Says collective punishment is unfair

An 11-year-old girl in the U.K. has accused her teacher of “a war crime” under the Geneva Conventions for punishing the whole class for the actions of a few.

Her comments in a school feedback form have gone viral online.

Ava Bell was asked to fill out a form for school with questions for students about their teachers.

One question asked how teachers could do better.

Her father, Gavin Bell, who is based in Glasgow and is also known as author Mason Cross, revealed on Twitter that in the feedback form, Ava criticised the policy of punishing a whole class for one person’s bad behaviour.

Asked what the teacher could do better, Ava wrote, “Not use collective punishment as it is not fair on the many people who did nothing and under the 1949 Genva [sic] Conventions it is a war crime.”

“Not sure if I should ground her or buy her ice cream,” her father tweeted.

The picture showing the suggestion, handwritten in pencil, has been “liked” more than 5,00,000 times on Twitter.

My daughter actually submitted this feedback at school. Not sure if I should ground her or buy her ice cream... pic.twitter.com/4v8Gjb9riv — Mason Cross (@MasonCrossBooks) May 25, 2017

“I should clarify that she thinks her teacher is awesome. It’s just this aspect of the educational justice system she has an issue with,” Mr. Bell said.

He told the BBC that he came across the form at a parents’ evening, where folders of the children’s work are displayed for their guardians to read.

He said it was entirely characteristic, “She will never let an argument go at home!”

Precocious child

Various fellow parents joked that Ava was precocious, and this could be just the start for her.

A more cynical observer also accused the father of making it up.

The father replied, “Dude, if I’d made it up I would have got her to fix the spelling of ‘Geneva.’”

The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for humanitarian treatment in war and armed conflict.