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State school bans 'chastity rings'

It is only a band of silver, imprinted with a Bible verse, worn by a schoolgirl.
But the decision by one of the country's top state schools to ban American-style 'purity rings' - increasingly worn by Christian teenagers to symbolise a pledge not to have sex before marriage - has prompted not just a standoff with local parents, but a debate over religious expression and sex education.

Heather and Philip Playfoot have spent almost two years in dispute with Millais School in Horsham, West Sussex, over their 15-year-old daughter Lydia's ring. While the school's uniform rules forbid jewellery, they argue that the rings - given to teenagers who complete a controversial evangelical church course preaching sexual abstinence - hold genuine religious significance.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1800271,00.html

So? Was the school right to ban them?

IMO, yes it was. For this is not a fundamental attire of the Christian faith, and it certainly cannot be compared with Muslim girls wearing a headscarf- even though I would probably not want to see those in schools either.

On a side note, I find this whole issue of chastity and purity pledges deeply sickening.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote:
    http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1800271,00.html


    On a side note, I find this whole issue of chastity and purity pledges deeply sickening.
    why?
    it was a perfectly normal teaching until recently.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Indeed, there's nothing sick or wrong about not having sex.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well I find the idea of school uniforms rather stupid with the exception of a few nights out. But if they have a uniform, it should be the same for everyone. Incidentally, if someone gets married at the age of 16, and is still in school, are they allowed to wear their wedding ring? I doubt it's really ever came up, but just hypothetically.

    I think these chastity vows are stupid too (especially the one's that have actually already had sex), but if they want to do them, I don't see the problem.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I should have put it clearer: what I find sickening is organised church 'courses' in which children are indoctrinated into pledging such things as not having sex before marriage, and are given rings if they 'complete' the course.

    If that does not count as programming and brainwashing, I don't know what does.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote:
    So? Was the school right to ban them?

    IMO, yes it was. For this is not a fundamental attire of the Christian faith, and it certainly cannot be compared with Muslim girls wearing a headscarf- even though I would probably not want to see those in schools either.

    On a side note, I find this whole issue of chastity and purity pledges deeply sickening.
    No, the school was not right to ban them. Firstly, they banned them on the most stupid of grounds - some laughable claim about it not being part of the uniform. I saw kids wearing white trainers contrary to my school's uniform policy and nothing was done about that. Yep, going for the easy target as usual. No, they would never dare persecute Muslims in such a way. Why? Mainly because the death threats from the mad mullahs would come flooding in soon afterwards.

    What is so sickening about purity pledges? I wonder what Aladdin would prefer. Would he prefer that everyone was having sex well before they were mentally and sometimes physically ready? Yet again, Aladdin tells others not to impose their beliefs on others before he sets out to do the same himself.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote:
    If that does not count as programming and brainwashing, I don't know what does.
    no ...it's called parenting ...building a family based on what you belie ve ...what you hope for.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    As I explained just above (because, I'll concede it wasn't clear enough in the opening posts) what I find sickeking is dedicated church 'courses' devoted entirely to targetting children and making make such fundamental pledges.

    Not only this constitutes programming (and fuck knows what else the children are being 'taught'- as the article says there have been cases of various lies regarding STDs and the effectiveness of contraception being peddled by those who run these things) but it is wrong to encourage anyone to take such a fundamental decision and to stick to it regardless of what turns life might take.

    Funny how not only 80%+ of those who take such pledge end up having sex before marriage, but fewer of them use contraceptives when they do than those who had not taken such pledges.

    Nobody benefits from such courses. I'm simply shocked that there are 'courses' devoted to make anyone make such promises.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well I find the idea of school uniforms rather stupid with the exception of a few nights out. But if they have a uniform, it should be the same for everyone. Incidentally, if someone gets married at the age of 16, and is still in school, are they allowed to wear their wedding ring? I doubt it's really ever came up, but just hypothetically.

