Detention for wrong tie pupil

5:00pm Thursday 14th February 2013 in Local news By Will Lodge

Max Richmond with his real tie (right) and the clip-on he is supposed to wear. Max Richmond with his real tie (right) and the clip-on he is supposed to wear.

A PUPIL has been put in detention for wearing the wrong type of tie.

Colne Community School in Brightlingsea insists students wear clip-on ties for health and safety reasons.

Max Richmond, 13, says the ties are uncomfortable and childish and prefers to wear a traditional tie, given to him by a neighbour.

  • Read the full story including the school's response in Thursday's Gazette.

Comments(23)

Say It As It Is OK? says...
6:16pm Thu 14 Feb 13

What is wrong with these people? A normal tie has been worn by most boys and many girls for years. What evidence is there that makes a normal tie dangerous?

Or is it Another instance of Health and Safety gone absolutely bonkers. The 'jobsworths' who made these decisions must be very pleased with themselves! Why not go the whole hog and take their belts and shoe laces away as well!

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James 1 says...
6:57pm Thu 14 Feb 13

Whilst I basically agree with the first comment,I also think this may have something to do with trying to make students look tidy. For more years than I care to remember, ties have been "worn" anywhere but how they should . ie withe knot in the correct place.

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Boris says...
2:33am Fri 15 Feb 13

Unbelievable. It is a part of everyone's education to learn how to tie a tie properly. Has a pupil ever hanged him/herself with a tie? How many pupils have been rushed to A and E after an accident involving a tie?
If they don't want them to have "dangerous" garments, they should abolish ties altogether, rather than force tem to wear clip-on ones.

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Ritchie_Hicks says...
8:50am Fri 15 Feb 13

If this story is true, it's disgraceful and the headteacher should be ashamed.

A classic example of H&S gone made.

As Boris rightly says - if the tie is so dangerous, abolish it!

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TheCaptain says...
10:39am Fri 15 Feb 13

To be fair to the school the real tie is a slightly different colour.

Complete idiots who made that decision. They should be ashamed.

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Clairebear1980 says...
3:07pm Fri 15 Feb 13

I have never heard anything so ridiculous!

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Scoot says...
4:56pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Afraid with the 'lets blame and claim' society we live in schools have to be very careful. It would not be the other pupil that throttled the boy by wrenching his tie that the childs parents would claim from would it ? No, the childs parents would be advised by some ambulance chasing lawyer to claim for negligence due to lack of supervision from the school, injury, emotional distress etc etc all from the school because they know they can get a bigger pay out.

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Ritchie_Hicks says...
5:11pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Scoot wrote:
Afraid with the 'lets blame and claim' society we live in schools have to be very careful. It would not be the other pupil that throttled the boy by wrenching his tie that the childs parents would claim from would it ? No, the childs parents would be advised by some ambulance chasing lawyer to claim for negligence due to lack of supervision from the school, injury, emotional distress etc etc all from the school because they know they can get a bigger pay out.
That's a huge generalisation of parents an in such a case the child would probably find themselves charged with a criminal offence anyway.

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Im_Like_HELLO says...
5:12pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Neck ties are a hangover from Victorian times -- outdated and sexist. The school is to be applauded for making moves into the 21st century by insisting on fake ties, and I hope their next step is to abolish them altogether.

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Fnagster says...
5:44pm Fri 15 Feb 13

I am getting TIEred of these stupid stories.

This is KNOT news!

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Ritchie_Hicks says...
8:11pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Im_Like_HELLO wrote:
Neck ties are a hangover from Victorian times -- outdated and sexist. The school is to be applauded for making moves into the 21st century by insisting on fake ties, and I hope their next step is to abolish them altogether.
So are electric light bulbs, steam powered machinary, pedal cycles, pasteurisation and flushing toilets. Should we ban them as well?

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jut1972 says...
8:18pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Its probably cos its a different colour, if it wasnt how would they have known?

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Heinz says...
8:38pm Fri 15 Feb 13

No shoe laces or belts either then - they're all dangerous in a similar way.

