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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU that I'm annoyed the college makes my dd wear rainbow lanyard?

217 replies

thehusbandswife · 07/03/2018 13:04

My dd started at sixth form last September and despite there being no uniform as such,the students have to wear their id badges on a rainbow lanyard.I am all for inclusion and diversity but feel angry that the college enforce such political opinions on their students and wondered what had happened to freedom of choice.Then last month during tutorial they devoted a whole hour teaching the students what it meant to be lbgqt as well as what pan sexual,asexual gender neutral is. AIBU to feel that there are far more pressing things to teach the students rather than these issues.On top of this certain teachers feel obliged to air their own political opinions,deeming anyone who disagreed with them re Brexit,general election as "uneducated"
It has been 20 years or so since I was at college when the focus was on education and political opinion/persuasions were not mentioned.Is this the norm these days in Sixth form education?

OP posts:
happygirly1 · 07/03/2018 15:53

AIBU to feel that there are far more pressing things to teach the students rather than these issues.

You stated that a single hour in a month was dedicated to talking about LGBTQ issues, so I'm guessing yes they do consider there to be other issues worth talking to them about.

Regardless of your opinion on the matter, we live in a world where there are LGBTQ people and therefore learning about the society they are in seems reasonable. And at sixth form age, I don't think a mature discussion on politics/society/sexual education/etc is anything but positive.

Also, rainbows are nice.

blaaake · 07/03/2018 15:53

How the fuck is accepting gay people political?

SilverySurfer · 07/03/2018 15:53

Oh dear, a whole hour on LGBT issues AND a rainbow lanyard - bound to catch the gay Hmm

IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 07/03/2018 15:56

Jan I am not conflating it at all. I am pointing out that to judge older and younger generations by academic achievement is unfair because it wasn't a level playing field.
Remainers use the lack of academic qualifications of older Brexit voters, to imply that they are less intelligent because they do not possess degrees, while deliberately ignoring the fact that university was a more exclusive option in the past. I would say that remainers who use such stats to imply that Brexiters = stupid are being deliberately disingenuous!
I thought I'd made it clear in my post that not having a degree does not equate to lack of intelligence or capability, but apologies if that didn't come across.

JanDough · 07/03/2018 16:05

"apologies if that didn't come across"

That's because you spoke about "measures of education".

You're right that education isn't always a measure of intelligence although voting to leave the EU does seem to be a fair litmus test.

IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 07/03/2018 16:06

Meant to add that you cannot always measure education. I think that is especially true of the older generations who left school young, but went on to vocational qualifications or self educate in areas they found interesting.

Sorry to bang on but this is a sore point for me. My mum spent years hearing that she was thick because she had no O Levels, which hurt her, but she taught herself 2 languages and went on to become an intensive care nurse. I don't think it's as simple as saying A Levels and a degree = educted and lack of those things = uneducated.

dottycat123 · 07/03/2018 16:11

Back in the 1980s when I was doing A levels at 6th form as part of our English Language course we were taken regularly to loads of political rallies, including spending a day at Greenham Common and attending marches supporting the miners strikes. Rightly or wrongly it seemed to be accepted that our teachers were left wing and political. It seemed to be expected that by the age of 16 we could understand politics and discuss this .I can't recall any objections by students or parents.

JanDough · 07/03/2018 16:22

You're still confusing "thick" with uneducated.

No O Levels is uneducated but intelligence is entirely different. Your mother was uneducated but her qualifications after that suggest she was clever.

"I don't think it's as simple as saying A Levels and a degree = educated and lack of those things = uneducated."

Expanding your examples to include vocational qualifications, professional qualifications and so on, I do.

You are arguing against yourself. You say your mother wasn't "thick" because she self-educated. I agree. I assume she passed exams and became educated in her field to become an ICU Nurse.

Coyoacan · 07/03/2018 16:25

I'm a bit shocked at the narrow-mindedness of your post, OP. Not because I am a particular advocate of gay rights, more because I went to school in the 1960s and we had classes discussing all kinds of things long before I got to sixth form. Your child is almost an adult and yet you still want to shelter her from the real world.

melj1213 · 07/03/2018 16:36

I don’t think it is an unreasonable assumption for the OP to relate the rainbow lanyard to LGBT and assuming that is the case I do think it is unreasonable for the college to require students to wear them.

Why make that assumption though? Other than the lanyard and one hour of LGBT+ related turorial (and in the course of a term thats hardly any time at all considering that tutorial time is set aside for this kind of discussion) there doesnt appear to be any other link to the college using it to push some sort of agenda.

