School "Culture Day' - why didn't school see this coming?

[mids2019]

https://www.joe.co.uk/news/school-issues-statement-after-sending-girl-home-for-wearing-union-jack-dress-496690?fbclid=IwY2xjawLkEB9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHmXD4szLMfsqNubbE12kCn_Noe5jb2VGlNFVU0_IUIevHxzByCQ-5GXFN8F8_aem_P-q7I_yFCq82TY-Qr8mGdw

A local school state d a huge debate by sending a girl home on school culture day for wearing a union Jack dress. The question is why the school should have naively held an event which actually least a to more division than unity?

My daughter (white British) attended a similar event, for which she paid a pound, and dressed in jeans and t shirt. I asked how she had decided upon the attire and she stated 'well I don't have a culture'. I then had to explain that she did have a culture and even the jeans and t shirt were a product of fashion changes in western liberal society. We had a discussion about all the great products of white British culture, the music,science, results of the industrial revolution, shared experience in great wars, monarchy etc.

There is a white British culture but going into detail about this obviously brings into focus cultural divide and opens up divisive areas whether white British culture benefited from colonialism and past oppression.

Of course culture day probably was meant to highlight minority cultures and act to promote dress etc. from ethnic minorities as a welcoming inclusive gesture but by allowing all pupils to think about their culture we have to define 'white British' culture and by defining 'white British' culture schools have inadvertently started a discussion they didn't intend.

So it’s ok for Glastonbury but you draw the line at any teen emulating a pop star.

Why? what’s happening to you that it can’t be worn?

I think you need some help.

I said.. the dress wouldn’t raise alarm bells, in itself.

Worn by the daughter of a man who wants his child to speak at TR events.. different matter.

You really don’t want to be in a position where you think the British flag is a racist symbol

Oh, don’t be silly, @EasternStandard. I recognise your name, and I know you’re cleverer than this!

Erm. Why?

That’s exactly what those groups appropriate it for.

I think you need some help.

You’re calling prevent over a National flag.

Please don’t bother. You’re making spurious arguments based on nothing.

Even the school have apologised and moved on without this nonsense.

There’s nothing inappropriate about the dress that she wore, and others saying she couldn’t have written that speech herself are underestimating how talented some young people are (or that ChatGPT might have helped…)

Yeah, I could feasibly have written a speech like that when I was twelve, and I'm no genius! Surprised so many people think it wasn't written by her. Of course it features ideas that came straight from her parents, but that's par for the course for anything written by a kid.

I’m not a school, love 😂

They would take her father encouraging her to engage with TR, in any way, fairly seriously.

The Prevent guidance was introduced when I was a Governor of a school in Kent. We knew then that our kids were much more at risk of radicalisation from white right wingers than anyone else. Sadly, I don’t think the powers that be took us seriously enough.

As I’ve said several times, I would expect a top of the class 12 year old to write something much better than that!

Completely agree. I think it’s only fair to draw the conclusion it confirms the idiocy of the teachers concerned. The school’s “social media flyer” for this Culture Day clearly said, “your attire must reflect your cultural or family heritage.” Gee, could it be the kid dressed as a farmer was doing so to reflect his/her’s family heritage?

Well that’s something at least, ‘love’

They can do that because you’ve retreated from it for whatever reason

and there kids from those communities who even at that age do not want to have anything to do with 'their' cultures. I used to have an Asian friend who much preferred Western culture particularly youth culture as it was an escape from his conservative family. He would have bloody hated a culture day.

Retreated from the flag? Have a day off 😂

My heritage is originally Irish. You’d be hard pushed to find anyone who isn’t from somewhere else, if they go back far enough.

Funnily enough, never worn the Irish flag either.

Obvious that it means very little to you. The flag of your own country should elicit pride, not whatever this is.

Retreated from the Union Jack? I massively object to the Reform Party and their followers using the English Rose and Union Jack to represent their political views and for their own gain. Because lots of us Brits do not share their views one bit.

Just looked at their site and they have a light blue colour now. Last year they were still using the Union Jack on their stickers. Should be forbidden, as far as I am concerned. It is appropriation.

There are many, many people in this country who do not make me proud to be British.

I don't think posters are necessarily being naive about the dad being a Tommy Robinson fan. They just think it's irrelevant to the girl being allowed to wear a Union Jack dress.

Same as if you had two Muslim kids wearing traditional Muslim dress, and one of them had a dad who is into fundamentalist Islam and critical of Western culture. It would be irrelevant to whether his kid should be allowed to wear cultural clothing to a school culture day.

I think fans of Tommy Robinson and Reform are not a homogeneous group. Some will be racist thugs of course. Others will be people who think we've gone too far in inclusivity to the point where we cannot celebrate traditional British culture. This may be the dad's view, and may have influenced his daughter wearing a Union Jack outfit. I actually think it's a valid view (if not one I entirely agree with) and it doesn't make it unreasonable for his kid to wear the dress.

So are you even proud to be British?

Am I proud of where I happened to be born?

Not especially, no.

It’s a matter of biology and geography, not an achievement. All I did was be born, my mum just happened to be in Teesside at the time.

That's exactly it.

Taken at face value ,what is wrong a union jack dress? And why shouldn't we be proud of our flag and where we come from?!

Well there you go. Not proud to be British.

Nothing, taken at face value. Sadly, that ship has sailed.