Kindergarten bans stripes and dots

A kindergarten in northern Sweden has introduced an unusual form of dress code, banning staff and children from wearing clothes with stripes or dots, a news report said today.

The ban was introduced at a pre-school in Koskullskulle near Gallivare to protect a staff member who suffers from migraines who “cannot be in an environment where there are stripes or dots,” principal Maj Norberg said, according to the Norrlandska Socialdemokraten newspaper.

“Parents question this, they don’t want to change their children’s jumpers. The current fashion is stripes,” Norberg said.

Norberg said the dress code was “unusual” but “the staff member has to be able to work and it is hard to find alternative employment for her.”

Ulf Eriksson, head of the national Parent-Teacher Association, said he had never heard of a similar case and questioned if the kindergarten had the right to introduce what was in effect a school uniform.

Eriksson said that migraine attacks could also perhaps be triggered by loud noise, the newspaper said.