Mum takes daughter out of GCSE exam over an earring

[CatherineHMumsnet]

We've been asked to comment on a story in Leeds today - and wondered what Mumsnetters think of this news story

Oh thank you maryz - I was trying to think of an equivalent of not explicitly saying something on the assumption that everyone knows what is expected.
I think I'm being to polite on here really for what I'm thinking about this mother. Lets face it - it is the mother for not only making this fuss with the school when most parents would have been much firmer with their dc but she also escalated the whole thing by taking it to the press..

"Although, tbh, it was a Drama GCSE so it is not as if she is now doomed to a life of misery and unemployment if she does not have that qualification."

But MdmLindt, if she really believes that an earring is more important than an exam, then we have to question if she is intelligent enough to pass any other kind of exam. This could have been her only chance.

usualsuspect Thu 30-Sep-10 16:15:47
"This is why I hate petty uniform rules ...causes endless needless shite"

Needless? You mean the mother and daughter would never have fallen foul of the school if it hadn't been for this earring? Hmmm...I wonder what the headteacher would have to say about that.

Do you know the head teacher then? ...... but the girls name is Dakota so what do you expect pretty standard MN reply really

Pixel

I think the mum was idiotic. How hard is it to take out a stud for a while and then put it back in? How hard is it to resit an exam. Argue the toss after the exam.

Seconding what notapizza said about it being a good school - I teach at one of its rivals .

Absolute silliness by the 15 year old (who is to be excused on account of being 15), but more so the mother.

It's to be hoped the poor kid's better advised once she sits her core subject GCSEs in the summer...

usualsuspect Thu 30-Sep-10 21:03:30
"Do you know the head teacher then?"

No, but given the mother's behaviour I would be extremely surprised if she had got this far without making a nuisance of herself before.

And it wasn't me who made that silly remark about the name Dakota. I don't care what people are called as long as they behave reasonably and do not make a mockery of the concept of human rights.

pair of nutters if you ask me

Custy says it in a simple sentence .

You feeling any better Custy ol' gal?

Ouch. It's called a tragus? Who knew?

Looks like someone shot the piercing gun and missed.

I would have been straight back to Claire's Accessories to ask for a refund, personally.

Somebody shoud take them amd show them some real abuses of human rights. Then Dakota (Lord save us - Dakota) should go and do her exam, humbled by the realization that she doesn't have to walk 10 miles to get to school, that she will not be beaten, humiliated or even raped for wanting and education, and that she has chosen to have her tragus pierced, rather than having her genitals forcibly mutilated in the name of preserving her chastity.

pathetic

I assume the earring did not prevent other exams?

She was asked to take it out for a drama exam, and now her life is ruined?

If for lack of a drama exam she cannot pursue a career in the performing arts - than she is ok. I am fairly certain any major blockbusters she has missed out on thanks to the schools request to remove the earring to take the exam, would have had directors / casting agents who would have requested the earring to be removed at some point. It is apparant that her mother would rather she have her principles than her education and now she has them, and only them.

I am sure that some compromise could have been made over the earring had the girl not been able to remove it, and had the situation been handled with respect and maturity by the adults involved.

It wasn't, and now they all look silly. And sadly the screen and stage has lost Dakota Firth....we'll live.

X-factor next year - put money on it - Dakota!!!

Ah, Rachel Firth. Revolutionary. A voice for this generation of mothers.

"GOOD ON YOU, Rachel Firth! For a long time I have been too afraid to speak out about the discrimination my daughter finds herself up against because of her piercing!"

Works, right?

Ear piercing in Huddersfield as the next Selma Marches, perhaps.

mother is irresponsible prioritising earring over an exam. i suspect mum going at school hammer and tong and withdrawing daughter was more detrimental than removing earring temporarily

mum cannot apportion blame to anyone else she has acted like a fool

I like the name Dakota.

However, I second those who think that this child and her mother need educating as to the real meaning of human rights abuses, and then they might realise what a ridiculous thing they have done.

"I like the name Dakota. '

Only on Mumsnet.....

Errr - is that a good thing or a bad one, seeker.....?

I like the name Dakota.

If the story was about something different, oh, a young girl who had helped an ill friend for eg, I doubt people would be taking the piss out of her name.

It´s the people, not the name.

Stupid mother. At 15 I assume the girl has been at the school for long enough to know the rules. Any eejit knows that an ear piercing refers to the lobe, this is just trying it on. But then eejits are what we're dealing with.

When the time comes, DD's school can insist she sits her exams in wellies and a sowester for all I care but sit her exams she will. Human rights my flabby arse.

I was just amused that you and I both commented on her name. And it is true that it is very unlikly that a child in a story like this is going to be called Charlotte or Mary. Sad but true.

And I wsn't taking the piss out of the girl because of her name - the name is part of the evidence in the scales weighing against her mother. Who is obviously a royal PITA.

Some of the nicest and best brought up children I know have names that are not far off Dakota. And I have known some very precious and silly mothers indeed who have very ordinary and slightly oldfashioned names.

That which we call Dakota would be just as much a loon under some other name...