Mother angered by school’s ban on nose-pierced daughter
Saturday 16th January 2010, 2:29PM GMT.
Shannon Penney cannot go back to school unless she removes a small stud in her nose. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0901744)
The pupil at La Mare de Carteret High School is not allowed to return to school until she removes a small stud after having it pierced during the Christmas holidays.
‘It is ridiculous in this day and age to ban a child for something like this which is not affecting their education,’ said Shannon’s mother, Claire.
Mrs Penney claimed her daughter was missing mock GCSE exams, but the Education Department denied that the Year 9 pupil was doing so by choosing not to be in school.
‘She can return to school at any time as long as she has removed the nose stud,’ said a spokesman.
Mrs Penney said others at the school had potentially more dangerous piercings.
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What a storm in a teacup! Personally I don’t see a problem with a small nose piercing however the rules are the rules and Mrs Penney knows them. I don’t understand why she would keep her child from getting an education just to prove a point on account of a nose piercing.
If they really feel that strongly about it perhaps a better suggestion would be for Miss Penney to remove the piercing and return to school while Mrs Penney takes her case to the Education Department and tries to get the rules changed.
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Why do some people feel hard done by when rules that are clearly published are ignored and the consequences handed down. It is pathetic that the mother is willing to risk the important education of her child over such an issue – TAKE IT OUT and go back to school, when you have left school get it re-done if it is important to you
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Surely her mother should have looked at the school rules before getting it, rules are rules.
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This is worse than the ‘Assassins Creed’ incident! I don’t know where to start, I really don’t. Is there some sort of ‘bad mother’ competition going on at the moment?
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Read the school rules!!!
Ignorance of the law is no defence.
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Grow up, and when you have then you can decide if you want to re pierce your nose.
Right now your educaton is more important, if you can not see this then your aspiratons are not set high enough.
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good on you Mrs Penney, this is crazy, no matter how many piercings, tattoo`s or the length of her skirt stops her from learning. they all have to walk around looking identical to each other, so it doesnt encourage any individuality, of course you do realise you can educate her at home, and from the sounds of things you`d be better off doing so. you wouldnt dream of sacking a person for a nose piercing, its absolutely crazy, most of these secondary schools in the last few years seems to have had loads of these daft levels and exclusions. My own daughter got suspended for wearing nail varnish,,, and yes it was clear nail varnish, so i know how you feel, why should she take it out, its not even as if its huge. no wonder kids rebel these days, its rules gone mad!!!
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omg…….14 and a piercing….mother must have given permission then starts moaning….a)noooooooo piercings before 18….its 18 for a reason….b)check school rules…i was 20 when i had mine done and my work werent happy i had to get rid………should always check rules first. education FAR more important than hole in skin and flesh that can be re done if necessary…i have no sympathy
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Another case of a states dept trying to make people conform to a standard image.People want individuality from your pigeon holed society which most states depts dwell in.
If everyone was the same what a boring world we would live in.Let this and every other student express theirselves how they see fit as regards
apperance,as the old saying goes,Do never judge a book by the cover.
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Sorry Mrs Penney but you are just pathetic, and leading such a bad example to your daughter and all other children in the school.
If you really love and care for your daughter, grow up and do the right thing.
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“Let this and every other student express theirselves [sic] how they see fit as regards apperance [sic]”
Please tell me you are not a parent?
“no wonder kids rebel these days, its rules gone mad”
Erm no, kids have always rebelled and there have always been rules.
This story is a case of the mother trying to make a petty point, and putting it ahead of her daughters education. The girl has plenty of time to do as she wishes, and express her self when she becomes an adult.
And to those people who truly believe that tattoos and piercings are the way to express yourself and fight conformity, please grow up!
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Agree totally with GG. The full story in the paper mentioned that Mrs Penney hadn’t received the recent school newsletter in the post which mentioned piercings. Very convenient!
