The politics of the eclipse

This morning - 20 March 2015 - there was an eclipse of the sun over the United Kingdom.  I did not watch it, as I will only ever have one pair of eyes my whole life.  It appears however that I am in a minority, and that huge numbers of people like to risk permanent damage to their eyesight by staring at the sun.  Some of them take the sensible step of using a pinhole camera, but far too many people take a chance on sunglasses or even naked vision.

It is reported in the national press that some schools have outraged parents by not letting pupils watch the eclipse.  This is from The Daily Mail:

Oldway primary school in Paignton, Devon, is one of the schools which came under fire for keeping children inside.

Head teacher Jane Smythe said she had 700 children to look after and she 'could not guarantee that they would not look at the sun'.  

What is more remarkable is that North Primary School in London did not allow its pupils to watch the eclipse for religious and cultural reasons.  This has yet to be explained, but the school has many pupils from immigrant communities.

It is easy for parents to complain, but they would do well to reflect that the school's decision was not very surprising in a country in which those in authority are expected to pander to a variety of cultural whims.