A French school is under an investigation for forcing students who do not eat pork to wear a red or yellow tag.
Parents have complained that Auxerre's Piedalloues primary school placed red or yellow discs around pupils' necks prior to lunchtime to signify that they are non-pork eaters, according to the Telegraph. Out of the school's 1,500 students, 18 were required to wear the discs until parents' complaints that the discs were reminiscent of the yellow stars Jews were required to wear in the Holocaust withdrew that practice.
"It's revolting," Malika Ounès, a local counselor, told the Telegraph. "It reminds you of the darkest times. Practices like this are not acceptable. No one has the right to impose this on children."
Opponants to the City Council meeting regarding a pork alternative menu, gather outside the Mayor's offices, on September 29, 2015 in Chalon-sur-Saone, eastern France. The end of the pork alternative menu in school canteens of Chalon-sur-Saône (Saône-et-Loire) was to be definitively endorsed on September 29, by the City Council before a new court battle. AFP PHOTO / JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK (Photo credit should read JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK/AFP/Getty Images)
The Jewish Chronicle Online reported that the city of Auxerre has launched an investigation into the primary school's practice. Director of communications for the mayor's office, Christian Sautier, said the practice was "an isolated, clumsy, and unfortunate initiative" that was only for one day.
Despite the investigation, some parents have reportedly pulled their children out of the school.
However, other parents have defended the school's "good intentions."
"The yellow tag doesn't even correspond with the yellow star," a mother only identified as Sonia told RTL Television. "I don't think there's a scandal here, just an error that doesn't require all this rebuke."
Haaretz reported that the practice only signaled out Muslim and vegetarian students — not Jewish pupils.
The issue of serving pork in schools has been a divisive argument in France lately as its a practice opposed by the far-Right Front Nationals. Contrarily, the mayor of Chalon-sur-Saône ordered schools to stop offering non-pork options to students on days when pork is served in the cafeterias, according to the Telegraph.
