Sikh bracelets, but no Christian rings at school bans pupils from wearing 'purity rings'
By Elizabeth Day
(Filed: 18/06/2006)A group of teenage Christians have been banned by a secondary school from wearing "purity rings" as a symbol of their religious belief in chastity until marriage.
At least one of the dozen pupils, who all attend the same girls' comprehensive in Horsham, West Sussex, is considering legal action against the Millais School for "a breach of human rights".
Although the school allows Muslim and Sikh pupils to wear headscarves or kara bracelets as a means of religious expression, the purity ring - a small band of silver engraved with a Biblical verse and worn as a declaration of abstinence from sexual relations - is not allowed because it is considered to be jewellery.
Lydia Playfoot, 15, who started wearing her purity ring to the school in June 2004, described its policy as "really unfair".
"My friends and I have had detentions and been taught in isolation for wearing the ring," she said. "I feel like I've been treated the same as someone who is caught bringing cannabis into school."
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