    I think these chastity vows are stupid too (especially the one's that have actually already had sex), but if they want to do them, I don't see the problem.
    my friend has been wearing her engagement ring to school, lots of girls wear rings on that finger anyway
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote:
    As I explained just above (because, I'll concede it wasn't clear enough in the opening posts) what I find sickeking is dedicated church 'courses' devoted entirely to targetting children and making make such fundamental pledges.
    :rolleyes: Bloody hell Aladdin. Nobody is 'forced' to make a chastity pledge. The reason most do it is probably simply out of peer pressure, simply to appease everyone else in the 'church' in question. I'm not surprised they don't keep to the pledge. I don't think that chastity pledges are wrong - I just think they're a rather pointless exercise. I would rather the message was modified slightly, for instance to say "you want to make a pledge of abstinence? Fair enough. When you do decide to lose your virginity with that special person, make sure you wear protection...", go into details about it, yadda yadda ya...

    I'm not in favour of pointless scare tactics and misinformation either, you know. :p
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    not all xtrians teach the rubbish that a few mad americans do ...some ...most i would imagine ...actualy teach the truth about contraception.
    your confusing catholics with christians.

    i know how you hate all things religous ladin but ...the idea of religion is to attempt to lift people above the norm and the humdrum.to lift yourself up spiritualy.
    spiritualy meaning ...instead of just being a gland ...and living off the feelings that are chemicaly primed in your heart and mind ...you actualy strive to be something better than that.
    it takes comitment and discipline to rise above being a gland.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Unless things have changed drastically since I was at school I suspect there's more peer pressure on teen girls to loose their virginity. I can't see any problems with the church or any other body trying to do something to counteract that pressure.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    its stupid.
    School uniform should be abolished, and certainly taking kids out of their lessons - disrupting their education because of a piece of clothing or jewellery is outrageous, I dont care whether its religious or not.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    its stupid.
    School uniform should be abolished, and certainly taking kids out of their lessons - disrupting their education because of a piece of clothing or jewellery is outrageous, I dont care whether its religious or not.

    Agreed. In Secondary school, you got a detention if you had a piece of clothing/footwear on that you shouldn't have.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    not all xtrians teach the rubbish that a few mad americans do ...some ...most i would imagine ...actualy teach the truth about contraception.
    your confusing catholics with christians.

    i know how you hate all things religous ladin but ...the idea of religion is to attempt to lift people above the norm and the humdrum.to lift yourself up spiritualy.
    spiritualy meaning ...instead of just being a gland ...and living off the feelings that are chemicaly primed in your heart and mind ...you actualy strive to be something better than that.
    it takes comitment and discipline to rise above being a gland.
    At no point I have suggested all christians are the same rolly, or even all catholics are the same (even though the people behind such wonderful 'courses' are evangelical, and then I suspect many evangelicals don't do such things.). I'm only commenting on the creators of such unpleasant and pointless programmes.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    stargalaxy wrote:
    :rolleyes: Bloody hell Aladdin. Nobody is 'forced' to make a chastity pledge. The reason most do it is probably simply out of peer pressure, simply to appease everyone else in the 'church' in question. I'm not surprised they don't keep to the pledge. I don't think that chastity pledges are wrong - I just think they're a rather pointless exercise. I would rather the message was modified slightly, for instance to say "you want to make a pledge of abstinence? Fair enough. When you do decide to lose your virginity with that special person, make sure you wear protection...", go into details about it, yadda yadda ya...

    I'm not in favour of pointless scare tactics and misinformation either, you know. :p
    Do you really think all (or even any) children who attend such courses do so completely out of free will without any influence? I somehow doubt it. Such courses are very likely to be peddled to parents first, for them to enlist their children. At the end of the day, if the children had already decided to make a chastity pledge there would be no point in enlisting them in a 'course' to convince them of just that, would it?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Its possibly worth pointing out that most of the people that go in for these rings are not roman catholic, just for the record.

    If people are allowed to wear rings to school, then these should also be allowed, if jewellry is not allowed, the neither should these.

    Its a simple call.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Im in favour of school uniforms though i hated them myself at the time, i saw loads of kids get bullied badly when we had none uniform days and they dressed "wrong" or "Unique" or whatever.

