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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Another Clown One

36 replies

ThatGingerOne · 18/10/2016 09:19

Sorry!

Just read in the newspaper today that a 10 year old girl in Staffordshire was suspended for 5 days for bringing in a clown mask and scaring pupils on the play ground with it.

AIBU to agree with the headteacher and others saying this was the correct thing to do? Of course parents have gone to the newspaper to gain sympathy for their ''angelic'' child so that's the only reason its come up Hmm

www.stokesentinel.co.uk/leek-schoolgirl-10-excluded-from-churnet-view-middle-school-after-wearing-clown-mask-in-playground/story-29814728-detail/story.html

OP posts:
acasualobserver · 18/10/2016 09:28

This reply has been deleted

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NoFucksImAQueen · 18/10/2016 09:32

Is there a photo of the mask? Iv looked through but can't see one. If there isn't I'm wondering why there isn't

Coconutty · 18/10/2016 09:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
ThatGingerOne · 18/10/2016 09:37

Found a photo of her with the mask from a video still. This is it.

OP posts:
Maudlinmaud · 18/10/2016 09:38

Ummm!
Not sure where I stand on this.

Maudlinmaud · 18/10/2016 09:39

Fuck no! That mask is disturbing. Where on earth did she get it? Parents what where you thinking.

Squiff85 · 18/10/2016 09:41

Stupid girl and stupid Mum.

SaucyJack · 18/10/2016 09:43

They're just fanning the flames of hysteria by making it into a such a big deal.

Why not confiscate it like they would with any other inappropriate toy?

hmcAsWas · 18/10/2016 09:45

acasualobserver - brace yourself, you're going to get a pasting for that remark .....

I don't know where parental guidance was here - its a large mask, presumably she didn't hide it from them (it would be hard to covertly smuggle it out of the house given its size) so why didn't they advise against?

Alternatively if she did smuggle it out of the house then that attests to the fact that she knew it was a bad idea and consequently she deserves her exclusion.

AuntieStella · 18/10/2016 09:50

5 day suspension seems a lot if this is an isolated incident.

But Scary Clowns are definitely bogeyman-du-jour in primaries at the moment. Apparently one stabbed a woman to death outside the one my DC used to go to (according to their friend's little brother who still goes there). That there was no such incident hasn't stopped the story being accepted as a True Fact

honeysucklejasmine · 18/10/2016 09:51

acasual that's a horrible thing to say.

5 days might seem excessive, but we don't know her prior behaviour history. It night be the "final straw" as it were.

Interesting her parents are aware of her "class clown" status and seem proud of it.

Original poster
ThatGingerOne · 18/10/2016 09:51

I've looked at the arugments people are posting both on Facebook and in the comments:

For:
Lots of children are scared especially with the craze going around.
Mother is just trying to gain sympathy and shouldn't be putting her daughter out the way she is and just accept the punishment.
Parents shouldn't have bought it for her in the first place.
Why was she taking it into school anyway?
If the school had not acted seriously then parents of scared children would have been upset (this is confirmed by people in the comments.)

Against: She will miss out on school (she has work sent home with her however)
Another punishment could have been used like isolation.
Halloween is coming up (again, however, its not Halloween for another 2 weeks or so, soI'm not sure how this excuse can be used?)

OP posts:
RaptorInaPorkPieHat · 18/10/2016 09:52

"Tonisha's parents - who have described their daughter as the class clown - today hit out at the 'pathetic' decision."

They have no sense of irony do they Grin

I think it's worth pointing out that it's a middle school, so although she's 10 she's no longer in a primary school environment and therefore the rules/punishments will be tougher.

It doesn't sound as if either her or her parents have learnt anything from this escapade Hmm

Balletgirlmum · 18/10/2016 09:52

Mixed feelings on this. I think if it's a one off incident a 5 day suspension is far too harsh.

It doesn't say what year she is in. Age 10 could he year 5 or year 6 so she's one of the younger pupils in the school - influenced by the older ones maybe.

It's certainly the sort of thing my asd son would have done at that age - trying to fit in not realising what's appropriate. The fact she's supposedly the "class clown' rings warning bells for me. Often children are the class joker to cover up insecurities etc.

A punishment yes, suspension no unless she's been previously warned.

Soubriquet · 18/10/2016 09:54

Hmm I'm on the fence here

Before this clown hysteria, it would have been seen as a bit of fun and no one would have blinked twice

But because they are such a big thing at the moment, it's understandable that the children were a lot more frightened than normal. So the mother should have stopped her taking it

Original poster
ThatGingerOne · 18/10/2016 09:55

Balletgirlmum I'm assuming year six as the mother explains that its the SATS year.

OP posts:
Original poster
ThatGingerOne · 18/10/2016 09:56

balletgirlmum Ah yeah it also says in the article that she's a year six pupil.

OP posts:
ByeByeLilSebastian · 18/10/2016 09:58

I agree with the school. It was stupid of her and now she's facing the consequences.

Balletgirlmum · 18/10/2016 09:59

Still quite young though. The school is year 5 to year 8.

Spookybitch · 18/10/2016 10:00

Whilst it's not the greatest idea ever to wear one at the moment, this clown business is 10% idiots wearing clown outfits and 90% hysteria. If the media and bloody Facebook obsessives would stop banging on about it, it would disappear overnight.

Temporaryname137 · 18/10/2016 10:01

Bollocks to them, they sound like appalling parents. They let her have the mask when all this stuff is in the media, which she can only have bought because she thinks it's funny to intimidate and frighten other kids, and they've let her think she's "the class clown", which probably means she's a bit of a PITA in school.

But mostly, they've let their child get very overweight, which can only be due to them at her age. They should be told to stop buying her adult novelties and to get her weight under control now before it starts to affect her health.

Maudlinmaud · 18/10/2016 10:06

Lets be clear. The childs weight has nothing to do with this.

WhatsUpp · 18/10/2016 10:13

Fair play to the school I say. There's something pretty sick about a child deciding to leap on a bandwagon such as this. People are genuinely petrified of clowns even when they're supposed to be funny!

Temporaryname137 · 18/10/2016 10:15

I disagree, actually. Without meaning to be rude to the child, as it is absolutely not her fault, I think it shows that she is indulged and not given proper guidelines in various areas of her life. Her parents may well love her to bits, but they aren't doing her any favours, and it would be for the best for all of them if they can see that and start to help her a bit.

(I was a slightly overweight child for a while, and it could get pretty miserable at gym times etc, much as I loved school overall. There was a child in my class who was very overweight and her life was a bloody misery. So I'm really not trying to be horrible; I just think her weight is a very visual symptom of parents who need to look at what is actually best for their daughter. And going to the press instead of not buying their child the creepy clown mask in the first place is another!)

TheNaze73 · 18/10/2016 10:25

I agree with the punishment

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