DD in isolation for wearing the wrong socks

[swirlycurly]

DD who's in year 7 is being put in the isolation room at school tomorrow for wearing the incorrect colour socks, white instead of black. She did do this two days in a row after being warned so I do think she should accept the punishment as she was warned. But AIBU to think this is a silly rule anyway? They seem to claim that having school uniform is setting them up for life and work yet what workplace is going to tell someone to work away from everyone facing a wall for the day because they wore the wrong colour socks? So why do schools feel the need to be so strict?

If your daughter is seen going around school in white socks it sends a message to the other pupils it’s ok

And? Will the world come to an end? Will the school collapse? Will children suddenly be unable to learn?

If schools must have rules around these things, they would be much better off stipulating either plain socks in any colour, or at most plain socks in, say, white, black, brown, grey or navy.

parttimeateverything, so how come children in other countries manage fine learning those rules despite never having to conform to silly uniform rules at school?

Yes , they do. Uniform is ineffably stupid, so why parents in the UK don't vigorously campaign against it amazes me.

Not.

A good number are happy to send their children to uniform schools that gain part of their reputation for the bloody silly way the pupils are obliged to dress.

And then piss and moan when those same rules apply to their PFB.

If your daughter is seen going around school in white socks it sends a message to the other pupils it’s ok. She needs to buck her ideas up.

Ha ha ha fucking anarchy!!

It's totally unrealistic to say parents have the choice of home educating. For many families, losing one parent's income is the difference between keeping the family home and, well, not.

If schools must have rules around these things, they would be much better off stipulating either plain socks in any colour, or at most plain socks in, say, white, black, brown, grey or navy

Because if they said grey, someone would wear black. The colour is irrelevant, it's the rule that matters.

It's totally unrealistic to say parents have the choice of home educating. For many families, losing one parent's income is the difference between keeping the family home and, well, not

It's still a choice. Or do you have some spiffy idea about how parents who are "obliged" to send their children to XY school should somehow be exempt from the school's rules?

What’s so hard about following the rules? Teachers have better things to do than police socks! No wonder there’s so many fucking snowflakes with parentsb like some of you lot.

I'm finding it hard to believe that you are a teacher, echt. Your understanding seems a little limited.

Schools are busy making a whole generation of compliant little robots.

Acis I taught at a school in Europe that my kids attended. They didn't wear uniform and I thought it was great. But to answer your question, the children learn respect and being considerate etc because teachers are treated with respect by their parents and in society as a whole. There was a huge emphasis on understanding how your actions impact on others and the biggest of all was equality. By telling your children it's a silly rule you are telling them that teachers shouldn't be respected and that the rules don't have to apply to them. This would be really frowned upon in the non uniform wearing school.

Because if they said grey, someone would wear black. The colour is irrelevant, it's the rule that matters

My point was that they could choose any plain, dark boring colour, plus maybe white, so there is a wide range of choice - and would save the sort of pointless fuss OP's daughter has had. I get it that some kids might turn up in purple, but really sensible schools will turn a blind eye as very few people will even notice. Rebellion is only fun if someone makes a fuss about it.

madcatladyfoever would you fancy teaching 30 kids to GCSE or A level whose parents say" don't be a compliant robot". I'm sure you'd be quick to complain about standards when kids don't do homework etc because you know don't be a compliant robot. Would you like to run a company where people take time off because the sun is shining or they slept late because no need to be compliant? This free thinking spirit is great if you homeschool or set up your own company, othereiyou have have to get along with others and that needs regulation.

Poor girl she's only 11 !

It's still a choice. Or do you have some spiffy idea about how parents who are "obliged" to send their children to XY school should somehow be exempt from the school's rules?

Not the point, really. It's you who said that people should automatically obey stupid rules because they "chose" the school. You need to explain how that works when the parents didn't choose.
And no, a choice between sending your child to the only school on offer and losing the roof over your family's head is not a choice.

By telling your children it's a silly rule you are telling them that teachers shouldn't be respected and that the rules don't have to apply to them. This would be really frowned upon in the non uniform wearing school.

No, you're telling them that you are not going to lie and pretend a silly rule isn't silly. Schools and teachers can't expect to be able to demand unthinking respect for anything and everything they do, no matter how daft.

I guess one person's free-thinker is another person's critical thinker. I actually think most go-getting employers would rather have critical thinkers than mindless drones.

We had strict rules on uniform, skirt length, colour of hair ribbon. Probably did help us all not look chaotic. No isolation back then though just detention

I would expect a yr 7 to do their own uniform

would you fancy teaching 30 kids to GCSE or A level whose parents say" don't be a compliant robot"

Good teachers and schools do this, by working on the basis of ensuring that there are good reasons for the rules they operate so that the majority of pupils accept them and comply with them because they can see the justification. OK, there will always be a few who kick against the rules, but the fact that the school community as a whole buys in to those rules makes it relatively easy to deal with them. If teachers use draconian punishments for minor infringements of pointless rules, they simply store up trouble for themselves because their pupils won't respect them.

White socks don't look smart? Why not? At my school we had to wear them throughout the summer term.

I’m a bit on the fence here.

If her uniform socks are black, I think a blind eye could probably have been turned if she had navy, dark grey or dark green on. But white is extremely contrasting, particularly if her trousers and shoes are black and they probably stuck out a mile, plus she was told about it the day before.

I’m used to school coat and bag. Wanting to rebel against uniform sounds like a waste of time.

I wouldn't mind the rule or one of mine being punished for it. I agree that isolation as a punishment seems weird overkill and think something like wearing odd black socks or lunchtime detention makes more sense. I might campaign against it if it was being used so often for things like this.

I am a bit confused at what seems different levels of isolation. The OP says 'work away from everyone facing a wall for the day' and some poster mentioned being kept in another classroom, some with or without work. I've seen elsewhere images of kids with like a tall 3 wall barrier on their desk or their lunch table and when I was a kid it was total isolation in the school office meeting room - only for serious offenses like major violence or leaving school property during the day without permission which may be why my first reaction is to feel it's overkill for socks. The OP's version and the wall ones seem more public shaming than isolation, but I guess it's good she's still in the classroom. Still doesn't seem a fitting punishment.

None of the schools I went to as a kid had a uniform, but they all had dress codes and plenty of teachers' time was spent dealing with that especially in the high schools I went to. Even the most lax ones had people pushing the edges of it. Personally, while I did appreciate the lax ones allowed me to wear hats, I wish in some ways they had been stricter like if my primary and middle schools had had no dyed or extreme hair would have saved me a lot of grief. I don't really feel strongly on uniforms either way - I don't think they're essential as my home educated kids easily deal with uniforms for cadets or one when she transferred to school even if she didn't get at first why neon headbands with kitty ears would not meet uniform policy, but as long as help is made to make them accessible and not horrible things like isolation for needing a few days to get new shoes, I don't see them as an issue to fight either. I do wish rules that were stated as rules actually were, so many things that were made a big deal of like no brands on bags and then it's not enforced which isn't really sending a good message about rules.

She's 11, don't put the right socks out for her, doing that is poor parenting, good parenting would be making her understand that she, at 11/12 years old, needs to understand that the rule is she wears black socks so SHE needs to put black socks on or suffer the consequences.

Otherwise her next excuse will be you didn't put the right socks out for her or didn't put her socks out at all and how in God's name could an 11/12 year old be expected to get her own socks out.