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This has nothing to do with the States. If a school has a rule on uniform then it should be respected. The whole point of school uniform is to impress that, as people from all walks of life, they are outwardly equal and treated as such. Their self-expression should be done through their interaction with their education. Conforming to something as trivial as a jewellery guideline, for 7 or so hours a day during the few years a child attends a school is a useful lesson for later life. Not for the submission to authority, but for learning to show one’s personality through application in whatever one does within a system. And there are always ways to customise the uniformity within acceptable bounds. What is the point of any rule otherwise?
Back in the day, I was suspended during A-level year for ramping up my school appearance to match my ‘civvie’ look. I did not receive parental support, after all, what was more important: my OTT hair and stuff, or learning stuff? I resented it, but I looked an idiot for digging my heels in for a bit, more so than my rebellious ‘cover’, and my subsequent outrage at being judged by it.
Saying all that, folk are much more relaxed nowadays – nose piercing would have been disallowed at school, but would it have been frowned on at a job interview? Definitely then, but now? Depends what job I suppose, but certainly I learned that outward ‘conformity’ in certain situations, and the ability to “yes sir, no sir”, no matter how falsely, is better learned at school, rather than the way I did it. Finding an employer that allows you to do look/act/opine as you would in the home/pub/internet forum, is a rarity.
A school should have either a casual code or a strictly defined one. My experience in a french school, where there was no dress code, was that they had become bored with showing off and all looked the same anyway.
However, and whatever anyone thinks of piercing generally, it is done and that is the girl’s choice. It needs to heal. I don’t see the problem with the plaster and an assurance that school rules are school rules.
So of course we shouldn’t ‘judge books by their covers’, but at school there should be no reason for judgement other than a student’s ability to demonstrate that the learning is working, if a pupil knowingly enrols and understands what’s in store.
The older generations wonder why ‘respect’ seems to be lacking in the ‘youth of today’. The school is right to make an issue enforcing its rules in private, but is the family right to seek a large amount of media coverage (considering the non story) to moan about it?
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Agree with guern abroad and melissa. Who is this ridiculous mother? The poor schools having to deal with families like this – what a waste of the teachers’ time.
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Rules are rules! It’s not about smothering individuality. It’s about teaching children to respect boudaries and rules. She has all her adult life to get a piercing. If we all went through life picking and choosing the rules we wish to abide by or not, where does that leave society?
Why are some parents desperate for their children to grow up?
You allow one individual to break the rules, where does it stop?
Teachers have a hard enough job these days without parents like this encouraging or allowing their children to break rules.
Mrs Penney is responsible for ensuring her daughter receives an education. It is ridiculous and neglectful as a parent that she is willing for her daughter to not recieve an education because of this, particulalrly when it is abundantly clear that peircings are not part of school uniform!
By all means we should all encourage individuality, but at the cost of your child’s education is neither responsible or acceptable!
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The school won’t have the child back while she is sporting the stud.The mother says the stud should stay in for a month while the hole ‘sets’
Liar Blair introduced the ‘third way’
Why not remove the stud allowing the hole to heal completely and when the child has completed University she can then decide whether she wants a stud at all ?
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Wow some nasty people out there calling this lady a bad mother for letting her child have a nose stud and no its not 18 to get them done. Guernsey people can be so very closed minded and its very upsetting. Its not the mother stopping the child getting a education its the school over something so silly! I have many piercings done and to me its not to rebell or anything silly like that its jewellery, the same as a necklace or ring i would wear or like over 80% women that have there ears pierced. like when a little girl gets her ears done so she can where pretty earrings. I had my nose done when i was 14 the school asked me just to keep it covered, it kepted them happy and me. This lady isnt a bad mother a lady that beats her childen, dont clean or feed them is a bad mother. My advice would be send your child to the college of FE they are much more grown up there and care more about a childs education then what they look like.
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Absolutely outstanding post Arnald – a very well reasoned argument that makes some excellent points.
I couldn’t agree more with you sir!
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I find it kind of strange in a democracy that many of the people writing in are saying that it’s a bad thing that this mother is trying to make a point. This woman wants something to change, so she certainly isn’t going to conform to the rules; that’s how things change, this is like saying someone on a hunger strike is stupid because they are putting their point before their physical health.
