An English school suspended a 6-year old boy for 4 days recently. What was his crime do you suppose?
- Was he abusive?
- Was he violent?
- Was he a bully?
- Did he have Class A drugs down his trousers?
- Pornography up his sleeve?
- A cartoon of the Prophet (pbuh) in his desk?
- Is he a climate change denier?
- Was he heard supporting Mr Gove's school policies?
- Did he bad-mouth the NUT?
- Was he questioning the benefits of the Quality industry?
Not at all; none of these things. He just had the wrong sort of food in his packed lunch. He liked it, and his mother said it was ok because he had, viewed across a 24-hour period, a balanced diet. She said ...
"Having a balanced diet also includes eating some carbohydrates, sugars and fats. It is not about excluding some foods, it is about getting the mix right.”
The school, from some reports at least, is considering expelling the boy. What nonsense; how shameful. How does that help his education? Well, sadly, the boy will be learning a lot from all this – but mostly about power, intolerance, mean-spiritedness, bullying and conformity.
In England these days, if a parent unreasonably prevents a child from attending school, they are fined. There is no sanction, however, on a school that does this. Where are you Mr Gove, when a child needs you?
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