YOU report how a York schoolgirl was suspended from school for repeatedly refusing to fasten the top button of her blouse (April 3).

Mother Paula Snelgrove said: "It seems silly and petty to me... she is missing school and it is an important year."

So what is more important Paula, taking on the establishment or your daughter's education?

There are some things worth fighting for, but allowing your child's education to suffer for the sake of conforming to a simple rule seems like dereliction of parental duty.

One reason why society is in a state is because fundamental rules, no matter how petty we view them, are flouted in the name of self-will or individualism.

The result, "me-ism": as long as I have my rights, society and its values can go to hell.

Try pulling together for a change and you may find the little "scroats" that plague our lives would disappear.

W Elliott,

Kinbrace Road,

Hartlepool.

Updated: 11:18 Tuesday, April 06, 2004