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Boys are banned from sitting their Junior cert



Tullamore College principal Edward McEvoy (above) refused to allow Enda Carroll, pictured top with his mother Pam, sit his Junior Cert exam because of his hair style. Right, the school rules signed by Enda and his mum call on him to 'mind your appearance'.



Shorn heads too much for strict school principal



A 15-YEAR-OLD schoolboy has been banned from sitting the Junior Certificate with his classmates because of his haircut.

A huge furore has erupted over the decision of the principal of Tullamore College, Co Offaly, to exclude three students from the exam hall because of their shaven "blade-one" cut.

Two students Sean Treacy (16) and Andrew Kelly (15) yesterday agreed to transfer to another school in Clara, about six miles away, but Enda Carroll has refused, saying he is planning to stay at home for the rest of the exams and repeat the Junior Cert elsewhere next year.

Tullamore school principal Edward McEvoy is opening a special examination centre in Tullamore to cater for the students. But that caused a new row last night.

Segregated

Pamela Carroll, mother of Enda, said he would not sit his exams there, and Anne Marie Treacy, mother of Sean, said he would return to Clara, rather than be segregated.

There was no comment from the family of Andrew Kelly.

Both mothers said Mr McEvoy had not contacted them about the special centre and Mrs Treacy said she had been told about the arrangements by the principal of the school in Clara.

Ms Carroll and Ms Treacy have lashed out at Mr McEvoy, claiming the school has "one rule for one, and another for others".

The controversy arose when the three boys were told by Mr McEvoy on Wednesday that they would only be allowed to sit the opening English paper and would not be welcome at the school after that. Yesterday, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) authorised Mr McEvoy to set up the special examination centre.

But Ms Carroll said that no offer had been made to her son and in any event, she added, why should they be expected to sit the exam "in isolation. They haven't got a disease."

The SEC, which described the issue as a "local one" said it was satisfied that the three students had been given an opportunity to sit their exams.

Breached

There was no comment from Education Minister Mary Hanafin, who regards the matter as one for the exams commission.

Mr McEvoy denied the boys had been singled out. He said they were denied the opportunity to sit the full exams at the school because they had breached school rules. Ms Carroll said she "begged Enda to go to Clara".

"But he said he had done nothing wrong, and why should he not be allowed to sit the exam in his own school.

"If he was in jail, he would be allowed to sit the exams." Ms Treacy said that even though Sean had taken up the offer to sit the exams in Clara, she felt the school principal was picking on the three boys.

"I counted seven other boys outside the school this morning with similar haircuts, and yet my son has been segregated," she said.

Ms Treacy and Ms Carroll confirmed their boys had been warned, and suspended, about the length of the hair during the year, but said they liked to wear their hair short. Mr McEvoy said yesterday that the school couldn't accept "wilful challenging of the school rules" and denied that the school was guilty of selectively applying its rules.

"I am very happy with the number of calls to the local radio and to the school from parents supporting my stance," he said.

Labour education spokesperson Jan O'Sullivan said that banning a student from sitting crucial exams because his hair was an inch too long or too short was like using ten tonnes of explosives to crack a peanut.

"It may well be time for the Exams Commission to take steps to ensure that a decision such as this doesn't jeopardise the future of young people," she said.

Liam Horan and Katherine Donnelly
 
Edward McEvoy is clearly an idiot. He should be sacked (and pillaged). Perhaps this should be followed by being boiled in oil until he is on the point of death, before hanging, drawing and quartering him.

Then they should feed the bits to dogs.
 
Originally posted by simmo@Jun 9 2006, 04:20 PM
Edward McEvoy is clearly an idiot. He should be sacked (and pillaged). Perhaps this should be followed by being boiled in oil until he is on the point of death, before hanging, drawing and quartering him.

Then they should feed the bits to dogs.
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...and shave his head :ph34r:
 
I do wonder why if they knew the haircuts were banned why did they have them ?
In any event his response is completely disproportionate
 
I may be a lone voice here but if the school rules say no to no.1 cuts then his mother gets that cut for him anyway, I feel sorry for the child but the school did the right thing.
 
