There's a fine line between 'pushy parent' and 'concerned for health parent' that can easy stray over into 'paranoid basket-case parent'.

I have never believed that single sex education is a good thing - I'm the product of one such school that banned us from sitting within 6ft of the fence to stop pupils talking to and kissing boys through the fence, a rule that was enforced more rigourously than the ones designed for our safety.

I can see though, that many people, not just Muslims, prefer to keep their daughters away from contact with boys, particularly in a situation like a sports club, where clothing is, perforce, minimal. When we have headlines like '15yr old mum, 13yr old dad', I can appreciate that many parents want to keep their daughters as safe and healthy as possible and the way they think this will happen is to keep them apart from half the human race.

This whole situation needs to be treated with respect and fairness, not going off at half cock and mouthing off about local funding, financial avarice or 'our country, our rules'.

LTS