I was appalled when hearing that some students at Blatchington Mill School in Hove had been barred from school for two months prior to taking their GCSE examinations for voicing their opinions publicly.

Banning freedom of speech was the hallmark of Hitler's Germany. In this country freedom of speech is everyone's human right.

This matter raises several questions. If parents can be jailed for keeping students out of school, what about the headteacher who has done this?

Is this school providing home tuition at their expense, as it is obliged to do?

Recently, Tony Blair expressed concern at the apathy of young people.

These young students, who are fact-finding and thinking for themselves, should not be penalised but congratulated on participating in the wider debate.

They are our hope for a better world in the future.

-S Newton (deputy headmistress, retired), Caterham, Surrey