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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

School bans pencil cases - AIBU to think this is a superficial measure?

175 replies

ScreamingValenta · 11/05/2018 17:26

I was fascinated to read this BBC article today:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44075878

A school has banned pencil cases (and other branded items) to avoid the stigma poorer pupils may suffer because they don't have 'designer' school kit.

This has made me feel very old - in my schooldays in the 1980s, everyone got their pencil cases from WHSmith or Woolworths, and it was fashionable to have an ancient, scribbled-on, falling-apart pencil case with the name of your favourite band tippexed onto it - new, expensive pencil cases were for geeks only.

Are designer pencil cases really a thing now? Does banning branded things in schools really help with bullying or is it a superficial tick-box exercise? Should schools not be addressing the underlying issues which create a culture of stigmatising poorer pupils - banning designer items in school won't stop pupils being seen out of school or on social media wearing unbranded clothes?

I know nothing about what goes on in schools nowadays, other than what I read on Mumsnet, so I'm not really qualified to answer my own questions - I'd be interested to hear any up-to-date perspectives from parents or teachers.

OP posts:

IIIustriousIyIllogical · 11/05/2018 17:36

It's absolutely pathetic.

I thought I'd seen some gallopingly idiotic things done by schools, but this has to be pretty near the top!

YreneTowers · 11/05/2018 17:37

Lots of kids at DS1's school have Smiggle pencil cases. I can't work out why the kids want them, and neither can DS1 - he was given one for his birthday last year by a school friend and has never used it!

IIIustriousIyIllogical · 11/05/2018 17:37

conversations about "what we did at the weekend" can also penalise those from low-income backgrounds.

FFS.

Sirzy · 11/05/2018 17:40

It’s not the answer but it’s a step forward to stopping the competitiveness. Just the same as when I was at school we had to wear unbranded trainers for PE.

The other issue with expensive stationary and stuff in school is the messing with it and the hassle when things go missing.

ILikeMyChickenFried · 11/05/2018 17:40

I was bullied relentlessly at school for not having kickers school shoes or branded trainers for pe

HuckfromScandal · 11/05/2018 17:42

Well I think it’s a good thing
Having been a single parent when the children were little, it was hard to see others having the best of things that I couldn’t afford to give to my own children.

These smuggle pencil cases and backpacks are a flipping nonsense, and I am glad the school has made a stand.

I think you only think it’s a nonsense if you have no money worries about these things.

Racecardriver · 11/05/2018 17:44

YANBU, the school is to lazy to actually deal with the problem.

RavenWings · 11/05/2018 17:44

God I'd love to ban Smiggle! I'm overrun with the bloody stuff. And then the dealing with the complaining when they lose it/break it etc etc...

HelenaDove · 11/05/2018 17:45

"conversations about "what we did at the weekend" can also penalise those from low-income backgrounds"

How about ACTUALLY NOT penalising those from low income backgrounds by forcing them to buy expensive logoed school uniform that they can only buy from one place ...............so that they dont LOOK poor.

FFS!

RavenWings · 11/05/2018 17:46

Having said that, I don't think this will stop stigma - I imagine something else will just become the must have.

StableGenius · 11/05/2018 17:46

Not sure why this is news as dd2's school did it 3 years ago. They didn't explain the decision - I assumed it was a combination of trying to avoid the hassle when kids lose/break/refuse to share etc. their precious stationery but the factor of social inequality may have had something to do with it too, as the intake was v mixed.

Dd and her mates moaned about it for about 5 minutes, then stopped caring.

Original poster

ScreamingValenta · 11/05/2018 17:50

@StableGenius Did your DD notice any difference to things like bullying at her school after the ban?

OP posts:

HelenaDove · 11/05/2018 17:53

When i was at school in the 80s i had the pink pencil case with white clouds on it. Was very popular In fact if you watch the 1985 drama Edge of Darkness where Bob Pecks character goes into his daughters room after shes been killed she has the matching ring binder folder on the desk.

Original poster

ScreamingValenta · 11/05/2018 17:53

conversations about "what we did at the weekend" can also penalise those from low-income backgrounds

I thought that was a bit much too. I seem to remember when I was young that anyone who boasted too much about weekend activities would sooner or later find themselves labelled a show-off, so it was to an extent self-regulating.

OP posts:

Original poster

ScreamingValenta · 11/05/2018 17:54

I had a WHSmith 'Fido Dido' pencil case for several years in the 80s, which I used to embellish with doodles when I was bored during maths.

OP posts:

HelenaDove · 11/05/2018 17:55

I put Poochie stickers on mine.

StableGenius · 11/05/2018 17:56

Screaming, I'd have to say no, but there wasn't ever any stationery-related bullying in her group of friends, so her experience might not be relevant.

I do remember her having serious rubber envy a bit further down the school though - scented fruit-shaped ones iirc .

OutsideContextProblem · 11/05/2018 17:57

Our schools insist on transparent exam-compliant pencil cases, which only cost a pound or two but last no time at all so over the course of a year you’d probably be better off with a brand name.

HelenaDove · 11/05/2018 17:57

ooh yes strawberry rubbers.

Nuffaluff · 11/05/2018 17:57

It’s a good thing. When I was at primary school I was the poor kid.
Normally it was fine. We all wore the same school uniform so no one knew. The worst day of the term was when we had a non-uniform day. I was made fun of for wearing second hand clothes that my mum got from a jumble sale.
It’s a lot worse nowadays. Lots of mufti days and those pencil cases are ridiculously expensive. We live in a more materialistic society. Having the correct cool brand is more of a thing than it was in the eighties.
It will also help prevent the problem of theft.

StableGenius · 11/05/2018 17:58

We made wooden pencil boxes in DT in year 7 - that was the way to go! No social divide there. (Except mine was crap because I was useless at woodwork.)

MissMarplesKnitting · 11/05/2018 17:58

Fido Dido
There's a blast from the past.

It was all pencil tins in the early 90's. Forever friends ones were v popular.

inkandstone · 11/05/2018 17:58

Where are they supposed to keep their pens and pencils then? And what about bags/backpacks/shoes/trainers? Absolutely ridiculous.

Linzeyhun · 11/05/2018 17:59

I can see the thinking behind it. I doubt pencil cases are really that big of a deal in terms of competitiveness.

Maybe it is to stop kids fiddling with them. I make mine get out what they need for the lesson and return to bag. There is a boy who likes playing with the zip,drives me mad.

SwingCity · 11/05/2018 18:06

The main thing I took and approved off from this article was fundraising and dress up days. My DC primary school do not take pencil cases in but on World Book/Comic/Sports Day they have to dress for a specific book/author/theme. Whatever happened to mufti day?

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