least in the beginning) fighting for the rights of the entire Russian population and against the autocratic tsarist regime. From what I remember.

Towndon et al.

Why do you think that school dress codes should be similar to work dress codes?

Schools should be places of debate, imagination and non-conformity. Workplaces, at least those with something as dreary as a dress code, are places of dull, drone-like conformity.

Do you also believe that university students should confirm to a dress code as they are also 'training for the workplace?'

I would have avoided the Trotsky jumper, because a) the girl has made her point and was wearing it to deliberately wind up the head and b) because of the fuss about all this, the other kids in the school will be aware of what happened and may start to wear deliberately provocative political clothing with the deliberate intention of winding up the head. Not good in a school environment.

Twatishness (sorry, I know that's not even a word) of that particular teacher aside, you do need to maintain control in a school environment.

I think that once you've made your point, it's good not to back people into corners and have a little grace in victory and not rub it in.

See, those of you that want vanilla conformity in schools and no political symbols, DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT

Well done quackermoomoo, and to your daughter too.

School is preciously the right arena to open up topics for debate and discussion, to broaden the mind and learn different viewpoints. There is so little opportunity to do so thereafter.

Just because someone wears a t-shirt doesn't mean that they can't learn about both the positives and negatives about that person's life - it's not always so black-and-white as to be able to say "that person was good, that person evil" - so why are we trying to decide that one image on a t-shirt is ok, another not?

hully Sadly even with no dress code, the kids will select their own. Our 6th form college has no dress code at all (not even a restriction on low-cut tops, shorts etc) and yet the kids are a uniform parade of Jack Wills and Abercrombie&Fitch models, with a few goths thrown in.

mal - when did they all get so dull?

I think she should come home get changed, and THEN take up the issue of the school.Whilst the top may not be against school rules, disobeying and disrespecting a teacher certainly is.
Thank god our 6th formers have to wear school uniform!

There are ways of making points without being childish.
There is plenty of opportunity for debate in school without wearing a tshirt that gloryfies regimes that actually were the worse oppressers of freedom of speach.

DS has join the debating club at school called The Bigger Picture. He gets to discuss all this type of thing, if he decides to take History or Phylosophy and ethics he will get ample opportunity to discuss politics/religion etc. If you want to change things in school join the school council.

desk.

head.

bang.

hully when people decided that schools were not actually places of education, but places of training. Self-expression, debate, creativity and rebellion must be crushed at any opportunity. With all apologies to Huxley, it appears that many state schools concern themselves with producing betas and gammas for the machine. Our fine public schools are left with the task of producing the alphas.

Unfortunately the aspiration of many (most?) young people these days appears not to be to change the world for the better, but to get a job, buy a house, have children, and then presumably work themselves into an early grave to avoid becoming a burden on the state.

Unfortunately, they don't realise that in doing so they are supporting the very system that is most likely to prevent them from achieving these aims.

spiderpig8 I think that dressing up 16-18 year olds like children in school uniforms is ridiculous. I can't imagine why any self-respecting young person stands for it.

you're right mal.

So depressing.

I agree with those saying it's good to stand up for yourself (& your DD). The Head was wrong, it's not against the uniform regulations - end of story. If they don't like that, they need to change their own regulations.

If the Heads writes her a negative references over this, then shame on him. She pointed out that she hadn't broken any school rules and went to her next class... I'd be proud of her, not telling her she should do whatever some twat thinks she should do - making up the rules on the spot... just to keep the peace... is that something we really want to be telling our children?? Really?

For you, Hully

eerily accurate, boffy

Dont be surprised if there is a Uniform policy in the next year, after this!

YOU will be the mum of the year, then. And your dd will be VERY popular.

I'm still waiting with avid interest to hear all the objections to Trotsky.

Perhaps I should just ask the Daily Mail.