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Posted on 11/16/2018 6:23:04 PM PST by Simon Green
A U.K. secondary school is banning a variety of designer jackets in an effort to stop "poverty-shaming."
Parents of students at Woodchurch High School, an institution in northwestern England, received a letter earlier this month from the school regarding the new policy. "Pupils will not be permitted to bring in Canadian [sic] Goose and Monclair [sic] coats after the Christmas break, the letter reads. "Some have also asked whether Pyrenex coats, which are also in a similar price range (with some also having real fur) will also be prohibited," it adds, before confirming "that these brands will also be prohibited after Christmas."
Headteacher Rebekah Phillips tells The Independent that some students had been coming to school in 700 pound (nearly $900) coats. This wasn't good for students whose parents couldn't afford such clothes. "They feel stigmatized, they feel left out, they feel inadequate," she says.
It's all part of a larger effort to prevent "poverty-shaming," Phillips tells the BBC. "We met with groups of pupils and made the decision in consultation with them," she says. "The pupils spoke to us about the pressure on families and the pressure on themselves to wear particular branded coats." According to Phillips, some parents requested the ban as well.
Many of Woodchurch High School's students—46 percent, according to CNN—are indeed poor. That's why the school provides free sanitary products and requires students use a certain type of backpack, so they don't pressure their parents to buy more expensive ones.
A YouGov survey suggests the British public largely agrees with the school's decision, with 68 percent saying they support it.
The backstory to the ban isn't clear. If this is just a case of some children feeling bad—or some adults worrying that kids will feel bad—because they can't afford the things some of their peers have, then the policy seems more likely to encourage a victim mentality than to help students feel better. Not being rich is nothing to be ashamed of; it hardly helps to tell kids that other people's clothes could "stigmatize" them.
It's possible, on the other hand, that some rich students were actively bullying other kids because of their clothes, and that the ban is an attempt to put an end to such cruelty. But in that case the school should target the behavior, not the clothes—and focus on the bullies rather than adopt a prohibition that affects everyone.
Let me guess. The *poor* are muslims.......
Britain is f***ing insane.
So, put everyone into uniform and have uniform coats, backpacks, shoes and school supplies.
Get a job
Uniforms are always a good idea.
And if a school has a large endowment I don’t understand why they can’t just provide uniforms and coats free of charge to students on scholarship?
Yes well put. My thoughts exactly.
My neighbors drive cars that I cannot afford. But somehow I don’t give a flip about their cars. I have the coolest guns in the subdivision.
Are these prohibitions geared toward purposely raising snowflakes?
You guys beat me to it. Yes, uniforms. It’s a simple, dignified, time-honored solution to the perennial problem of students’ attire getting in the way of learning.
Poverty shaming? What else are we going to invent?
Be a real man kids
Wear a nice Hawaiian shirt blue jeans and flip flops when it’s cold
Act like you don’t care
Chicks LOVE IT
Will they make the attractivestudents ugly or wear masks?
Will they make the fit students wear fat suits?
This is 221st century “education”. Doing no one any favors at all.
That’s why the school provides free sanitary products ... so they don’t pressure their parents to buy more expensive ones.
= = =
OK.
Meanwhile, as I drove to work (after 30 years), I used to see 16-year olds driving newer and pricier cars than I drove.
I did not know that I should have claimed ‘poverty shaming’.
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Mao jackets for everyone!
Those above mentioning uniforms...Good Idea, but not just for the school, kids. Make EVERYONE wear uniforms.
May I suggest something like this?:
.
HA! You beat me to it.
I’ll take the redhead in the front row for $500 Alex
Concur with your opinion. When I was in high school some kids bragged about their clothes. I could not even begin to understand what they were bragging about. Bragging about grades- yes. Bragging about sports- yes. Bragging about clothes- huh? Later, an interesting thing occurred. Many years later I went to a high school reunion and I noticed that I was wearing better clothes than they were, not logos, but quality of cloth and cut.
I guess people want to find things that make them feel better about themselves.
I didnt have a lot of stuff when i was a kid and part of the time i was on a partial scholarship to a good private school with a bunch kids from wealthy families
Some of them were shitheads but it motivated me and i get the last laugh now when i know ive done better than 99% of them and am far from finished
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