I agree with Paul 100%. I find the parents efforts to destabilise the authority of the school reprehensible.
 
What would happen if the hair cut was for religious reasons (obviously not in this case)?

An absolute joke.
 
Just say you've got nits (scratch, scratch) and your nurse has recommended keeping the hair short so you can nip them out. "See here, sor," you cry excitedly, offering a tiny black dot on the tip of your finger, "here's another of them, so it is! I couldna catch the bestids before wi' me long hair!"
 
Why have rules if you're then going to allow a few pig-headed parents openly to challenge them? The heidie did the right thing. I wish more had the cojones to stand up to unco-operative parents.
 
Absolute nonsense. What kind of state do we live in? There's 15 year old scumbags going around up to much worse - this guy got a dodgy haircut, so what? There's much worse threats to society.

The Junior Cert doesn't matter a **** anyway. But for the guy to be stopped from doin the exams over a haircut is ridiculous. I don't blame the parents. For all we know, he could have gone off on his own bat and got it done without them knowing. These things happen.
 
For the record, he didnt stop him from doing the exams, he stopped him from doing the exams at that school. Of course, now that the character has decided not to take the rest of his exams doesnt help gain sympathy.
 
Kids get turned away from their exams for breaking school uniform policy, and rightly so. Why is this any different?

I blame whoever was responsible for the haircut, be it parent or child.

Bobbyjo, there are worse threats to society, yes but should we ignore the smaller ones because there is always something larger on the scale? Rubbish. That panders to parents who break the shcool rules and have the argument "Oh little Johny was only.............(insert random rule break here) So what? He broke the rules, despite knowing them and he must take the punishment. That really is a fait accompli.
 
Bobbyjo and Gal are very young, and are still going through their rebellious stage, so go easy on them.

Here's the point. I couldnt give a flying fcuk what the kids hair is like. I normally go for a 2 blade myself. What I worry about is the chavesque message -you do what you like son and don't mind what those bastards tell you.

Its a short hop to, "I'll do whatever speed I bleedin' loike, it's my car" or "You looked at me crooked, so have a smack of me iron bar, why don't ya"
 
Originally posted by an capall@Jun 9 2006, 08:45 PM
Bobbyjo and Gal are very young, and are still going through their rebellious stage, so go easy on them.

Here's the point. I couldnt give a flying fcuk what the kids hair is like. I normally go for a 2 blade myself. What I worry about is the chavesque message -you do what you like son and don't mind what those bastards tell you.

Its a short hop to, "I'll do whatever speed I bleedin' loike, it's my car" or "You looked at me crooked, so have a smack of me iron bar, why don't ya"
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I'm sure either is more than able to answer eloquently for themselves, but I'd be concerned that that's a bit patronising.

However, I agree with the general sentiment.

Garney and PDJ make very pertinent points.

I know of a (state) school where kids who don't abide by the school rules during exams are not allowed to sit the rest of their exams unless a parent is also present in the hall to ensure the pupil's compliance. This could involve inappropriate attire, disruption, etc. Attempted cheating debars them from sitting any other exam and disqualifies them from any exam previously sat.

In most cases, it's the parent(s) that need(s) teaching.
 
I don't see anywhere in the story any evidence that they had been told that the haircut was banned or the consequences.

Garney is quite right however about their refusal to take the exams elsewhere though - it does not encourage sympathy.
 
It's a haircut folks, for Christs sake. Is there any evidence here that this chap has caused any trouble, are people here making a connection between people with 'rebellious' haircuts and trouble makers?

I'm shocked at this statement an!

Its a short hop to, "I'll do whatever speed I bleedin' loike, it's my car" or "You looked at me crooked, so have a smack of me iron bar, why don't ya"
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Yes, I see the point about stopping himself from taking the exams but the fact is that he was being segregated from his classmates etc and made feel like an outcast. In fairness, if you were a strong minded individual, would you take kindly to that?

Rules are rules but surely, it's like refereeing, that at certain times there is a need for a use of common sense and a rationalisation of a situation. If he turns up for the Junior Cert breaking the rules, you punish in some shape or form, whatever that may be. But leave it until the exam period is over.