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Mrs Penny is by her own admission allowing her daughter to be truant.
That I believe is illegal.
On top she is stupid enough to voluntarily thrust her bad parenting into the public domain.
I agree with Dean. Bad Mother trifecta now in play. What next?
BTW I’m definitely no relation of this Mrs P!!!!!
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Simples
Just claim that nose piercing forms part of your religious beleifs.
They’ll soon change their mind.
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Well said jss….. “why are some parents desperate for their children to grow up”
Its so sad that all these parents treat their kids like adults. She’s only 14 for goodness sake. Theres no way I would have let my daughter have this done at 14 – its bad parenting. Its nothing to do with suffocating someones freedom – its just part of lifes lesson – we all have to, at some stage, learn to live within certain limits. If you let them do what they want at this young age then they will never learn respect.
Take the piercing out and go back to school – get an education and when you’re a bit bigger learn to fight for a cause much more worthy than this !
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Brodie
So your daughter was in bother for wearing CLEAR nail varnish? Remarkable powers of observation on the part of the teaching staff then.
As for your suggestion that Mrs Penney educates her daughter at home, wouldn’t some degree of education on her own part be a pre-requisite……….horse / stable / bolted?
Only one parent didn’t receive a copy of the directive in the post and it happens to be the only one who flouted the rules. What a remarkable coincidence! Given those odds Mrs P, buy a lottery ticket while the odds are with you. The tattoo and piercing shops await their bumper profits once your ship comes in.
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how many of us enjoyed breaking the rules when we were young and how many of us wish we had!
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So will this mother support her daughter if she tries to defy legal laws, because it will discourage individuality
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The rule will not change, it was the same when i was in school and should stay the same forever. People have negative veiws on facial piercings – they may be prejudice but it happens – allowing someone to have the facial piercing while wearing school uniform apparently is bad.
Why not do what everyone else who has faced this dilemma has done. Get one of those small skin coloured plasters and stick it over the stud for school hours. When school is over, the plaster comes off and the stud will have remained in allowing it to heal. PROBLEM SOLVED – schools cannot moan if it is covered by a plaster, as there is no proof that the piercing exists until the plaster is removed.
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Press headline: “MOTHER ANGERED BY SCHOOLS REFUSAL TO EXCLUDE BULLY WHO TORE STUD FROM DAUGHTER’S NOSE” If only.
Rules are rules and Mrs Penney is teaching her daughter a valuable lesson in how not to behave as a parent. Why should she withdraw her child from a school place that my tax pays for, on the basis of a teenager’s silly whim? She’d damn sure not make such a fuss and go bawling to the media if she had to pay for that school place – it would be a case of ‘do as you’re told.’ Another example of people getting things for free and taking them entirely for granted.
And to the GP for putting this on the front page – no wonder this Island isn’t taken seriously if that’s the most interesting we have to offer as Current Affairs.
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There are far too many children rolled out by parents as a ‘story.
I’m not sure what the GP’s line is on this but I’d suggest to the picture editor, parent(s) only – no minors.
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Take away another rule and it’s a victory for an individual child. Just imagine what it will be like if we conceed on decisions to the wants of a child. She has her whole life after school to wear a nose stud if she chooses. I am aware this is a tiny issue, but i fully support the decision of the school to stand by its policy. Society needs to instil the importance of rules in the children of today and if we can’t maintain the rules of a school environment what message will that send to out to Guernsey’s youth. Complain and get what you want? I hope the mother and daughter realise that the recogniton of rules in your youth turn into the recognition of laws in your adult life.
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Have to agree with Neil and Mickey – was this really front page news?
Again, a fine example of parents telling their kids that they can do what they want, regardless of any rules they might break, and that the school, its headmaster and teachers are all in the wrong. It comes down to respect,something that is lacking here.
I have two kids at La Mare and I received a handbook when they first started and several newsletters since reminding parents of the rules regarding piercings, so she cannot claim she didn’t know the rules.
