Fur At Western Springs College

On Friday 28 March a student at western springs college noticed two other students wearing coats with rabbit fur trims. Shocked and offended, she went to complain to the senior management. The only person available was Ms. Roberts, who doesn't control problems with clothing and offensive messages, but wrote out a letter for Mr Davies, who is in charge of things like that. This letter included the names of the students wearing fur and what should be done about it, namely telling the students not to wear fur any longer. Ms Roberts said she would give the letter to Mr Davies ASAP.

On Tuesday morning, the student went to Mr Davies to see what was being done about it. He hadn't yet recieved the letter, and made a time for her to talk to him directly about it that day. Two students went back to talk to him about it. They explained why they found it offensive and also brought up the fact that if it had of been one of them wearing a t-shirt with the words "fur is dead" or "ban the bloody fur trade" they would have been sent home within minutes. Mr. Davies said he would have a talk with the principal and get back to them on Thursday morning (there was no school on Wednesday).

On Wednesday morning the two students went to see Mr Davies. He was just leaving and told them there was a note for them on his desk. It said =

"At the Parent Action Group meeting held at school on Tuesday evening, two parents raised concerns about styles of clothing worn by students at the school.

Following that meeting the Senior Management team will feel guided in making a respone to both concerns. You could gather together some responses from the student body with regard to the wearing of fur through the student council if you wish to help support your case.

I hope this proves to be a satisfactory 'next step' for you both and that the outcome will be a position that truly represents the wishes of the Western Springs community."

The two students decided this wasn't really good enough, and spent the short time before Mr Davies returned to write out a letter explaining their thoughts. It talked about how wearing fur promotes violence and disrespect, offends peoples cultural and religous beliefs and breaks the 'code of conduct' in 9 ways. It also had a paragraph about the fur industry, the treatment of the animals and so forth, and about how many Auckland stores recently stopped selling fur after campaigns against them, or simply being informed of the realities of the fur trade. The last paragraph said that WSC should treat these people the same as those who wear other offensive or inappropriate clothing, and ask them to remove the fur immediatly.

Mr Davies read the letter and said 'Its not as simple as that' (?) and remined the two students that their concerns would be brought up on Tuesday at the staff meeting. The students then asked if they could send a representative to the staff meeting, to put forward their case and explain their concerns. Mr Davies said he couldn't decide that, he would have to talk to the teacher in charge of staff meetings, but that it should be fine.

Despite continual hassling, it took until the end of school on monday (the day before the meeting) to get a reply from Mr Davies about wether or not a representative was allowed. He said no. The reasons given were that the staff meeting is for the staff, and as they see students all day, students aren't allowed at their meetings. The students were understandably shocked but as it was the end of the day didn't have much time to argue. They also wonder if Mr Davies even asked, or simply decided on his answer from the outset and was trying to dissaude them.

However, he did go on to say that the issue of fur at school would be brought up at the board meeting that night, but in a rather off-hand kind of way, so it is doubted wether it will be brought up at all. It will be interesting to see what happens.

UPDATE!

Got a reply back today - they said they will talk to the two students and will follow the same sort of procedure that was used with patches last year. Should be getting a full reply in writing tommorow. Will keep this updated.