Jesus, kids these days get so much shite pumped into their brains in school about the importance of exams etc etc. Most of this is based around the need to avoid stress and this and that. Do they think they are serving their student in the best manner possible by taking such a heavy handed reaction to a misdemeanour that is minor in the greater scheme of things - basically the modelling of a haircut that you see from a lot of footballers etc etc today - not exactly as a statement of intent to cause harm or violence.

Do you think it's right and proper for a school to unsettle a student before a exam by putting him in a room away from everyone else? Is this worth it or, is it just plain petty?

Do you actually think that other students would have been distracted by this haircut and would have raced early from the exams to do a similar job to their barnet?

I don't think so. There was no need for this, no need for this at all. Maybe the kid hasn't covered himself in glory. But if the principal had let him go ahead and take his exam and then pulled him aside afterwards or taken some other more appropriate form of disciplinary action then we could all have got on with our lives.

What we have now is a school principal taking phone calls and press attention during exams. You've got journalists turning up at the school. How wonderfully calming that must be for the students at that school taking an exam that actually means something [altho **** all really] like the Leaving Cert.

The principal is a plank. End of story.
 
Again I disagree. He was placed in a tricky situation but to cede the point is to start heading down a slippery slope. He made a stand and I respect and back him for that.

He set up a separate unit for the pupils which is more than some schools would do. The parent should stop complaining and accept the compromise offered by the school. After all, they didn't have to do anything, they could have simply said NO.
 
Originally posted by PDJ@Jun 10 2006, 06:31 AM
Again I disagree. He was placed in a tricky situation but to cede the point is to start heading down a slippery slope. He made a stand and I respect and back him for that.
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Spot on. Kids (and maybe parents?) will seize on any sign of weakness, and to let this go just because it's exam time would be wrong.
 
Firstly, it's not just a haircut. That's like saying if a kid refuses to carry out an instruction it's just a lack of manners or co-operation.

This is a challenge to the authority of the person at the top of the pile. If this challenge isn't dealt with unambiguously others will seek to make their own little challenges and will cite inaction over the haircut to be a reason for their challenge to go unpunished.

It is entirely appropriate to set him aside for the exam. By flouting the rules about appropriate hairstyles, the pupil and his parents have set the boy apart from his peers. They are the ones who have effectively made him an outcast.

It is entirely irrelevant what hairstyle footballers wear. Of course kids will be influenced by their heroes but everyone knew the rules and this was a deliberate challenge to them. It therefore merited strong action.

If brazenly challenging a rule about hairstyles didn't unsettle the kid, I don't see that being segregated for his exam should unsettle him.

As for the media trying to make sumfing ov it, that's their job. You only have to read the language of tabloid papers to realise most tabloid journalists are driven by making a sensational drama out of a mundane matter. Of course they'll latch on to this. Nearly everybody holds a grudge against teachers because of a bad experience they had at school. When they then get the chance to go at them in the media they don't mess about. They are entirely envious of what they perceive as favourable working conditions.

The head teacher's job is to oversee a safe environment where all pupils can achieve of their best. By acting against the inappropriate atitude of the few, he is protecting the many.

I congratulate him.
 
To me they should suffer the same fate as Gentlemen who remove their jackets without permission in the members enclosure at Goodwood. Total omission from society.
eek.gif
 
Ahh we'll just have to agree to disagree. I know that I'm, in the main, arguing with teachers or those who work in area of academia here so what do you expect.

P.S

I'm not of the 'anti teacher' persuasion.

My dad [now retired] was a school principal so I know exactly what the job entailed. He was a bloody good one because he governed with a common sense approach. I wish the same could have been used in this situation.
 
I don't see any problem with disciplinary action being taken against the boys who had broken school rules , especially if they knew these haircuts were banned, I just think banning them from taking exams is a disproportionate sanction.

Strangely, enough I consulted my sister's partner ( he is a secondary school headteacher ) about this when I spoke to them yesterday and he thought that banning them from taking the exams with others was well over the top
 
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