If she really wants the kid to have a nose stud – take it out now and have it done again at the beginning of the summer hols, then it will have time to heal before September
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This girl and her mother should be ashamed of themselves. Rules are made which all children have to abide by. Break one and then we are in real trouble as things will start to slip even more. If this mother really cared about her daughters GCSE exams she would tell her to take the nose stud out and get studying!
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Rules are rules.
The speed limit is 35 but you dont kick up a stink if your brought before the court for doing 60.
Bit ott ?? Maybe so, but its the same thing.
Anyway, the big debate should the fact that this ‘story’ made front page news !!! Shocking.
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Personally I think well done to the school for sticking to this regulation, this is the problem these days, no one wants to stick to rules anymore. Children are there to learn, not to be fashionable! And it only makes matters worse when the parents of these children start wanting to break the rules to. The long term effect of these so called do-gooders is that, the rest of us parents who work really hard to bring up our children to respect these rules, are then left with the constant battle of their children saying ‘ so and so is allowed to do this…. so and so’s mum lets her do that’ .. When will people realise that these rules are there for a reason, it’s good old fashioned discipline and it works in a way that benefits them later on in life. Wake Up!!!
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I couldnt believe that this item was on the front page, that the mother had encouraged her daughter to have a disgusting procedure done and then to say that the school was to blame! What a great role model mother is…
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My understanding of the “no jewellry” rule is actually a matter of safety – it is possible ( even if remotely ) to injure yourself and others during sports if you wear jewellry and piercings.
If everyone were allowed to wear what they like, and somebody got hurt, the press would be first on the bandwagon ( you know, the one they keep on standby 24 hours a day on slow news days ) condemning the schools for their lack of care towards pupils …..
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Have to agree with some of the postings here regarding the level of publicity. This story is perhaps worthy of a few column inches in the middle of the paper – it’s not front page news and it does make Guernsey look rather pathetic to the outside world.
In fact one could easily pose the question whether the two ladies would be making such a fuss if they weren’t getting their 15 minutes of fame out of it.
In an age where millions of children can’t even get a basic education, to keep a child from a free State education on account of a nose piercing is pettiness in extremis. I can imagine the headlines in the African Daily News….”Child offered education to rise out of poverty but refuses because she wants a nose piercing”
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This is the most pointless article is the press so far this year.
Especially the fact it was on the front page.
The Press Editor should be embarrased, to allow this rubbish in our local paper. I would prefer to read about a cat being stuck up a tree.
The press should give these people the time to tell a story that is pointless.
School rules are clear and has just shown the whole of Guernsey, Mrs Penny is a bad parent.
Mrs Penny’s States Benefit (that she is clearly claiming) should be donated to the people of Haiti.
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I agree with Peter B. If benefits are being wasted on piercings then the person claiming clearly doesn’t need the money.
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Clearly the removal of this nose stud to allow the girl to continue her schooling is a job for our lardy local vigilantes, The Guernsey Boys.
Where are they now in this child’s hour of need?? Save us Guernsey Boys!!
Come to think of it, maybe The Guernsey Boys could remove this unnecessary news article from our local tabloid??
And, actually, whatever happened with Cobo car park? Does anyone know what or whether the law officers have decided yet?? Now THERE’S a real news story…..
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well ,, Peter B, if you fnd the guernsey press soo bad, then why buy it? and i guess the editor was right looking at the amount of posts this story has had, feelings run high on the matter.
And i guess that you know Mrs Penney personally, as you called her a Bad parent, so i take it you know the in`s and out`s of her life. also, for all you know it may not have been Mrs Penney`s so called benefit that she may or may not be claiming, the teenager may have used her christmas or birthday money, either way surely thats no-one`s buisness.
guernsey folk are still so willing to point the finger, if its not jessica valpied getting it in the neck, its one of the watson family, instead of nasty comments why can`t people just be kind, surely that at least costs nothing!