    As for this chastity ring thing, either its the same for all, or they can all wear what they like! Simple as that.

    As for brainwashing, nope, thats what happens in some religious schools in America and im sure in some Religious liek catholic schools here, but its hardly a mass thing like in the bible belt of the states.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote:
    Such courses are very likely to be peddled to parents first, for them to enlist their children.
    Blame the parents, then. If they didn't send their kids to these circuses, they'd die out.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    NQA wrote:
    Unless things have changed drastically since I was at school I suspect there's more peer pressure on teen girls to loose their virginity. I can't see any problems with the church or any other body trying to do something to counteract that pressure.
    What children need is good education on the subject; good guidance to make help them make an informed choice.

    Programming them into pledging not to have sex until they get married is quite different from preaching common sense and asking them not to have underage sex don't you think.

    Incidentally, if there was a course by anyone programming children to have sex before marriage I'd be criticising it just the same.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote:
    Programming them into pledging not to have sex until they get married is quite different from preaching common sense and asking them not to have underage sex don't you think.

    Incidentally, if there was a course by anyone programming children to have sex before marriage I'd be criticising it just the same.
    Would you? Somehow I doubt it.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yes of course I would. Nobody should force children to do anything. Children should be educated in a fair and balanced way, with facts instead of biased or untrue information, and encouraged to make the right decision based on those facts.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    subject13 wrote:
    Im in favour of school uniforms though i hated them myself at the time, i saw loads of kids get bullied badly when we had none uniform days and they dressed "wrong" or "Unique" or whatever.

    I found this alot as well. I used to get this at the start of 6th form as well.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ditto. There was a boy at my school who used to get ripped to shreds for having safety pins all over his bag, and non-uniform days were pretty much a living nightmare for him. Oddly it was the years below that picked on him, 'cause our year fucking loved him.

    I think they were right to not let her have it, but purely on the basis of keeping the same policy for everyone. People get pissed off if you make exceptions for daft things like that. Fair enough she's done that course, whatever, but she doesn't need a ring to show it off when it's against the school policy to let people wear rings. I don't necessarily agree with the policy in itself, but it's nice to see a school actually following their own rules (not like my school, which forced my twin sister to take out her braids which cost about £20, but let one girl keep hers because (and only because) they cost about £200).
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Franki wrote:
    she doesn't need a ring to show it off when it's against the school policy to let people wear rings.

    The policy is more than likely to do with safety than anything else. (At my school anyway, it was)
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote:
    Nobody should force children to do anything. .
    say that again mate ...when you have kids!
    or will your kids be the out of control ones who never knew discipline?
    were never taught right and wrong ...left to make their own choices ...make their own decisions?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote:
    The policy is more than likely to do with safety than anything else. (At my school anyway, it was)
    Which, imo, is fair enough.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote:
    The policy is more than likely to do with safety than anything else. (At my school anyway, it was)
    :lol: And what's going to happen? Are they going to fill the chastity ring with explosives or something? My god, this is the most stupid reasoning I've ever heard. Added to the fact one school has banned pupils from flying paper planes this weekend, I can't help but wonder of the sanity of the politically correct windbags running our schools.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    stargalaxy wrote:
    :lol: And what's going to happen? Are they going to fill the chastity ring with explosives or something? My god, this is the most stupid reasoning I've ever heard. Added to the fact one school has banned pupils from flying paper planes this weekend, I can't help but wonder of the sanity of the politically correct windbags running our schools.

    :rolleyes: It's because it can be possible to ctach rings (and nother jewellery) whilst at school - that was the reason we were given anyway.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote:
    :rolleyes: It's because it can be possible to ctach rings (and nother jewellery) whilst at school - that was the reason we were given anyway.
    Ever considered that reasoning might be total crap?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    stargalaxy wrote:
    Ever considered that reasoning might be total crap?

    Not really, no. And if it's crap, why have all teachers reinforced this rule?:rolleyes: (particularly the PE teachers)
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