A pupil has been punished for questioning the use of non-binary pronouns for their teacher. (Image: Getty)
A British pupil has found themselves being punished for questioning the use of pronouns for their teacher, a parent has claimed.
In what appears to be a UK first, the battle ensued between an “inclusive” school and the parents of a young pupil.
The conflict appears to have begun when the pupil, in Year 9, addressed the teacher as “Miss”, to which the pupils claimed the teacher responded “I’m not Miss, I’m Mx”, reports GB News.
In response, the child allegedly asked: “Well, what does that mean?”
The child was then issued a detention for being rude to their teacher, according to the outraged parent who refutes the punishment, countering that the kid is “not a bad child”, who largely stays out of trouble and has always had good feedback.
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Guidance issued by the Conservative Government last year states that the use of preferred pronouns must be voluntary. (Image: Getty)
According to , the concerned parent states that it had not yet been made clear to the students that the teacher would prefer to be addressed as “Mx” rather than “Miss”.
The parent said: “What is Mx? I’ve never heard of it.
“I feel like this teacher doesn’t know who she is, bringing their issues to the kids. I’ve never had any problems with the school before this!,” reports GB News.
“Mx”, pronounced “mix”, is often used by the transgender and non-binary communities to avoid the use of gendered terms such as “Mr” or “Mrs”.
The parent says the school has disputed the claim that the detention was related to the use of pronouns to address the teacher, however, communications seen by the publication show the underlying issue has realted to that.
Other parents at the same school have corroborated the parent’s sequence of events and said they have been given punishments including detentions for addressing the teacher as “Miss” rather than “Mx”.
The parent added: “There have been assemblies about being kind to those who are different, but nothing like that. We had no idea of this policy.”
Don’t miss… [REPORT]
The parent said the pupil has now been allowed back into their lessons with the teacher but had been told to address them as ‘Mx’ – to which the parents has told their child to refuse to do. The parent has now decided their child is not going back into the class and said that they “regret sending them” to the school.
Guidance issued by the Conservative Government last year states that the use of preferred pronouns must be voluntary, stating: “Schools and colleges should not compel teachers or pupils to use new pronouns”.
Since then, there have been several reports of schools disregarding the guidance, with the (NEU) telling members it was “non-statutory”.
The school in question said in a statement: “[Ours] is an inclusive school which represents and works with a diverse group of local families and staff.
“The school works with everyone in the community to encourage tolerance and respect regarding their views, lifestyles and beliefs, and heritage and backgrounds.
“This fundamental principle is at the heart of the school and sits at the centre of what we all understand about British Values.
“The Executive Principal has spoken this year to all students about celebrating the differences we see around the school, but also to reach out to identify what we hold in common with one another.
“These similarities help build a cohesive community based upon the school’s core values of kindness and trust.
“Whilst we do not comment on individual cases, we are always willing to engage with and listen to any member of our community to ensure that their voice is heard,” reports GB News.
This is the first known case of its type to be reported in the UK.