Stop patronising them!
Parents’ anger at school where mirrors in girls’ loo were replaced with ‘anti-make-up’ posters
ANGRY parents have slammed a secondary school for replacing mirrors in the girls’ toilets with posters branding make-up a ‘ harmful drug’ which makes women feel ‘ugly’.
The ‘motivational’ messages about inner beauty were plastered on the walls at Christopher Whitehead Language College in Worcester.
They warn girls that using cosmetics can trigger them into feeling ‘ugly’ and compare using make-up to drug addiction. one reads: ‘If all girls started wearing no make-up and comfortable clothes,
‘This approach is plain wrong’
guys would have no choice but to fall for girls because of natural beauty.’
Another says: ‘dear girls, make-up is a harmful drug. once you start using it, you’ll feel ugly without it.’ A third states: ‘Beauty is nothing without brains.’
Parents said the posters were ‘patronising and degrading’ and demanded their removal. one said: ‘Is the school really telling girls that putting lipstick on is as bad as injecting heroin or taking crack cocaine?
‘Yes, girls need to be taught about inner beauty but this approach is plain wrong.’
Another parent said: ‘The school has removed all mirrors from the toilets (including the boys), but in the girls’ toilets they’ve covered the wall in place of the mirror with “inspirational quotes”, however they are far from that. The quotes are degrading. This is not the message we want to be sending to extremely impressionable girls as young as 11.
A third said: ‘Far from motivating the girls, these messages are patronising and victim-blaming girls who do want to wear make-up.
Parents were not consulted about this change. Surely it’s our job to teach these values to our children rather than have this propaganda literally shoved in their faces every time they use the toilet?’
The 1,500-pupil school, an academy for children aged 11 to 19, was rated ‘good’ by ofsted at its most recent inspection in 2018. Headteacher Neil Morris admitted the decision to put up the posters was a mistake.
He said: ‘ 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 while they socialised, often late to lessons.
‘The English department had used this as an opportunity to provide some argumentative discursive letter-writing.
‘ With hindsight, the posters should have been placed in their classroom instead.’