This Policy At Princess Charlotte's School Is Raising Eyebrows
Every school district has its own policies when it comes to kids' parties, whether they are held in or outside of class. For instance, in 2016, an Illinois school district banned all food from class celebrations — from decadent treats, to healthy snacks (via Today). The movement toward curbing food at school parties aims to curb the calorie intake of our kids, given an increasing obesity problem in the U.S. (via HuffPost).
Meanwhile, it seems another increasingly popular policy around kids' parties involves banning handing out invitations in class full stop.
On Reddit, a parent vented their frustration with an invitation ban like this, worrying that their child's social life would suffer. But as one teacher shared about the rationale behind the policy, "I do not have a problem with a student handing out birthday party invitations in class provided that all students in the class are invited. I do have a problem with students using my class to invite only part of the class to a party. As more and more students do this during the school year, it quickly becomes clear to everybody who are the popular kids and who are the outcasts. It is difficult for kids to know they are being left out at the best of times."
The instructor's explanation seems to be behind a similar policy at Princess Charlotte's school all the way across the pond in England.
Princess Charlotte's school doesn't want anyone to be left out
As royal watchers know, Princess Charlotte formerly attended Willcocks Nursery School (via Town & Country). She then followed her big brother Prince George to Thomas's School in Battersea, which as The Sun explains, is a very desirable school in South London.
The school may be an established institution, having been around for 40 years, but when it comes to kids' parties, administrators are keeping with the times. As Express recently reported, at Princess Charlotte's school, instructors are working to avoid the exclusion of any of their students and have employed a potentially-controversial measure. "There's a policy that if your child is having a party, unless every child in the class is invited, you don't give out invites in class," royal reporter Jane Moore explained during a TV appearance, according to the outlet.
The outlet further reports the focus in the school is on kindness, reinforced with school-wide signage, and with Moore sharing another potentially eyebrow-raising tidbit that enforces this creed: "They don't encourage you to have best friends." Again, this apparently discourages any student from feeling left out.
Not everyone agrees with the idea of promoting inclusion via such extreme measures.
The invitation policy has some people upset
In 2019, News 24 published a story debating the policy of inviting the whole class to a child's birthday party, presenting the viewpoint that some people are being "oversensitive" by fretting about including everyone. After all, doesn't rejection teach resilience in kids?
But we must consider that nowadays — these are not the same times as when Charlotte's parents, Prince William and Kate Middleton were in school — there are ways to hand out invitations other than in class — for instance, via email. Then, no one feels excluded.
And to put this policy into perspective, we don't even know what Princess Charlotte is planning to celebrate her upcoming seventh birthday, which isn't until May (via Hello!). Will she be having a party with friends from school? Perhaps not given COVID-19 concerns.
What will Princess Charlotte do for her birthday?
Looking back upon recent birthdays in the Cambridge household, it seems the party invitation policy may not even impact little Charlotte. For her sixth birthday, the mini-royal enjoyed a small get together with one other family, per Town & Country. The year before she was on lockdown — so no party at all!
And consider that for her brother George's most recent birthday in July, Queen Elizabeth Zoomed him and sent a gift — and by all accounts, he had a very low-key day, enjoying handmade cards from his siblings (via Us Weekly). Charlotte's younger brother, Louis, meanwhile, commemorated his special day in April with a bike ride, according to Vanity Fair. No invitations needed for a bike ride.
We do know that unless Charlotte is inviting every child in her class to her birthday party, her parents won't be sending invitations into school! Here's hoping Kate has the parents' email addresses. Or that perhaps they have plans to celebrate with every single child in the class — absolutely no exceptions, of course.