The internal policy guidelines at a secondary school in Lodz prohibits students from selecting politically charged avatars as profiles in the Teams application used in distance learning. School principal Dariusz Jakobek was suspended from his post a few days after it came to light that his enforcement of the ban also applied to the use of the pro-abortion Strajk Kobiet (Women’s Strike) movement symbol.
Any student selecting as their profile the distinctive logo of red lightening overlaid on the silhouette of a female head, which has become symbolic of Strajk Kobiet – the movement behind the series of pro-abortion protests wreaking havoc across Poland – would receive a warning; the second instance of non-compliance would result in a more severe warning by the principal’s office, with the regulation ultimately allowing for the student’s expulsion from school.
The suspended principal says the purpose of the ban was to ensure the personal safety of the students, to maintain school discipline and to uphold the apolitical atmosphere within the institution.
A reporter from the Polish TVN24 spoke to a female student at the school, who received two warnings for having used the pro-abortion movement symbol as her online education profile picture. Sandra Osiowa complained in the interview that she did not expect such sanctions from her school.