Bearded Pupils Banned From Class

[mushroom25]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-24382723

//Head teacher Xavier Bowers said the decision was not a religious issue.//

really? and who exactly is he trying to kid with that statement?

[bazwillrun]

"// Hair growing on the face is natural and unstoppable. Deciding to shave it off or not should be a personal decision. // "

so is going for a dump...but people in this country for the most part use a toilet and dont hide behind religion as an excuse to go wherever they please.

Its about time this country started to let these people know our rules and that we arent going to cave in to everything their demands.

If they dont like it there is nobody stopping them packing up their bags and shipping out pronto

[ludwig]

// A rule that says you cannot have a No.2 haircut deserves to be ignored because it is a stupid rule. //

But they are ignoring the rule - that's their choice. The thing they need to accept is that the choice has consequences.

Anyway, how about the (self imposed) rule that says those kids mustn't shave? Seems pretty stupid to me.

[bazwillrun]

"In a statement issued by the school through Lancashire County Council, Mr Bowers said: "I am fully aware of the sensitive nature of this issue and have done my very best to be as understanding and reasonable as possible when dealing with situations of this nature. "

Sensitive...senstive to who ?

I suppose by "situations of this nature" he means muslims demands

[ludwig]

// Its about time this country started to let these people know our rules //

It's nothing to do with 'this country' or 'these people'. The issue is simply about whether schoolkids should be able to ignore school rules they don't like.
I don't think they should.

[Gromit]

We all break rules all of the time.

2 million people broke rule 124 of the highway code this year, and that is a good rule.

[jno]

shaving is body modification. I'm unclear why it should be forced on pupils.

[Gromit]

// how about the (self imposed) rule that says those kids mustn't shave? //

I agree with you. That is a stupid rule, and following it out of religious dogma rather than free will and thought is just as bad.

The kids are being given two conflicting orders to obey. It is not that they are thumbing their noses at authority, it is which authority do they obey, and whose authority the ignore. Usually with religious butters, when it is a toss up betwenn God and another authority, then God (or Allah) will win.

[bazwillrun]

"// Its about time this country started to let these people know our rules //

It's nothing to do with 'this country' or 'these people'. The issue is simply about whether schoolkids should be able to ignore school rules they don't like.
I don't think they should.

yes it most definitely is...its part of the bigger issue of these people always constantly being offended by whatever and constantly telling us "their religion says so"

why did they come here in the first place, its pretty obvious it would have been far better for all concerned if they hadnt and becoming more so by the day

[Gromit]

religious nutters

damn autocorrection.

[Gromit]

// why did they come here in the first place //

Born here.

[ludwig]

// shaving is body modification. I'm unclear why it should be forced on pupils. //

It's not forced on them - unless I've missed something and they've been held down and sheared like sheep at some point.

The thing that's being forced on them is to work in isolation because they're unwilling to obey the school rules.

[bazwillrun]

I was referring to those that werent born here, but those that were, if they dont like our rules culture etc, then like anybody else they are free to go somewhere more accomodating and that will pander to their demands if they so wish

[FredPuli43]

Baz, in my school the parents of Jewish boys would not let them go to assembly. The assembly was not just a school rule but the law, under the Education Act 1944 but the act also provided that it should be of Christian character. And Jewish boys had separate food at lunchtime.

Would you have said these Jews should have gone back where they came from? And take their religious beliefs and practices with them? Would you say they were trying to run the school for their own benefit, in defying rules?

Of course, this was never a problem. There was never any protest or any refusal; the school automatically accepted from the outset that Jews had different beliefs and practices, and these should be accommodated.

If you agree with that (from 50 years ago), why are you telling us the Muslims now should go back or obey every one of any set of rules ?

[Ellipsis]

Schoolboys are not required to grow beards in the Muslim faith. Therefore these boys are abusing their faith in order to break school rules. Those rules are based on standards that the school wishes to maintain - the same rules and standards that led to it being a good school in the first place ...

The head teacher is completely right.

[bazwillrun]

"why are you telling us the Muslims now should go back or obey every one of any set of rules ? "

do you know how many jews athere are in this country ?...well its around 350K

and in all the time theyve been here for the most part this country has had no real problems with them to speak of, they dont go around besmirching our country our troops etc etc etc.
they havent taken over swathes of our towns and cities etc
I dont remember any problems in the news re the few jewish schools there are, which for the most part have not been that much doifferent to the regular schools.

look at the number of muslims that have flooded in here in the past few decades are here and look at all the problems they brought with them and trouble they are causing here.

dont recall any jews protesting and wanting to turn the uk into a jewish state

muslims will be nothing but trouble for a long time and i dont think theyve even really got going, but gradually theyre getting people into places of power and will try and change thinhgs, but of course with some on here thats fine and dandy, they dont care who and in what numbers come here

[FredPuli43]

Baz, you enthusiasm for telling us the bad things hides the fact that you haven't answered. If Jews are indulged, as my school allowed, for religious or cultural reasons, why should not Muslims be treated the same ?

[FredPuli43]

By the way, baz, talking of world domination, Karl Marx was Jewish , though his father had changed his own name to avoid anti-Jewish laws, all his paternal and maternal ancestors were pretty devout ! Jews in Europe were in almost eternal fear of being ghettoised, or of attack or being wiped out by their Christian neighbours and were commonly the subject of laws, including some in this country, against them. Now, why was that? Did they present some imagined, grossly exaggerated, threat which meant they couldn't, for example, even stand for Parliament ? Would you like laws specifically against Muslims? Or do you think our existing laws, which aren't, are good enough?

[ludwig]

// If Jews are indulged, as my school allowed, for religious or cultural reasons, why should not Muslims be treated the same ? //

It's two different schools. Perhaps your school would have allowed pupils to have beards. It's up to each school. As long as a partcular school doesn't show unfair preference within its own pupil population, there isn't a problem.

[Svejk]

Jews and Catholics may have been excused assembly, as set out in the school rules when they/their parents signed up for the school. This is a completely different scenario. I'm surprised you can't see that,Fred.

[askyourgran]

Muslim boys at a Catholic faith school, wearing beards as a symbol of their faith and refusing to abide by the rules. Should everyone bend over backwards to accommodate the wishes of these young people. I think not.

Btw I went to an all girl's school and my head teacher had a mustache which she waxed off every now and then.