Well That Was Unexpected
Share:
Primary school children should be allowed to play dress up, using whatever they want without comment from teachers or pupils, says the Church of England.
In bullying guidance issued to its schools, the Church has said pupils should be allowed to ‘explore who they might be’. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the guidance would help schools spread a Christian message ‘without exception or exclusion. The advice will help to prevent bullying, so says LGBT charity Stonewall.
The advice comes about after the Anti-Bullying Alliance showed a poll, that stated two in five children ‘hide aspects of themselves’ for fear of being bullied.
For this week’s Anti-Bullying Week, 1,600 eight to 16-year-olds were questioned about school, to which, almost two-thirds said they had been bullied for being ‘different’. Over half feared to be different and almost a quarter said they would change how they looked to conform.
Which is awful when you think about it.
The Archbishop said no one should be diminished to a ‘stereotype or problem’ and the guidance recognised there is a breadth of views among Christians and all beliefs when it comes to same-sex marriage, orientation and gender identity. However, the purpose of the advice was to ‘prevent pupils in Church of England schools and academies from having their self-worth diminished or their ability to achieve impeded by being bullied because of their perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity.’
Honestly?
I’m chill with that idea. It’s the kind of thing these kinds of schools should be pushing for. Bullying is never acceptable, no matter who you are, or where you are.
Because sometimes when playing dress up you just want to be a pretty princess.