When this teenage girl chose to show her support for something that she strongly believed in, her school wasn’t having any of it. And what happened next stunned the entire community.

A teenager strolled up to the school gates one morning, but a teacher stopped her in her tracks: there was something wrong with her uniform. And when the student refused to comply with the rules, the school made a bold decision that proved very unpopular.

That teenager was Kayleigh Handshaw, who in 2014 was just a regular 14-year-old girl. The school she went to, meanwhile, was Outwood Academy Portland in Worksop, England. And that institution would go on to make a pretty controversial decision about Handshaw – one, in fact, that would have ramifications for the entire school.

The story began one day when Handshaw turned up at the school gates and encountered a slight problem. In fact, it was more than a slight problem: she was actually prevented from entering the school’s grounds by a teacher. That was because the adult had an issue with something that the teenager was wearing.

Now, you might think that the 14-year-old was wearing a particularly short skirt, too much make-up or some non-regulation jewelry. However, the reality was very different. The item that the teacher had a problem with was in fact an accessory on the girl’s blazer.

And it wasn’t an elaborate brooch or anything with a rude slogan written on it; instead, it was a symbol of a charity. Handshaw was proudly wearing a fabric version of the Macmillan Cancer Support emblem: a bright yellow daffodil. Moreover, the teenager had a very legitimate reason for wearing it that she tried to explain to the teacher.

In fact, it turned out that Handshaw had a strong emotional connection to the badge. Tragically, her aunt had died only one month prior to the incident at the school gates, following a two-year battle with cancer. In addition, Handshaw had actually been wearing the flower for a year, seemingly unnoticed by the school until now.

Yet despite Handshaw providing a reasonable excuse for donning the badge, the school still wouldn’t allow her to wear it. And what the school did next caused local outrage: it suspended the 14-year-old girl from classes for three days. The reason? For “refusing a reasonable request.”

Understandably, Handshaw and her 33-year-old mother, Deborah, were left in shock by the school’s decision. Indeed, they thought that it was unnecessarily harsh, especially considering the sentiment behind the accessory. The teenager subsequently went on to share her story with the Daily Mail shortly after the incident.

“It makes me feel rather upset, I just wore it to remember my aunt,” she explained. Her mother, meanwhile, was livid about the situation. “It’s just a small, little yellow flower. It has been there for a year and is the only badge she wears on her black blazer,” her mom said.

Image: via CRG | Specialist Healthcare Recruitment Agency

Deborah added, “I understand that the school does have rules and regulations. The problem is, I’ve never heard of this one. It was like they just woke up and decided that they didn’t want to see them anymore and [students] had to take them off.”

Yet despite all the backlash, Outwood Academy Portland stood its ground, choosing to stick by the decision to suspend Handshaw. Intriguingly, though, the school subsequently claimed that there was nothing to stop pupils from supporting the charities of their choice by wearing badges or ribbons during school hours.

Apparently, the only rule was that these symbols must be confined to the pupils’ school bags or coats, leaving their blazers badge-free. In addition, a spokesman for the school trust claimed that Outwood Academy Portland has an impressive track record with regards to charitable activities.

“Our trust actively supports the Help for Heroes charity amongst others,” read the school’s statement, adding that numerous charity events were put on at the school each year. To this end, it explained, students were encouraged to wear symbols of various charities should they wish to do so.

However, the school claimed that it was important to make a distinction between all the badges. It stated that some students were wearing as many as five or six badges on their blazer lapels at once, which the school felt detracted attention away from the specific charities.

Nonetheless, coats and bags did not count as school uniform, and consequently students were told that they were free to decorate those as they wished. However, that compromise didn’t seem to convince Handshaw and her mother. “This is simply a 14-year-old girl who has chosen to promote awareness,” said Deborah.

What’s more, the story didn’t stop with Handshaw. That’s because yet another child was subsequently suspended from the school for the very same reason. Braden Wilson, 13, had chosen to sport a charity badge after his grandmother beat cancer and while his great-grandmother was in hospital fighting the disease.

The boy’s other grandmother, Hazel Whitfield, told the Worksop Guardian that the school’s reaction was “absolutely ridiculous.” Worried that her grandson’s school record could later hinder him, she also urged, “Something now has got to be done.”

Indeed, even the vice president of the school body, 13-year-old Charlie Cooper, disputed the school’s stance on the badges. However, recognizing the principal’s desire for pupils to take “more pride” in their uniform, Cooper urged his fellow students to wear the charity symbols on the inside of their blazers instead.

Furthermore, other parents whose children weren’t suspended from the school also felt that the punishment was over the top. “I think the school is taking this way too far, especially when they claim to encourage students to stand up for what they believe in,” one mother told the Worksop Guardian.

Still, even though Handshaw, her mom and her fellow pupils had done their best to stand up to the school, it was not a battle that they won in the end. Indeed, the school stuck by its decision that symbols of charity belong on personal belongings – and not on school uniform.