Call me a prude but I don't think your son should be wearing long dangly ear rings either - nowt to do with H&S reasons mind ;-) From memory I'm pretty sure this old gem was doing the circuits when I was at school (can't remember that far back as to whether it was labelled as H&S reasoning mind).

Why is that a new low?? When I was at school over 20 years ago we were not allowed to wear dangly earrings or sleepers for safety reasons. I have had friends who have had their dangly earrings pulled right through their ear lobe when caught on something. The risk is real. The school is right to ban them on safety grounds.

Must admit I'm always reminded to take off my watch when playing football in case I catch someone with it. Having said that I still play football where bodily contact is allowed - the way things are going H&S will be held responsible for the demise of the tackle in football.

Chris, you still can play conkers, climb trees and enjoy bonfire night. I think you are believing what you read in the papers too much. The subject has been done to death on these forums of how many of us are involved in what are perceived to be dangerous sports and activities. Because despite what you read we can all still do activities that pose a risk to our own safety if we choose to. Yes there are some areas where the old health and safety card has been played but most of the headlines surround one off cases - ie. one council or one school banning something. But back to the subject, as I said, in this instance the school are right. My only surprise is that Bill thinks this is an unusual or new request for a school to make.

I wish I could recall my school days with such clarity, personally I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast these days. I dont recall wearing jewelry at school being an issue (outside of sports obviously), but then I attended one of those wonderful progressive schools in the 80's where you called the teachers by their first name. I do remember playing conkers though, and climbing trees, oh and two footed lunging tackles from behind was considered good defending. It was in no way my intention to trivialise the potential injuries caused by the inadvertent and sudden removal of earrings, rather that in a climate where the news media and others are so quick to bash our profession at every opportunity, simply stating “it is school policy” should surely suffice.