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.
