A FATHER has hit out at a school after his eight-year-old son was made to wear a hi-vis jacket to stop him being naughty.
Sanaa Al-Ameen, 59, slammed the treatment of his son Abdullah, calling it "demeaning" and saying it caused more problems than it solved.
According to Dr Al-Ameen, Abdullah had been wearing the reflective jacket during the school day at Forest Fields Primary School in Bradgate Road for the past three weeks.
He said Abdullah was made to wear the jacket after behaving badly in the eyes of the school, with incidents including retaliating to other children being violent by putting leaves down their shirts.
Dr Al-Ameen, of Heatherley Drive, Basford, a retired former lecturer at the University of Nottingham, said: "It's like making him wear a dunce's cap. It's unacceptable.
"There have been times when he doesn't want to go to school and has been pretending to be ill and it's because of the jacket.
"I am shocked – this is not the way to treat an eight-year-old and I am sure it is more disruptive to have him wear this jacket."
Abdullah, who is the youngest of five children, said: "I don't like going to school because I have to wear the jacket.
"It makes me feel nervous when I wear it because I know other people are looking at me."
After approaching Forest Fields with his concerns on Thursday, Dr Al-Ameen said the school no longer required Abdullah to wear the jacket.
Sue Hoyland, head teacher at the school, defended the move and said it helped change pupils' behaviour.
She said: "We have been trialling the scheme of jackets and we have seen improvements in some children's behaviour.
"They are in no way used to shame the children or to make them look as if they are doing community service.
"When children's behaviour falls below standards, we are keen to see this change by rewarding children when they make the right decision. With the jackets, the teachers know who to give praise to and reward more."
Ms Hoyland added that other children who had been wearing the jacket had said they felt it benefited them.
She said the senior management team at the school would review the policy on reflective jackets tomorrow to see how effective they were in changing behaviour.