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Actually when you think about it,this little fly speck of an Island can’t be a bad place to live if the lead story in our national paper concerns a nose stud
I wonder why Jersey TV hasn’t taken it up
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Ray
I agree with you that Guernsey is a good place to live, despite its many problems. The fact that a family can keep a child from a free State education on account of an argument over jewellery clearly shows that…it also shows how much we ALL (me included) take our liberty for granted. Let’s face it, in some nations, Miss Penney would be at risk of a beating for daring to show her entire face in public, let alone arguing to the local paper over jewellery!
Why don’t we all take some time to reflect and show gratitude for our liberty, rather than trying to constantly chip away at the relatively few restrictions we actually have.
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Brodie
I think if the press story is true and Mrs P has acted in the way she has been accused of in the press, then YES, she is a bad mother.
She is teaching her daughter to ignore rules, and also teaching her the valuable life lesson that if things dont go your way just make enough noise about it and cause enough trouble so that they back down and let you have what you want…… great lesson eh??
Not only that, she is stopping her daughter from having an education at possibly the most crucial time in all her years in education, who’s fault is it Brodie, if she fails her GCSE’s??
No doubt you will find a way to blame the school.
If you dont think that is bad parenting, then I really dont want to know your definition of good parenting.
B ut then you go further, not only you are defending this mother for teaching her daughter to have no respect for rules, but now you intimate that everyones favourite canine grave digger was treated unfairly for her abhorrent actions.
Fingers point for a reason and in both these instances, fingers have had a damn good reason to point.
Rules are also there for a reason, what happens when, as you seem to be advocating, we all start ignoring them??
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Regardless of my thoughts on parenting, does the headteacher take the same action with all children breaking school rules? Earrings for example, usually 1 pair of plain studs, no jewelry, footwear, make-up etc? I know at our school it’s often who is wearing not what they are wearing.
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forgot to ask, what mock GCSE’s? Do year 9 students have them now?
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Brodie, I was just wandering, how many benefits you claim a year?? As you seem to be an advocate for these sorts of people.
Guernsey is a great place to live, and we are very lucky to be here. But there are to many people taking advantage.
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Seems a bit stuffy to exclude a child for a nose pin. I am sure the establishment hasnt taken the bigger picture of creating uneducated adults into account.
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The majority here would agree that the stance Mrs Penney is taking is irresponsible, not to mention having a detrimental effect on her daughter.
However, one irresponsible act or one mistake does not make someone a bad parent. Let’s face it, if that was the case the label of “bad parent” could be stuck on all of us that have children.
We should take great care when commenting on this issue that we don’t go too far. There is a huge difference between one act of irresponsible parenting and a bad parent.
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At age 30 I have a nose stud which i had pierced at age 18.
I truely believe in developing a childs individuality but not at the expense of breaking basic rules or encouraging a child to miss education. There are other ways to express individuality than by a stud in the nose.
Rules are there within a school for safety, to teach respect and to ensure equality, which I would expect any sensible parent to enforce.
As a parent of 4 children, I will not allow any of them to have a piercing until age 18.
I work full time and if my employer requested me to remove my nose stud during work hours it would not be a problem and I would quite happily conform.
I am dismayed that the Guernsey Press considers this to be a news worthy story worth the column inches it has been given on the front page.
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Might I suggest that this is a great lesson which will prepare this girl for life as an adult. I cannot wear jeans to work! No debate on the matter – if I want to keep my job I have to adhere to the dress code as my job involves dealing with members of the public. I’m sure an eyebrow or nose piercing would be disapproved of also.
Just accept that rules are rules whether we agree with them or not. Stick a plaster over it Shannon and get back to your studies – you’ve had your fifteen minutes of fame
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Nicolette
With regards to your comment on GCSE’s as far as i am aware when i took them 3years ago, you start them at the begining of year 10, therefore a year 9 student wouldn’t really be looking at them yet. And mock exams meaning she has studied already for them during year 9 . . . I highly doubt this.
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Andre
I was we could say that she has had her 15 minutes….. but beleive it or not she is in the press again today!!
Evidently she wants 30 minutes
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Oh my god. I cannot believe this story is getting more coverage than the story about the taxi rape, which is so much more serious – and Haiti! One year – take it out for god’s sake – put it back in. Job done. Why was this front page news?
