Editorial: School's reaction excessive

Anela Pritchard caused controversy with her speech.

When the dust settles on the row over Anela Pritchard's controversial speech, both the girl and her school will have time to reflect on how they handled the situation.

This is not the first time there has been conflict between a student and their school. Recently there was the case of St John's College student Lucan Battison, who refused to cut his hair to comply with school rules.

The latest furore concerns Anela, a 15-year-old Napier Girls' High student who says she was stood down for a speech she gave in class and then posted online. In the speech, she claimed her teachers needed to work harder, rather than "sit around and do nothing".

The school told us yesterday that Anela was never stood down and the matter has been resolved after a meeting with her father, Andrew. Later Anela and Mr Pritchard denied that things had been settled.

There are some strong views out there on this subject. Some argue that this is the same as the Lucan Battison case - a straightforward disobeying of school rules. I disagree. In the Battison case, the school was entitled to set rules around hair length and students needed to abide by them.

This is different - a student was asked to give a speech on something she believed in and she did. Where she erred, and not surprisingly given her age, is that she lacked finesse in making her point.

Don't get me wrong, discipline at school is vital. But, the school encouraged her to be persuasive, so what did her teachers expect. She certainly met the brief - in a ham-fisted sort of way. There is no doubt that the school's reaction to the speech was excessive, even if it now says she was not stood down, but merely sent home.

Surely giving her a Not Achieved or telling her she strayed from the brief would have sufficed.