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Im_Like_HELLO says...
8:40pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Ritchie_Hicks: electric light bulbs, steam powered machinery, pedal cycles, pasteurisation, and flushing toilets are still useful. Neck ties are not.

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wellnow says...
8:49pm Fri 15 Feb 13

It is not pleasant being swung round by the tie.schools can be quite violent places at times.

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Justice79 says...
8:39am Sun 17 Feb 13

So this boy thinks he is somehow better than his peers and that he should be allowed to wear what he wants as opposed to the uniform the school say should be worn.

Well at least the poor little lamb knows that later on in life when things don't go his way he can always run to the local rag.

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mechanic7 says...
12:20pm Sun 17 Feb 13

I am now retired but at work I wore a clip on tie as it was more comfortable than a "proper " tie.
How can a clip on tie be more uncomfortabe than a bit of cloth that goes right around your neck.
One of the favourite tricks at school used to be to trap ypur tie in a door and leave you there during lunch break !. the gazette is obvously trying to justify its price increase by includind stupid stories such as this.

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romantic says...
4:48pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Although I detested wearing it, we all wore ties for the 5 years of secondary school, and I really can´t recall anybody ever being throttled by one. If the school lunatic (every school has one, I believe it is compulsory) took offence to you for some reason, the main point of attack seemed to be stamping on feet and kicking legs.

Schools like rules, and feel they cannot be seen to back down from them. I´m sure the head is perfectly aware that this is all a bit silly, but will not back down, as then it shows that "the rules" are not something set down next to the 10 Commandments, but are in fact flexible.

It is the same mindset you meet in traffic wardens and petty officials around the world: the rules are the rules, and cannot be bent, even slightly. Get used to it, kid, there will be plenty more of them out there in the adult world.

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Jess Jephcott says...
4:58pm Mon 18 Feb 13

It's a crazy world. Petty bureaucracy. Little Hitlers running our lives and getting away with it. Get used to it.

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WivRes says...
8:55pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Either wear ties, or don't!

For the record, I've worn a tie pretty much every day of my school and working life (35 years or so) and yet to witness or be involved in any health and safety risk caused by my neck wear.

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WivRes says...
9:26am Tue 19 Feb 13

I've been mulling this over and confess it really irritates. What are the reasons for wearing a tie or the reasons for wearing a "fake" tie?

Smartness and uniformity are the obvious reasons for. Other reasons are conservatism, perhaps and a need or desire to stand apart from those that do not wear ties; management/ shop floor etc.

Reasons for not wearing a proper tie are cited as being for health and safety. Perhaps also, children refuse to conform by wearing their ties in a stylish yet unconventional way thus eroding any justification for wearing a tie for uniformity and smartness.

But to claim tie should not be worn on the grounds of health and safety is an insult to our collective intelligence. The Colne is rightly regarded as a great sports academy. One supposes that the odd accident, injury or collision has occurred on the football pitch, but is soccer being banned? Was this not the school that had a dreadful incident between a school bus and a tractor recently, but have the buses been cancelled?

The H&S argument is nonsense, which makes me more concerned that the real reason is more to do with being against any conservatism, not wishing to appear even the slightest bit elitist and a symptom of the shift in power from teacher to pupil. If teachers can't teach Maths, get new teachers, don't drop Maths. If teachers can't get students to wear proper ties properly standards similarly need to be raised. There's nothing wrong with maintaining raised standards, it installs pride and a sense of worth. There is everything wrong with dumbing down and pandering to the demands of those who demand the easy option and lest us not forget, the children learn from us so we have to be careful what we teach them.

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boxted ave resedent says...
3:55pm Tue 19 Feb 13

I wonder if that rapist paul gigg used a tie to hang himself in the cell

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Lawford Lass says...
10:52pm Wed 20 Feb 13

There is an annoying game played by certain cretins called tie pull which can be, not dangerous in the it will kill you kind of way, but can really hurt your neck so I can completely understand the use of clip ons BUT detention is a bit OTT.....

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