Graduation is usually the most exciting day for students. Some tenth grade girls at the Mackellar Girls Campus, a secondary school in Sydney, Australia, dressed up for the special day and sported long acrylic nails in a subtle color. But going to the nail salon afterwards became fatal for the girls, writes the Australian portal News.com.au.
Apparently, the school administration took little pleasure in the girls’ manicures and initially placed them in a separate room from the main hall. According to the parents, there should have been a total of 70 girls. There the schoolgirls were first instructed about the dress and appearance regulations. Of course, glued nails are not part of that.
Only an hour later, about 20 schoolgirls were allowed to take their seats in the main hall. However, their names were not mentioned during the award ceremony.
“It’s a bit of a double standard”
The parents do not understand the school’s decision. “This is bullying and a form of harassment and exclusion of these girls, and that is no longer allowed in this day and age,” says a mother. Many parents would have taken extra time off to be at the party – and their daughters weren’t even mentioned. “After four years of school, it was like it never existed.”
She doesn’t understand why the teachers were allowed to wear bright red nail polish, but the students were not given natural-colored acrylic nails for this special occasion. “I think that’s a slight double standard.” The mother hopes that this will not happen again in the future. The story made the rounds on social media and did not go unnoticed by the Ministry of Education.
As News.com.au writes, the ministry considers the school’s actions “completely unjustified”. The authorities now want to discuss the matter with the school board. Meanwhile, it is unclear whether it was actually 70 schoolgirls who were excluded from the celebration. The ministry assumes 57 girls, while the parents insist on 70. (lrc)