The thin end of a dangerous wedge

Joan Boyer’s letter, (Opinion, April 7, ‘Dress code required?’) is breathtakingly arrogant.

She infers that, because she personally finds the sight of a student in ripped jeans offensive, the student cannot be taking pride in his appearance.

How can she possibly know this?

They may be ultraexpensive designer jeans that the student is ‘proud’ to wear.

Or, perhaps he cannot afford new clothes, but is still turning up for tutorials and trying his best?

Or, maybe he has such enlightened thoughts that he never judges by appearance and regards clothes as mere practical necessities?

If Joan Boyer dislikes ripped jeans so much that the mere sight of them fills her with ‘disgust’, then she should just pass on by. No one’s forcing her to buy, or wear them.

With regard to making a positive advertisement for Haywards Heath College, I should think its ‘Outstanding’ rating, (Ofstead report, 2020) ticks that box admirably.

The prime focus of the college is clearly on the educational needs and emotional development of their students, without feeling the need to critique personal appearance.

Now, more than ever, the world needs confident, young people with bright, enquiring minds to sort out the mess caused by older generations.

I applaud any young person who is attempting to further themselves via academic endeavour – however they’re dressed.

History shows us that it’s often foolish to judge a book by its cover. It is, perhaps, useful to remember that some of the world’s most repellent characters were devotees of ‘smart’ attire.

Robert Maxwell wore bespoke, hand-tailored suits and Colonel Gaddafi had wardrobes stuffed full of blingencrusted military uniforms, but I doubt anyone could accuse those two of having high moral codes.

At the other end of the sartorial scale, Jesus wore humble clothes and hippy sandals. Would he have passed the ‘disgust’ test?

Joan Boyer’s attitude – ‘I don’t like it...therefore it must be wrong’ is the thin end of a potentially very dangerous wedge.

With kitten season nearly here, Cats Protection is releasing a documentary highlighting the potentially tragic risks of buying underage kittens online from unscrupulous sellers who put profit before welfare.

The Big Kitten Con, narrated by Caroline Quentin, features traumatic accounts of kittens being sold at less than the legal age for commercial sale, which is eight-weeks, and sadly dying from debilitating illnesses. Visit www.cats.org. uk/kitten-con

This newspaper and its website is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation, the regulatory body for the press, and abide by its code of conduct. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided, then you can contact IPSO at Gate House, 1 Farringdon Street, London, EC4M 7LG (Tel: 0300 123 2220) or e-mail: inquiries@ipso.co.uk

Cat-related documentary

Send your letters for publication to: middy.news@jpimedia.co.uk

To in future protect the credibility and integrity of the letters pages, the Mid Sussex Times asks that all correspondents supply their full names and addresses and a contact telephone number. Out of respect for privacy, the Middy will not publish house names or numbers, but will include with all letters published the road / street and town / village address of the writer.