A college has defended a policy which bans students from their end-of-school prom if they have misbehaved.
Tavistock College says the system helps motivate students to behave themselves at school and that the policy is made clear to both pupils and parents.
However, some parents say the policy does not necessarily improve behaviour and can scar pupils emotionally by excluding them from the flagship social event with friends and classmates.
The college said attending the prom was a privilege and not a right. The secondary school in Tavistock operates a points system to encourage good behaviour. The points are awarded for good behaviour, attendance at school and exam revision.
One parent, whose son was excluded from a previous prom due to behaviour issues, said: “Congratulations to all the ones who were allowed to graduate and my heart goes to the ones that weren't for whatever reason.
“The system caused divisions among pupils and the proms should be for all students leaving school to mark several years’ of achievement. The mother said her son was punished for something many others were doing, but he was the only one caught. When he was given a large number of bad behaviour points or ‘strikes’ as the school call them, he tried to compensate and claw back good behaviour points so he could attend the proms and other events. But he despaired when he realised it was impossible. She said he was also stopped from attending the graduation ceremony – all because of ‘one mistake’ and despite otherwise being a ‘good pupil’.
A spokesperson for the school said: "As was the case last year, students' attendance at prom is a privilege dependent on positive behaviour and practices such as good attendance and completion of exam revision. By demonstrating instances of positive behaviour, pupils earn prom points, and they must meet a certain threshold of prom points to attend the event.
“Alongside this, we run a strike system by which pupils can earn strikes if they exhibit behaviour not in line with our college values. If a student accrues a certain number of strikes, they are not invited to prom.
"This system and expectations are clearly communicated to students and parents to ensure they are aware of the potential consequences of any negative behaviours.
“While we understand this can be disappointing for some families, this system helps us motivate our students to meet and maintain the high standards of behaviour we expect from them.
“All students were invited to our graduation ceremony at St Eustachius’ Church which was a wonderful event and a chance to celebrate the hard work and achievements of the entire year group."