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..and sadly as expectations appear to be pretty low.. we may well see more 15 minutes of fame again and again… Though the Press Editorial may like to reflect that in the UK ASBOs are worn with (ill conceived) pride and by making them public the badge shines brighter!
I had my ears done at 16, and also (much later) had a nose stud, however I do not wear it for work as I accept that there are times when you do need to conform.
To live well is to live and accept being in a society.
This is the same society that provides you with free education, and if you do not set your aspirations higher, probably free benefits too!
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I may have my facts messed up but here goes !
Shannon is possibly the grand daughter of Jo Norman aka President of the Guernsey Swimming Club. Now i’m pretty sure they run a no jewelery policy when swimming and with Shannon being a swimmer she’d have to abide by Grannies’ rules.
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This is verye silly!
Every school and workplace has rules about jewellery and I remember having to take earrings out if I had more than one pair in, and bracelets and necklaces etc – we did see how long we could get away with it for though, part of the fun! But we never refused to take them out, it’s not worth the fuss!
So Shannon will have known that facial piercings werent allowed and any caring parent would check up with the school beforehand if they didnt know the rules. Shannon and her mum are just being deliberately awkward and desperately trying to get media attention – and are giving a very bad impression of themselves.
Personally I dont see the problem with jewellery and I dont think that it affects students work. But anyone who cares about their education just abides by the rules and doesnt kick up such a stupid fuss! Why should it be one rule for Shannon and one for everyone else?
Shannon will be so embarrassed for this when she’s older.
Urm and by the way this is nothing to do with the States!
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People are deliberately missing the point here. Noone is saying there is anything wrong with nose piercings, or with being ‘individual’ – to me the point is clearly that the mother seems to think that trying to change what she perceives to be a bad rule and getting on the front page of the press are more important than her daughter’s education. It is NOT the school who is stopping her getting her education – they have clearly said she can come to school, just not with the nose stud in. They are 100% justified to say this as it is in the school rules. Missing the news letter is a rubbish excuse – a quick phone call to confirm the rules BEFORE getting it done would have been very simple and an obvious thing to do for anyone with any intelligence. The fact this was not done either questions the mothers intellect or suggests she was very well aware of the rules and chose to ignore them. I know which my money is on.
Seriously, is making a ‘point’ more important than your kid’s education? Try thinking a bit longer term, Mrs Penney – what will be more beneficial to your daughter in the long run? A nose stud or good GCSEs…
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Oh yes, and I have had several piercings in my time – however most of my workplaces have prohibited them so I wore clear retainers or took them out during the day. It’s not difficult, and an employer would have no qualms about taking action against you if you made such a silly fuss -in which case, you wouldn’t have a leg to stand on legally as it would be in your employment contract.
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another pointless school rule …
seem to recollect a certain head teacher at one of Guernsey’s comps creating new uniform rules every time the kids (mostly girls) tried to find something not covered in the uniform dress code. It was facial piercings one year, then it was belts with studs or rhinestones the following year, wide belts after that, then it was stripey socks, and so on. Meanwhile female teachers in Guernsey (and mainland) schools can wear whatever they like without anyone so much as raising an eyebrow. Male teachers on the other hand are subject to much more stringent dress requirements. I might add that the worst offenders when it comes to this weirdly English triple standard were those run by female head teachers. Hypocrisy? You bet!
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The iceman who posted something on nose piercing and trouble at St Sampsons High has got nothing to do with me because I am the ICEMAN who posted example: the subsidised buses etc and I find this very poor of the Guernsey Press letting someone use a duplicate user name and by the way to everybody, I don’t want my name to be used on this school issue.
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mrs penney uses her daughter, and teaches her at the same instance, to be selfish and petty and believe they have a ‘right’ to anything, anytime, anyhow. however, what has taught them those shallow, shallow values?
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Surely there is more important news?
and better use of police time?
Although why the children didnt go home and just change clearly puts them in the position in that they must not really care about learning anyway.
and Tiffany F is clearly a mug who doesn’t understand charity, if you don’t like contributing shut up don’t distrubt others.
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