One of the most awful things which one observes about school children is the casual prejudices that they seemingly acquire as a matter of routine. Using 'gay' as a pejorative term, for example. Talking about 'pikeys' or 'gyppos' is also exceedingly common. My own daughter, who is now at college, is currently engaged in a furious, single handed campaign to stop the use of the word 'retard'. Apparently, this most offensive word is almost universally bandied about by the sixteen and seventeen year olds with whom she associates, being applied both to those with genuine learning difficulties and also as a term of abuse, as in 'He's such a retard!'.
One of the problems with children and young people is that while they can be very charming individually, as a crowd they are frequently obnoxious. One might call it 'Lord of the Flies' syndrome. Because most teenagers spend a very large part of the day at school with other teenagers, they must either try and fit in or become lonely and isolated. One of the ways of fitting in is of course by adopting the mores of the group, including its prejudices and hatreds. These prejudices are loathsome enough in themselves, but they can also have a damaging effect upon the child's very education. In many secondary schools there is an anti-academic ethos among the pupils. There are special sneering terms for those who wish to study, work hard and achieve. Those who do the homework and attempt to take an intelligent interest in what is being taught may be stigmatised as 'boffins', 'swots' or 'crawlers'.
It takes a good deal of character to resist these pressures to conform. Even when it is done, the result can all too often be a child who feels lonely and left out at best and becomes at worst the victim of bullying. Yet another reason for those of us who did not send our children to school to feel confident that we made the right decision!
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Simon says-My own daughter, who is now at college, is currently engaged in a furious, single handed campaign to stop the use of the word 'retard'.
ReplyDeletewhy does your daugher not campaign single handed to help home educated children get a better deal from they LA?
Because the current deal seems pretty good to her. The local authority left us pretty much alone to get on with things, on the clear understanding that we need expect nothing from them. I can't imagine a better arrangement! At any rate, it suited us well enough.
ReplyDeleteso your daughter and you do not care at all about other home educators who feel they get a bad deal from they LA both of you dont care about that and will do nothing to help?
ReplyDeleteIt's how it works. You can send your child to school or you can teach him at home. If you go it alone and teach him yourself, then you are solely responsible for his education. I honestly can't see what you want.
ReplyDeleteSimon says-it's how it works. You can send your child to school or you can teach him at home. If you go it alone and teach him yourself, then you are solely responsible for his education. I honestly can't see what you want.
ReplyDeletewe want the money that state school children get simple we want the 5 grand to spend to make a better home education for our child whats wrong with that?? after all every child matters? and quite a few home educators want this money cant you get you daughter to campaign for this?
its how it works you say so we can never change anything that cant be right we be stuck in the stone age if we took that view! some people said it was not a good thing to fly? you would have been one them its how it is you would have said. peopel wont put up with that type of answer any more we want a service that is of use to us as the customer from Hampshire LA whats wrong with that?? oh yeah i forgot LA in you view never do anything wrong and are always right like state schools are! are you sucking upto the college head where your daughter goes LOL
the truth is you dont care about other home educators and are just to scared or closed of mind to be able to think outside of the box.
We not scared to speak out and ask for that money and for a good service nothing will silence us your be pleased to know! no threats or anything will stop us and many have been tried but all have failed! including old crazy Jim threats which all failed and the school attendance order was burnt on County Councilor Dr Tony Ludlow coal fire as Tony said we can ust that to help us keep warm LOL what a good idea Peter said and chuck it on the fire LOL
The way I see it is that mass services like health and education rely on taxation. This means that everyone contributes (according to their incomes) and then the service is available for everyone for free at the point of use. This is, of course, by no means a perfect system and there are hidden inequalities and costs. But the basic idea is simple.
ReplyDeleteIf you allow each citizen to draw out their 'own' share then you will undermine the universal services as well as lining the pockets (with public money)of those who provide private education and health. It also runs the risk of alienating all those who contribute through their taxes but do not have children. Why should their tax money be handed to their neighbour to spend as he or she sees fit? At least if the cash is spent on public services then it is clear where and how the money is spent and this can be influenced through the ballot box.
If we don't like the services on offer then we're free not to use them but we are not free not to contribute to them. We are free to campaign for them to be improved or changed - if we can spare the time and the energy.
I would like to see big changes in the education system that my taxes fund but I don't currently have the space in my life to campaign for that. In the meantime I would rather home educate my children but I don't expect the public purse to pay. I suspect I'd feel differently if I genuinely felt I'd had no choice but to home educate and I think that public money should probably be on offer for those in that position.
If you want 5 grand of tax payers money then you should be willing to keep records of what you spend the money on and be willing to be inspected!
ReplyDeleteK
They don't even spend 5 grand on each school child!
ReplyDeleteMy son had a related experience in college on Friday. Apart from himself, one other student and the teacher, everyone else said they would vote BNP when they could vote!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said- you want 5 grand of tax payers money then you should be willing to keep records of what you spend the money on and be willing to be inspected!
ReplyDeleteI keep the records of what i spend it on and send in receiptes to the LA will that help?LOL
Anon said-My son had a related experience in college on Friday. Apart from himself, one other student and the teacher, everyone else said they would vote BNP when they could vote!
ReplyDeleteyour son must report these students at once to the head for saying they would vote BNP and also if any teacher says this to! teachers are not allowed to hold these views!
The class were involved in a discussion with the teacher during a lesson so he hardly needs to report them and I said that the teacher did not agree with the views. Why should he report the students for wanting to vote BNP anyway? If a party is legally allowed to stand for parliament why should people not be allowed to say they would vote for them! I may disagree with their views but they still have the right to express them (though obviously not to incite hatred against minorities which is against the law). It's not against the law for teachers to hold these views either, though they cannot make racist comments in the classroom.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/03/29/55002/the-bnp-and-the-teaching-profession-the-price-of-political-freedom.html
these students could have been trying to incite racial hatred this must be reported at once.we dont want these sort of views in a classroom do the parents of these children knew this i would withdraw my child at once if others in class where supporting BNP i would report it to head and if he did nothing to the police!
ReplyDeleteI can't report someone for something they *could* have been doing! By that logic I could report you or anyone else to the Police because I think they might be inciting racial hatred. Hopefully the teacher would have taken it further if it were necessary.
ReplyDeleteThe students claimed that their parents all voted BNP (probably the root of the students views) so I doubt their parents would be concerned. As to withdrawing my child, he's 18 so I couldn't and anyway, I think I can trust him to know his own mind well enough not to be swayed by this type of peer pressure - he did argue against their views in class.
can't report someone for something they *could* have been doing!
ReplyDeleteyou can if your son belives these children/parents are inciting racial hatred they must be reported at once to the police and the head teacher.The police can then decide if action needs to be taken.
you should at once write a letter of complaint to the head as well!