Politics
Tuesday June 20, 2006
See today's LifeSiteNews stories
Students Barred From Wearing Christian Chastity Symbol in UK School
By Gudrun Schultz
WEST SUSSEX, England, June 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Christian girls who have pledged to remain chaste until marriage have been told they can’t wear a silver ring symbolizing purity to their school, the Daily Mail reported yesterday.
Officials at the all-girls institution of Millais School said the rings contravened the school’s strict dress code—the only jewellery permitted are small stud earrings.
Heather and Phil Playfoot, parents of one girl who wants to wear the ring, have been fighting the school for two years over the issue and are now considering a court case.
“There are Muslim girls at the school who are allowed to wear the headcovering, although that isn’t part of the school uniform, and Sikh girls who are allowed to wear the bangle, although that isn’t part of the uniform,” Heather Playfoot told the Daily Mail.
“It’s a discriminatory policy. We don’t want her education to be disrupted because of it but we do want her to feel free to wear something that is very significant.”
The Playfoot’s daughter Lydia, 15, has stopped wearing the ring because “it was being made really difficult for me,” she said. Girls were given detentions and taught in isolation for wearing the silver ring.
“My ring is a symbol of my religious faith. I think, as a Christian, it says we should keep ourselves pure from sexual sinfulness and wearing the ring is a good way of making a stand.”
Headmaster of the school Leon Nettley said in a statement that the school’s own sexual education programme emphasized that under-age sex was illegal and encouraged discussion of the issues.
“In relation to the issues of wearing a purity ring, the school is not convinced that pupils’ rights have been interfered with by the application of the school’s uniform policy,” which he said was “clearly published” and “set a high standard.”
Schools Minister Jim Knight responded to the issue in a written statement by saying that despite the freedom of schools to determine their own uniform guidelines, they should “have regard to their responsibilities under equalities legislation” and be “sensitive to pupils’ cultural and religious needs.”
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Religious Schools in UK Forced to Teach About All Religions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/feb/06022208.html
Back to TopSHARE THIS STORY: E-mail Print Newsvine Digg Reddit Del.icio.us Facebook
Latest Headlines
- Australian Health Minister Fires Men’s Health Ambassador for Documenting Risks of Homosexuality
- IKEA’s Polish Catalogue Introduces “Ian and Steve” as a Model of the New Family
- Abortion Increases Women's Mental Health Problems: New Study
- Conservative Attorney General Seeks to Quash Morgentaler Order of Canada Challenge
- Purchase of Christmas Music CD By Pro-Life Priest is Great Way to Support LifeSiteNews
- EU Rejects Patent that “Necessarily Involves the Use and Destruction of Human Embryos”
- South Korean Court Orders Removal of Life Support from Comatose Woman
- The Power of a Bold Bishop
- God is Pro-Choice Says Nun
- Danish Study Shows almost 50% More Down's Children Eugenically Aborted with New Screening Options
- Letters to the Editor for Monday, December 1, 2008
- LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes
Most Read this Week
- Behind the Scenes of Volition: Coincidences and Startling Circumstances
- Ad Showing Woman Seducing Santa Promotes Free Morning-After Pills and Condoms for Christmas
- Belgian Couple Sells Baby on EBay
- Leading Canadian Pro-Life MP Relates Shocking 20 Year Lack of Support From Catholic Clergy
- Naming the Anti-Life Appointments in the Obama Administration
- Cardinal on Biblical Condemnation of Homosexuality: We're Not Allowed the Cowardice of "Politically Correct" Silence
- A Painful, Disease-Ridden Death Isn’t So Bad if You’re Just a White, Heterosexual Male
- Film Review: Volition
- Just In Time for Christmas - Gift Cards for Abortions from Planned Parenthood
- Abortion Now Number One Cause of Death in Spain
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.