to think that not wearing a poppy counting as a uniform disciplinary issue is wrong?

[Bogeyface]

DD's school have said this, and yes I have checked with the school.

Dont get me wrong, no issue personally with poppies. However I dont think that the school can insist on pupils wearing a poppy to the point that they can be put into isolation for not wearing one, can they?

A poppy is an act of remembrance and if a person has no reason to wear one, or prefers not to, then how is that any of the schools business? I dont wear one, but I buy 2 crosses every year for my grandfathers graves who both fought and suffered horribly during WWII. I remember, I just dont wear a poppy.

DD has chosen to wear one, but says that most of her peers wear them because they have to, not because they care. There have been no assemblies or lessons about why poppies are worn and what the represent so she thinks that in the main this rule is pointless.

cringe

user, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you, for goodness sake! I'm simply trying to have a discussion about history, as it's my Thing. Clearly AIBU is the wrong place for this, no matter what's being discussed.

Sukey

I think, increasingly, that AIBU is the wrong thing for everything. It's turned into the US Election Campaign of MN. Ill-tempered (and I'm as capable of contributing to that as anyone)

I really hate the notion that people should be obliged to wear a poppy and that it's somehow disrespectful not to. The fact that this mentality is being pedalled in this school (and possibly others?) is disgusting. YANBU op.

www.ppu.org.uk/whitepoppy/outlets11xx.html

The link has a list of places you can buy a white poppy.

NotYoda I completely agree. It's more than annoying when you type out a post you thought a lot about, only to have it largely ignored and one tiny point is used by someone to get indignant about, even if you're on the whole agreeing. It's weird actually. Maybe someone could do a Master's or PhD on the Evolution of AIBU.

Bill there is a lot of ignorance to why Irish people may choose to not wear one.

Yes Fay witness the predictable and synthetic outrage that greets the Irish footballer James McClean's eminently reasonable and well articulated decision not to wear a Poppy on his football shirt.

As a national of a former British colony the red poppy is, for a lot of people here, a symbol of remembrance of the oppressors our parents/grandparents/great-grandparents fought against.

The sheer hatred towards him is disgusting and baffling.

I don't wear one because of the way it has become compulsory. I still take time to remember though. I just don't want to be bullied into wearing one.

I have an event to attend on Friday, so I will wear a corsage which will be made up of red poppy, cornflower, forget-me-not, and a purple poppy, with some rosemary sprigs. Cornflower for France, Forget-me-Not for Germany and purple for the animals. So many people lost loved ones, they all need to be remembered.

I don't wear one because of the way it has become compulsory. I still take time to remember though. I just don't want to be bullied into wearing one.

I've never worn one as an adult as I object to it being used as a tool for generating support for current day wars and as recruiting aid/or for the armed forces.

I don't wear one simply because they fall off constantly

This.

I don't like the Poppy mafia. And it has no place in schools.

Employers can perhaps require it in certain circumstances as they pay their employees. The BBC obviously does.

I always buy one (or two or three) by the way, I don't object to the idea of them in principle. But it's just another charity like any other.

You do not say whether your schools is a state school. If it is, it is arguable that under the Human Rights Act that you child cannot be punished for refusing to wear a poppy. Free expression rights are not absolute, but being forced to wear something that communicates a message implicates Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Completely ridiculous to punish kids for not wearing them, they fall off to easily!
Was impressed my dd4 knew we wore poppies to remember the war dead. They drew poppies in nursery last year and must've had a memorable lesson as she noticed the poppies on sale and knew why. I hope headteacher is organising a special remembrance day!

This is terrible. Poppies should be worn because you want to, not because you are made to.

I wear a small metal poppy badge with the year on which I buy each year as the paper ones always fall off.

It's poppy facism at work - -and it's the reason why some people choose not to wear one. Sad it's come to this.

Probably going to get flamed for this, but this is akin to poppy fascism. Why does every single person on TV have to wear one? Nobody wears one where I live. It is disgraceful that your child's school is imposing this.

Sorry, tapandgo, cross post.

Greydog- interesting, never heard of this.

I invariably wear a poppy and I buy several every year - always plastic ones as I understand that they are made by ex-servicemen (this may be erroneous as I notice the factory in Richmond has been redeveloped into luxury residencettes...) - for which I willingly pay far too much in order to funnel money to a good cause.

But if my child's school ever suggested that the wearing of a poppy was compulsory, I would be on to it like a terrier on a rat and a solicitors' letter might follow (see reference to Human Rights Act above, with which analysis I respectfully agree). What a disgraceful abuse of hard-won freedoms such a suggestion would be. Outrageous.

It is totally wrong for the school to punish children for not wearing poppies.

Rememberance is very important but I do think RBL is guilty of allowing the poppy to come to take on a somewhat broader symbolism that I am less comfortable with, which is generally celebratory of our armed forces.

Thing is they are a fundraising charity and as such have to maximise their charitable donations. Frankly there is more money in 'selling out' the poppy than there is maintaining its association solely with more somber remembrance.

I also think the massive rise of 'Help for Heroes' is a factor - their more patriotism led approach gained a lot of popularity very quickly and RBL probably felt the need to respond.

Finally, as veterans from earlier wars (WWI and Il) are increasingly few in number RBL also needed to modernise the way it communicates so it reflects that actually charitable work it does - hence less focus on rememberance of these earlier conflicts.

So in many ways I can't criticise RBL for selling sparkly poppies and taking a different tone, they need to move with the times to raise funds.

BUT...you can't do that and expect poppy-wearing to be an obligation. It's increasingly a symbol of support for a particular charity and we should all have the choice about whether we want to donate to that cause and wear a symbol of support.