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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Health & Safety Gone Mad - Ear-rings related

186 replies

michglas · 30/08/2011 16:05

DD2 (10.5) has been deciding for the past few months whether she wants her ears pierced and we told her to have a good long think about it. We didn't think there was any pressure to get it done over the summer holidays as in previous years girls have covered their ears in plasters for PE.

Gone back to school 2 weeks ago and girls with newly pierced ears are being told to remove them for PE in line with Council policy. I rang the school today and they confirmed and said there would be a letter going out about this later this week, asking parents to refrain until summer holidays. They said if i chose to remove her from PE, there was nothing they could do about it but they wouldn't be happy. I rang the Council today to confirm and they said it has been policy for 10 years and obviously the school haven't been conforming. They also said that they had emailed the schools before the end of summer term asking them to let parents know that any ear piercings should be done in the summer holidays.

Given that i made DD2 have a good long think about it, I am not about to tell her that she has to wait another year. If the school had put the newsletter out like they were supposed to then we would have got them done in the summer. So I damn well letting her get them done this weekend and i will remove her from PE in the interim - getting them done with needle opposed to gun, so they should heal quicker.

Am I unreasonable?

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SquongebobSparepants · 30/08/2011 18:39

You are being completely ridiculous, you sound like a 10 year old, not the mother of one.
School have said she can't have pierced ears, so she can't have pierced ears, it's not rocket science. It's unfortunate that they didn't send out the newsletter but 10 is plenty old enough to learn that rules are there to be followed and not picked and chosen depending on your desires.

Original poster

michglas · 30/08/2011 18:43

thanks for your input there theresa. i teach my children to follow rules, but i also teach them they dont have to blindly tow the party line. sometimes rules need to be questioned and i am not going to allow my children to grow up in a nanny state where they are too afraid to challange the status quo where necessary

OP posts:

prettybird · 30/08/2011 18:44

YABU - especially since she hasn't even had them done yet so you are being petty in deliberately doing so this weekend (if you do). No harm will be done leaving it for another year.

When I was at school, we weren't allowed ear-rings at all - so I only got my ears pierced when I went to Uni.

I though that that was common policy.

SquongebobSparepants · 30/08/2011 18:44

but this isn't blindly towing the party line, this is to try and prevent injury? Are you really so obstinate and thickheaded so as to not realise that?

bruffin · 30/08/2011 18:49

I made DD wait until summer holidays. She then had a nasty accident with a towel getting caught in the stud dragging it through her lobe. It had to be removed in a&e
Waited another 2 years and had them pierced again at the beginning of summer holiday.
Yabu , you should have thouht it through properly before you said yes

SauvignonBlanche · 30/08/2011 18:49

You are being ridiculous, I would make my DD wait and am doing, until she leaves primary school.

yousankmybattleship · 30/08/2011 18:50

Surely your daughter's safety and the safety of others is more important than her vanity. It would be a good lesson for her that there is a time and a place for everything and that school is not the place for earrings. It might be annoying that the school has only just let you now of this rule but it sounds very sensible and your daugher should be taught to respect what is being asked of her.

AmyStake · 30/08/2011 18:51

Another thought - if a parent (not you) insisted her child wore stud earrings during PE and her child's ear lobe got ripped, chances are she would be straight down the Solicitors office as the school would be liable.

The school are more than likely not covered by insurance to allow children to wear earrings during PE.

Malcontentinthemiddle · 30/08/2011 18:52

yeah! Challenge the party line, man! If those fuckers want you not to rip your earlobe, you fuckin stick it to The Man!

Fucking status quo, fucking health and safety! What do we want? Disease and danger! When do we want it? Now!

BoattoBolivia · 30/08/2011 18:53

I agree with mrz . (i usually do!) In 18 years of teaching I have yet to work in a school that allows ear rings. She can wait.

SquongebobSparepants · 30/08/2011 18:56

Malcontentinthemiddle · 30/08/2011 18:57

Actually my dd's school don't seem to have an issue with it, but I've still told her she's not getting them done while she's at primary. Bloody stupid: there's the rest of your life to get your ears pierced, for god's sake.

SauvignonBlanche · 30/08/2011 18:57

MigratingCoconuts · 30/08/2011 18:59

I'd pick your battles more carefully....really, all this fuss over ear rings? This is her education, why would you risk her missing out for just ear rings?

I think it makes much more sense to wait personally.

LawrieMarlow · 30/08/2011 18:59

There was this rule in my school in the 1980s - I can't remember if you were allowed to wear earrings at all at primary school but you definitely had to take them out for PE. Not sure what would have happened if someone had had them pierced not at the beginning of the summer holidays.

yousankmybattleship · 30/08/2011 19:00

Well said Malcontent. This is just the type of activism we need from our young people. Maybe next she can march on Parliament and demand the right to touch up her nail varnish instead of taking part in assembly.

belgo · 30/08/2011 19:01

It's only common sense to get ears pierced at the beginning of the holidays so that they have time to heal before school - so yes, YABU.

My dds' school has no such policy but I still decided to let them have their ears pierced at the start of the holidays, and now they are completely fine to take out for gym and swimming.

Original poster

michglas · 30/08/2011 19:02

i love the way mumsnetters throw abuse and swear when they are arguing a point. that is the point i was making that we are ready to sue at the slightest mishaps, which is why the authorities remove even the slightest risks however small. and i promised DD2 when i had assumed it would be okay for her to wear tape over her ears as in every other year.

OP posts:

Malcontentinthemiddle · 30/08/2011 19:05

Yes, you made the promise whilst in the process of assuming something about which you turned out to be wrong.

Now that you've been disabused of that notion, explain that she will have to wait.

belgo · 30/08/2011 19:06

Really it is best to get them done at the beginning of the holidays; I have been able to help them care for their ears according the guidelines, and that would have been harder to do when they are back at school.

wonkylegs · 30/08/2011 19:13

Um and she NEEDs to wear earrings because ????
TBH if you are going to take the stance in your original post then I doubt that you'll listen to reasonable sensible replies so I won't bother
It's jewellery FFS not a basic human right!

Original poster

michglas · 30/08/2011 19:17

earlier than we need. what is ther some age at which girls are now to get their ears pierced.

oh and heres the thing. DH doesnt want her to get her ears pierced he would rather she wait but he understands that she has a personality of her own and has made the decision herself. at what age would you allow your children to make the decisions about themselves. 16/18/25.

it would appear that I will find no support on this site. so I guess I will make my own mind up and allow my children to live their lives with the support of their parents. you lot can keep raising your little robots. At least there will be plenty of civil servents to follow the rules.

OP posts:

LawrieMarlow · 30/08/2011 19:20

At least the civil servants won't have torn ear lobes

EvenLessNarkyPuffin · 30/08/2011 19:25

It's not so much health and safety as the council not wanting to pay out £££ in compensation after accidents during PE. It's the price of no-win-no-fee solicitors. Most councils have dedicated departments to deal with the thousands of claims they have to address.

A plaster wouldn't help if the butterfly back is pushed into the ear. That would be a trip to A&E for it to be dug out and on a young child, probably a permenant scar. I'd imagine that plasters can fall off and earring can then catch on clothing as well.

MN standard advice is to get them pierced on the first day of the summer holidays.

cat64 · 30/08/2011 19:26

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