Most FE colleges require students to wear their ID while on campus and provide the ID card and lanyard so that they are all the same and easily spotted and distinguished from people who aren't wearing one. This college just chose a rainbow lanyard, which could be because they have a "gay agenda" to push or just because there was a sale on bulk purchases of those lanyards when they went to order them.

I work for a company that runs multiple summer camps and we buy about 10,000 lanyards every year. It is part of my job to order them. My department has a very tight budget so every year my only conversation with the supplier is "Which lanyards can you print our logo onto? Of those choices which ones can you guarantee to provide 10k of by X date? And of that shortlist, which design is the cheapest/can you offer me the best deal on bulk purchase for?"

IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 07/03/2018 16:40

No Jan I am saying that education doesn't always have to be formally assessed. It is about acquisition of knowledge and the skills to increase your ability to learn. There doesn't need to be a qualification for it to count. There are kids who have been through the school system but cannot cope with exams. Would we say they are uneducated, when in reality they have the same knowledge as the kid who sat next to them in class, but who can cope with exams? I just think defining 'educated' purely in terms of formal qualification is too narrow.

For the purposes of the Brexit debate, the lack of A Levels/degree has been used to imply lack of intelligence. I just think it was a cheap shot.

mamamalt · 07/03/2018 17:09

Well what a surprise. The OP hasn't come back to defend herself.

nooka · 07/03/2018 17:15

I think it's a bit naive to suggest that a FE college chose rainbow coloured lanyards at random. This design is heavily used to support LBGT+ campaigns and I am sure it was picked for that reason. I think that it is important that people chose what allegiances they signal so I'd not be happy about this if my child felt coerced (personally I hate wearing lanyards and have always had a clip instead).

As for the hour it depends on what was delivered. My dd went to a summer school at a local university and had a few of these sort of sesssions and was quite grumpy about them on the grounds that it was stuff they had had many times before, irrelevant to the course and could have been done much better.

I'm not surprised about the sharing of political opinions and think this has happened forever. The only issue for me would be if the students were not encouraged to contribute their own opinions, with contrary but well supported opinions welcome.

MrsKateR · 07/03/2018 17:37

i dont agree with the brexit opinion forcing but the LGBT stuff... well speaking for my people... can the world not spare an hour to be educated and prevent us being treated like second class citizens by future generations? In every aspect of my life since i have come out (30 years ago) i have experienced homophobia. Every school/college/ workplace even social situations. I dont look for it, I try to think the best of people but its always been there. sad really. The straight population have got 2000 years of written history, 100+ years of broadcast history to themselves so forgive us for wanting an hour to change the bloody record...yawn

Goldenbug · 07/03/2018 22:08

Rainbows aren't just for GBLTFQ reasons. They're also for god to threaten "Remember how I killed everybody I didn't like in a flood? Step out of line and I'll do it again!"

Goldenbug · 07/03/2018 22:08

Oh, and I have to wear a grey one at work. Very un-fabulous. Sad

AmberNectarine · 07/03/2018 22:11

Hang on, my 6-year old goes to Rainbows.

I've been so blind for so long.

Slapdasherie · 07/03/2018 22:13

Oh dear, a whole hour on LGBT issues AND a rainbow lanyard - bound to catch the gay

Yes, the unbearable tyranny of the light spectrum.

I wonder if OP feels so persecuted by other meterological phenomena?

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 07/03/2018 22:27

Goldenbug I think it was God's promise not to do it again. Could a Christian correct me please?

Goldenbug · 07/03/2018 22:47

I think he said that Perfectly, but why does she feel the need to keep telling us? Bit more of a threat if you ask me.

Slapdasherie · 07/03/2018 22:51

I think he said that Perfectly, but why does she feel the need to keep telling us? Bit more of a threat if you ask me.

Kind of like an old standover tactic

"Nice world you have here. Be a shame if something happened to it."

DieWinteresse · 07/03/2018 23:55

AmberNectarine Pissing myself laughing!

DieWinteresse · 07/03/2018 23:57

thehusbandswife At the age of 16 they would already know what LGBT is so I do know why the college needs to teach it tbh.

DieWinteresse · 07/03/2018 23:59

Goldenbug What does the F stand for in GBLTFQ etc... Furry? As in Furries?

RainbowGlitterFairy · 08/03/2018 00:00

@TroysMammy can you link to the flashing lanyard please? It sounds awesome.

OP, I wear a rainbow lanyard, and have loads of different rainbow coloured stuff people have bought me because I've been helping at Rainbows since I was 10, I am yet to catch the gay.

On top of this certain teachers feel obliged to air their own political opinions The teachers will often get asked what their political opinions are because students will have been discussing things among themselves and want to know what other people think.