Brave and courageous Head Teacher

[jjcarroll]

What a splendidly brave Head Teacher!

Standing out against the crowd, against the prevailing wisdom, a lone voice for standards, he banned not one, but three, children from sitting their Junior Cert exams in his school.

If only we had more adults with his kind of strength of conviction.

What a fine example to set the other children!

Never budging from his position as guardian of, not just standards but, “high” standards, he was quickly able to see the risk that children, who turn up for exams with their hair cut short, might be tempted to lead a revolution against all that the school stands for.

He could see straightaway that school rules were being broken, and he didn’t faff around with minor penalties: he went right for the jugular. Hit them where it hurts. He obviously knows how to deal with delinquent kids.

Imagine an adult with the guts to stand up against three children.


From From Bath to Cork with Baby Grace

[padraig]

Link to article here about this: RTE News

[zoinks]

while i think the teacher is stupid, i also think the parents of these kids are xtra stupid and head strong, they are ************************************g up their kids education for stupid pride. They could have reported the teacher, advertised the matter, but the kids could still have done the exams

head strong idiots

[owenfeehan]

Funny, when I was in school, teachers used to threaten suspension on students for having hair which was too long, or having facial hair, or a whole variety of other pointless astethic reasons. Nowadays it's because haircuts are too short - I guess it comes full circle.

Could it be that authoritarian teachers simply don't like diversity, and that short haircuts are all things considered, surprise surprise, really fairly harmless?

We wonder why so many kids from disadvantaged backgrounds drop out of school? But maybe part of the reason are teachers who create this unaccomodating environment of authoritarian discipline for no reason other than a belief in the iron hand?

[EvotingMachine0197]

I am sickened by this affair. I would have expected this kind of crap from a 1960's industrial school. The kid I saw on TV had a perfectly reasonable haircut. Looked like a No.1 back and sides and cut on top. Thats tidy. This decision sucks. I'm still waiting for Hanafin's response, if any. Jan O'Sullivan has already come out in defence of the students.

[Eddie Batt]

It will be interesting to see if the school has left itself open to a legal action(compo claim).According to one of the mothers the school rules state pupils must be neat and tidy.It says nothing about short hair.Having seen the boy on RTE last night the haircut was not that short and he was definitely neat and tidy.

[Trefor]

I simply couldn't care less what the kids in my school do with their hair, or wether or not they wear earings etc.

They can do what they like in this regard provided that there are no safety implications. It's between them & their parents.

[Whig]

A rule like that is more honoured in the breach than the observance. School rules were one of the things that bugged me, as they do most people, even though I was never really the type to suffer under them, except when the whole class was punished. I vowed that if I ever got into power that I would do something about. I realise that such enthusiasm could dampen once I've left secondary school for more than two years, but I hope it doesn't. It's an example of needless authority that should have left society with the enlightenment. Authoritarian rules create dissent and resentment, and less intelligent students inevitably feel picked on. Having said that, my school was reasonably liberal in that regard.

[David Cochrane]

STATEMENT BY JAN O’SULLIVAN TD
Labour Party Spokesperson on Education and Science,
Thursday, 08 June 2006

[size=7]HEY TEACHER! LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE[/size]

Exam students are under enough pressure without having to worry about how long their hair is, Labour’s Jan O’Sullivan has said.

Deputy O’Sullivan said: “Today’s reports that youngsters sitting their Junior Cert exams have been turned away from their own school because their hair is too short are very unwelcome indeed.

“Precisely what purpose has been served by the school turning these boys away? They have enough pressure at exam times without being told that they cannot sit them in an environment in which they are comfortable, and with which they are familiar.

“Some of the students managed to make alternative arrangements, but one was so put out by the experience that he felt unable to sit the exams anywhere else. The net result is that come September, this student will have no qualification whatsoever, despite three years work. Is this what the school authorities had in mind?

“I understand that rules are in operation in the school in question, but I would say to the school authorities that a little bit of flexibility should be shown at exam time.

“Banning a student from sitting crucial exams because his hair is an inch too long or too short is like using ten tonnes of explosives to crack a peanut. The punishment should fit the crime.

“It may well be time for the Exams Commission to take steps to ensure that a decision such as this doesn’t jeopardise the future of young people.

[An Bradán Feasa]

I hope the school gets sued.