The headteacher of a school in Worcester that replaced mirrors in the toilets with ‘motivational posters’, has defended the decision amid a wave of criticism from parents.
He also, though, conceded that the provocative banners would have been better served by being displayed in classrooms at Christopher Whitehead Language College, rather than the school’s rest rooms. The posters were displayed in the girls' toilets, but not in the boys.
Some of the quotes included ‘Beauty is nothing without brains’ and ‘Dear girls, Make-up is a harmful drug. Once you start using it, you’ll feel ugly without it’.
Another poster read, ‘If all girls started wearing no make-up and comfortable clothes, guys would have no choice but to fall for girls because of natural beauty’.
Head Neil Morris explained that the reason for the removal of mirrors was due to the behaviour of some pupils in the toilets, while the posters were intended to stimulate debate. He told Birmingham Live: “Mirrors have been removed temporarily after a period of misuse where the toilets became a congregational social area with older students blocking the path to toilets, whilst they socialised, often late to lessons – all students have been written to.
“The English department has used this as an opportunity to provide some argumentative discursive letter writing. They put some provocative posters up in the one toilet area in their corridor before the lesson.
“This has produced some ‘frenzied’ powerful writing and debate. With hindsight, the posters should have been placed in their classroom area, not in one toilet.
“Positively, yesterday a very productive meeting saw 26 students and two parents discuss our concerns and the way forward. The student council is being challenged to come up with an action plan.”
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Some angry parents, though, had slammed the idea, with one saying: “The quotes are degrading. This is not the message we want to be sending to extremely impressionable girls as young as 11.”
Another parent added: “It was badly thought out and implemented. They should be promoting individuality.”
One person writing on Facebook feels the posters are shaming girls, not praising them. They said: “How is telling girls they’re going to feel ugly anything but negative, when they see their mothers, sisters and grandmothers wearing make-up?”
Not all parents were up in arms, with one person writing: “Corporate brainwashing of girls’ body shape starts much younger than Year 7, and anything that reduces that has to be applauded.”
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