School asking daughter to remove small cross despite religious symbols policy

[FanFckingTastic]

I'm looking for some advice and thoughts!

DD is 15 and at secondary school. She has always worn a small silver cross - at primary school this was never an issue (it was a church school) Up until this point it's not been an issue at secondary school either. The cross is very small and is tucked into her shirt so you would have to be really looking for it in order to see it. She always removes it for PE etc.

Last Monday her head of year saw the cross and asked her to remove it. My daughter replied that it was her cross, and that she didn't want to. She was then approached and asked to remove it every day for the remainder of the week, with increasing threats of sanctions if she didn't comply with the schools 'no jewelry' rule. My daughter kept reiterating that this was her cross, and asked the teacher to speak with me. Finally on Friday I received an email to tell me that my daughter needed to take her cross off.

I completely understand the new jewelry rule but wonder how this sits alongside the responsibility that the school has under the equalities act 2010. In their uniform policy it states that it will 'allow pupils to wear headscarves and other religious or cultural symbols' I would interpret this to include a cross too?

My daughter wears her cross as a sign of her faith and really wants to continue to do this.

Has anyone come across this situation before? If so, what was the solution?

Whether it is mandatory or not does matter.

The reason that schools allow headscarves and kippeh is because the wearers believe them to be compulsory. That's why saying no would be an infringement of their religious beliefs.

It is not mandatory for a Muslim girl to go to school wearing a necklace saying 'Allah' in Arabic. Asking her to remove that wouldn't be infringing on her religious beliefs.

Me personally? No I wouldn’t. I wear a cross myself and proud to do so and fully support this girl.
They are making a mountain out of a molehill for a smart and conscientious student. It’s just an idea so they get off her back and let her focus on her schoolwork rather than badger her over a necklace that nobody can see anyway.

Stop making a fuss?
Tie people up in knots?
Fear about making a ‘wrong’ decision?

Is this really where we are at now?

ok. I believe that wearing my cross is compulsory. It is a show of my commitment to the Lord.

https://reformjudaism.org/how-decide-about-wearing-yarmulke

So if the school rules "allow pupils to wear headscarves and other religious or cultural symbols"

Then your daughter can wear her cross.

If Jesus were to come back, surely he's not going to want to see crosses dangling about all over the place.
You don't see JFK fans wearing rifle pendants.

For me this would be a reason to home educate.

Yes.

Schools cannot employ maths or physics teacher for love nor money... There are almost none out there who want the job...

But there are plenty of qualified maths and physics teachers...

Its not the job of teaching that keeps them out of the classrooms.

It's not the children... Or mostly not the children..

It's the hours of wasted time, tying themselves in knots, pandering to parents over this kind of thing. Aka 'grief'... Hassle...

The qualified teachers just can't be bothered to deal with this rubbish anymore.

No jewellery policy means no jewellery. That's it. None. That way there are no exceptions. No one is picked out. Everyone is equal. That works.

It seems you are deliberately being obtuse.

People who wear hijab or kippeh follow a whole branch of the faith which deems this attire to be compulsory. They do this based on theological laws which are centuries old. It's not just one individual opinion, it's following a long tradition of religious law.

This is why a Muslim girl wearing a religious themed necklace wouldn't escape the no jewellery rule at a school. Because a necklace with religious text is not compulsory in her faith tradition.

Wearing a cross is deeply meaningful and profound to Christians but I don't think you can argue it's part of Christian religious law.

Nobody gets more excited than a British Christian who thinks they may have been discriminated against! 😂

its not a requirement for Muslim ladies to wear hijabs either only some choose to. ‘Take it off because the other Muslim ladies don’t have one’ would you be happy with that policy?

excuse me, neither hijab nor kippeh are compulsory

Maybe not, but the actual law protects my right to wear it. The school would have to have a watertight, proportional, reason for discriminating against the cross and chain, to ensure it doesn’t infringe on the equal rights to express religion freely, particularly if they allow other children from a religious backgrounds to do so.

What makes you sure she’s British she could be polish, Pakistani, Palestinian, Lebanese, Brazilian, Ethiopian… would she deserve your empathy then?

Except that wearing a necklace isn't part of the Christian faith.

It startles me how discriminatory people are against British Christians, genuinely believing that they hold the right to tell a British Christian how they should practice their own religion. Perhaps you should look inwards first.

Here's a clue to the reason why: hijabs and kippahs are not jewellery. HTH.

Oh dear. Kindly, do educate yourself a bit

Op, Tell your daughter to get a baseball cap with a cross on the front. See if that’s acceptable.

So true. A teenage hillsonger or songs of praise-er.

This school has a religious clothing policy that enables children to express their faith - if they so choose - via their clothes. That box is ticked for equality, fairness, practicality, RESPECT.

Jewellery has never been acceptable in a school.

In the past, jewellery was a symbol of adulthood, rings deeply symbolic as signs of adult commitment. Jewellery is not for the classroom, never has been, in any faith. 9/10 it is utilised at a time of adult marriage, anniversaries of births, weddings...

If jewellery was allowed, then the next joy would be teachers hours spent dealing with 'valuable' pieces and creating policies relating to silver, 9ct gold, 15ct gold, 22ct gold, platinum, cubic zirconia, diamonds, symbolism... That can all wait til a child becomes an adult

But where exactly do you get the notion that Christian religious practice requires people to wear crosses on chains? If you think about it, wearing a type of torture/execution device is really quite morbid.

The cross is a symbol of sacrifice, not torture

Look, OP, it's perfectly simple. If your daughter thinks it's important to wear a cross somewhere about her person where it can't be seen, she should embroider it on, say, the inside of a skirt band or shirt collar. Job done.

My thoughts PRECISELY. Judging by OP’s previous commenting history, they are firmly placed on the right wing of politics.