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Parents banned from taking pictures of their own children at sports day (Telegraph):
Mrs Ethelston’s Church of England Primary School, in Uplyme, Devon, prohibited photos and video filming, claiming it was due to changes in child protection and images legislation.
This is sick!
Pupils at a high-achieving school have been banned from kissing, it has been reported.
Chris Richardson, headmaster of Kings of Wessex School in Cheddar, Somerset, has told all 1,200 pupils that they face detention if caught ‘snogging’.
However, parents at the school for 13 to 18-year-olds have criticised the rule, claiming that kissing is an integral part of teenage life.
The move follows a string of disciplinary incidents at the school, including the case of a pupil who was threatened with expulsion after being caught eating an apple on school tennis courts.
Children have also been given detention in the past for undoing shirt top buttons, taking off blazers on hot days or wearing the wrong shade of black trousers.
Complaining about the kissing ban, one parent of a pupil at the Church of England Foundation School told The Sun: “Snogging is part of teenage life.
“Most schools probably frown on pupils kissing. But actually banning it under threat of punishment is going a step too far.”
Mr Richardson was unavailable to comment on the matter.
The Kings of Wessex School is also a Specialist Technology College and has received government awards for sustained improvement in exam results over recent years.
Two years ago, pupil Tom Bosley, 16, was almost expelled after refusing to accept detention for eating an apple on a tennis court, where food is banned.
In 2003, 22 children were accused of breaching the uniform code by wearing plain supermarket-bought blazers instead of more expensive ones from the school outfitters. Parents formed a protest group – branding the strictness “Dickensian”.
Writing on the school’s website, Mr Richardson says: “We are a forward-thinking school but we still believe in traditional values.”
Published: 7:00AM BST 23 Jun 2009
Source: The Telegraph