Amazingly, this doesn't seem to be an April Fool

My first thought (without reading the article) is that parents are too lazy to teach their kids how to tie a tie properly. Or else the kids are too lazy to learn.

The school I work at switched to clip on ties last year. Partly it was because the ties weren't being worn properly and the head wanted the kids to look smart, partly because "peanutting" (grabbing the tie and pulling it so that the knot draws very tight round the kid's neck) was on the rise. He's now planning to switch back because the clip on ties are being worn just as badly as the regular ties used to be (clipped onto third button, for example) and also because the ties are being "lost" or stolen far more frequently than the regular ties used to be. One pull and they're off. We've had loads pulled off and thrown over the school fence!

Tying a proper Windsor knot should be compulsory for rising fives and retested at all key stages.

I heard this this morning, in my school they used to tuck their ties in when they worked with equipment. It's not rocket science.

I loved having a school tie, seriously - I still have both of mine in my loft and I get them out for various nights out. I loved customising my tie and went through a stage in the later years of senior school wearing the main part of the tie as short as possible, before the head teacher would notice and make me re-tie it in front of the canteen

I think clip on ties spoil all of that fun, (nostalgia icon required)

As an elfinsafety person, I'd say that this is probably the main reason behind it, with the H&S tag being pinned on as spurious justification. Not that it happens much, noooo.