Suffolk School Drops Detention Over Boy's Black PE Socks
A Suffolk secondary school has overturned a detention given to an 11-year-old boy for wearing the wrong colour of socks in PE. The punishment at Sir John Leman High School in Beccles was withdrawn after his mother, Aisling, complained.
Pupils at the school must wear white socks for indoor PE lessons and navy pairs for outdoor sessions. Since starting a few weeks ago, her son had worn black socks on two occasions, Aisling said. He had also forgotten his trainers once. He was told he would serve a lunchtime detention, but it was revoked when she intervened. She said she had "no idea" about the uniform breaches until then.
She told the BBC she was "absolutely baffled" by the decision. "Putting something as silly as the colour of someone's socks down as bad behaviour is ridiculous," she said.
"Disproportionate punishments"
Aisling said her son had his branded shorts, jumper, T-shirt and trainers, so she never thought she had to check the colour of his socks. "I'm not against school rules and teaching kids to abide by necessary rules, but I am against disproportionate punishments for ordinary childhood mistakes," she said. "It's absolutely crazy to police uniform right down to socks."
She also said she did not understand why sock colour had any relevance to her son's education or his taking part in a PE class.
The school's website says any student who is not in the expected uniform or following the school's policy will be placed in internal exclusion for the day to complete their work. The BBC has contacted the school for comment.
Uniform rules have caused rows at other schools in recent years. A boy wore a skirt to his Woodbridge school after it would not let him wear shorts in hot weather, and a school in Cambridgeshire reprimanded a boy because his shoes "looked too much like trainers".
Source: BBC News