Nail Varnish on girls

[BePearlCritic]

Hi,
DD came home today and said her best friend was sent to the office and made to remove her nail varnish.

Her other friend had to last week after a woman from the office came into assembly and stood in front of the whole year with nail varnish remover and waved it about and said ‘Nail varnish off, girls.’
Then she walked around and checked girls’ nails.

They both love nail varnish and both cried after it was removed.

I make sure DD’s is removed before school but do you agree with schools getting girls to remove it and would you mind if they made your daughter remove hers?

Not in the slightest.

DD was always equipped with appropriate uniform and reminded about jewellery and make up rules. That didn't stop her bending/breaking them, but she was always told that if she got in to trouble it was her own silly fault and she'd have to take the consequences.

No. And I’d make it crystal clear with my child that this was their own fault for knowingly breaking dress code rules despite reminders.

What does school uniform policy say? If it says no varnish then what is the issue? They knew. They still did it anyway. What do you expect?

The point is it's irrelevant what you think or feel about it. The rule is this so if they break the rule there is a consequence.

DS' primary school has just had to send out a reminder that the children should not be wearing acrylic nails, false eyelashes or make up to school! They've also had to reiterate no jewellery and teachers won't be removing earrings so if it's PE day they miss out. These children are all under 11 it's ridiculous that are wearing any of it.

Ridiculous and very depressing.

I think being concerned over girls wearing nail varnish is a waste of time but I wouldn’t really mind them taking my daughter’s off. Especially if she knew she shouldn’t be wearing it.

But I’ve heard some parents before be fine with the school asking a girl to take it off at home but not be happy about the school taking it further and actually sending their daughter to the office to remove it.

One mum said ‘It’s really not that deep. It’s just a bit of paint.’

Same as I once heard a parent kick up a fuss over the school asking hoodies to be taken off when indoors and said the warmth of their child is all that matters.

I agree with these things.

To be concerned with wearing false eyelashes and acrylic nails at under 11 years old is depressing.

But girls wearing nail varnish (so just painted real nails) in high school, I think, is fine and schools shouldn’t be forcing girls to remove it.

But the girls had already been told to take it off at home. They showed back up at school with it on anyways.

If the parents and girls wanted to be able to remove the nail varnish at home or avoid it being done at school, their opportunity to do so was when they read the policy and the school reminded everyone. Why would the school think they can count on these parents to enforce the rule and make their daughters remove it when the parents have already declined to do so?

I guess it's easier for schools to have one rule about no nail varnish, than it is to have a more complicated rule about what is acceptable in terms of colour, length and type of nail varnish.

Whete I work they would be given the remover and told to remove it. If they refused they would be kept out out of lessons until it was removed. It is essentially refusing to follow school rules.

OP you keep saying you don't think wearing nail varnish is a problem. However you don't set the rules at school. Obviously we all have an opinion on what rules we agree or disagree with but it's irrelevant what you or I think. The school sets the rules. The kids and parents know full well what they are. If they are desperate to have nail polish they need to find a school where its OK - rare or take the consequences ie suspension until they comply.

There’s nothing wrong with discussing rules as there should be a clear reason why each one exists.

A lot of laws in the UK that exist or have changed are as a result of protest or demonstrations where the public has forced parliament to make change.

People didn’t agree with the poll tax so discussed it at length and protested on the streets, and it was then scrapped.

Ridiculous nonsense. It’s rules like that that give schools a bad name. Nail varnish has nothing to do with learning. If a school did that to my child - female or male - I would be furious at the wasted time. However, no, I wouldn’t send my child to a school with petty rules like that anyway..

It’s not a battle I’d choose to fight. I’d fight rules that force DC to wear blazers in hot weather or ban them from wearing an extra layer to keep warm in winter. I’d fight rules that restricted access to the toilets for girls. I wouldn’t give a second thought to a nail varnish ban because although it’s a daft rule it has no impact on the children’s welfare.

The poll tax caused deprivation and poverty. Nail varnish - not so much... the right to have pretty nails is not really that crucial anymore than the right to wear dangly earrings or heeled shoes or branded trainers or jeans or anything else.

She means both friends. She said she always removes her DD’s

Then it's not really a problem, the others really need some help- it's quite concerning that 13 year olds get upset about something so trivial.

I think the girls just sort of feel a bit sad that something they’ve done and think looks pretty has been removed.
Like painting a painting and then someone rips it up.

Oh this is absolutely ridiculous.

It's nothing like doing a painting and having it ripped up. It's nail varnish. It's designed to come off. If they are this immature about it being removed, they are way too immature to be using it in the first place.

think the girls just sort of feel a bit sad that something they’ve done and think looks pretty has been removed.
Like painting a painting and then someone rips it up.

Talking of painting, maybe your dd should encourage these friends of hers to widen their outlook on life and get themselves involved in other things than what their nails look like. Then they wouldn't be so upset and cry at school about having to remove some nail varnish because they would have other things to think about.

Why did she go in with nail polish if the school doesn't allow it? The school has to carry this through because if they don't then other girls will think it's fine and will get away with it too. These girls are clearly trying to push the boundaries of the school rules and were shown they can't. Good for the school imo.

I’m not saying I agree with them, I’m just trying to understand it from their perspective.

I think taking it off is over the top

in my workplace you can’t wear nail polish and once I was told to take it off there and then

It isn’t allowed at my DD’s school. This is pretty normal. They can keep it for school holiday’s.