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Interesting viewpoint, Psycho. The same holds true for dress, i presume? He-who-in-title-is-my-boss-but-in-reality-is-an-ignorant-toad and i had a heavy debate once on the matter of earrings, dress, etc. Merely because he prefers constrictive ties and those ill-fitting gabardine monstrosities which he describes as trousers, doesn't mean that all the smaller fish ought to follow suit. It ended with a few concessions being made, as i knew they would
One of the speakers in Parliament the other day made a statement about how it had become time for our schools to start recognizing that African children were entitled to hairstyles which reflected their ancestry. The gist of his speech was that the time had come for us to stop kowtowing to Western fashion and to be more true to our heritage. He couldn't have said it better. The measures to which some institutions subject their children is ridiculous in the extreme! Yes, some of it instils a sense of discipline which remains with a child for life, but some do it merely to stamp the school's individuality on the child.
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Posted: 2006-09-10 08:47:00
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I hope by 'African' children u mean to include non-black children. What i find highly frustrating in schools is that black girls are permitted to have dreadlocks but not white girls. And why can only female learners wear earrings? I wont even get on to the religious injustices that occur daily at government schools.
These issues get to me because an authority figure should be impeccably fair. But when they refuse to remove their blinkers, they are no longer leaders.
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Posted: 2006-09-10 09:33:00
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Yep, my definition of African encompasses anybody born and bred in Africa. In my classes i permit the boys to wear their earrings if they so choose, since i wear mine. There are sometimes heavy words in the staffroom, but it's cool since in my class i hold sway, and besides, the detractors don't pay my salary. If a child feels more comfortable wearing his earrings, and it's conducive to good learning, who am i to say otherwise? Just my way of looking at it, and in nearly twenty years it hasn't failed me yet.
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Posted: 2006-09-10 11:41:00
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People will always ask, 'how many rules do u think u can do away with without chaos resulting?'. But its not about removing rules, its about selecting your causes. Why should a nose piercing upset a teacher more than the child's neglected homework? And what kind of democracy are we living in where school boys have to keep their hair short yet girls dont? Rules cannot be made on a gender basis: such things are nothing but retrospective... And we dont want to do the whole Retro thing in S.A....
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Posted: 2006-09-10 13:16:00
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@krypsta: You sound like a child of the 80s. Most of my teachers who grew around that time were actually very cool, not cool to the point where they would tolerate any BS but very understanding of the kids in their care. One thing that South Africa and the world at large needs more than anything else is tolerance.
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Posted: 2006-09-10 13:52:06
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I like whats been said. I have not really thought about this subject that much, but i will throw out some thoughts.
The hair thing was crap. You had to have short hair, and you were not allowed to use gel to style. So i can see how that can be a confidence killer for anyone. Especially since some of the kids higher in the popularity rank abused the hair gel rule and got away. Tell me, how would these rules install discipline in anyone? Take the army for example: it is sure as hell not the uniform that makes them disciplined, it is the drill sergeant. It is what they do. Taking a little piece from the army will not make kids more well behaved.
In my opinion i must say, the one thing that helps with personal discipline in school, and thank goodness this was by choice, is sport. I hated sport, and i still do, but when i look back over the years, sport helps with certain things like confidence and just a little more spunk, never mind the health benefits. There is the getting up early and maintaining...
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Posted: 2006-09-10 14:19:09
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...good patterns. These things all have benefit, and i had to be out of school for 5 years to realise that. Now relating to the sport thing: i chose not to choose sport, i chose something else... I cannot relate to jocks and the like. Where would sport have gotten me? It would have made me a disciplined successful prick. That is not me. Funny enough, the people i hang around with the most are all thinkers. Some have abnormal twists due to home schooling and stuff, but the thoughts are always good, tough, well thought out. Now a culture like that versus the ignorant rolling ahead, becoming part of the rodent rumble. School is designed to make you become part of the system, to be good citizens, to force you into a mould. I was one of it's lost cases. If our country had a better secret service, i would have been tagged as a possible trouble maker in the future. Thank goodness this is Africa!
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Posted: 2006-09-10 14:31:30
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@francois, i agree strongly with you re your feelings on sport. I often consider how different my entire life would have been had i done sport through school. I wouldn't have been classified a rebellious, unfortunately clever bitch and i would have been so much more outgoing. Its sad in a way, to imagine such things. Looking at it now, i don't regret the outcome, but i do regret missing the opportunity to build my team working ability. For example, i don't trust anyone to do a decent job. Ever.
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Posted: 2006-09-10 15:04:00
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But back to the school point, teaching children to keep promises to THEMSELVES will go a lot further to successfully implement discipline than teaching children to listen to YOU will ever be. At least if they are true to their own word you'll know whether to expect disobedience, you could ask them to justify themselves - and the whole process wouldn't be a complete farce.
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Posted: 2006-09-10 15:09:00
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@ psycho, yeah, to a point, and in due time. You can only give responsibility to someone who has the ability to do so. The modern trend does so, kids are left to their own devices partly because adults are not taking responsibility where they should. The result, kids are getting more and more screwed up. Society is slowly deteriorating. Young people should earn responsibility. Once they have proven themselves competent in certain areas they can get loosened reigns. A twelve year old with loose reigns can be spell disaster with a capitol D. Have you ever seen Thirteen? Disturbing, but it is a reality.
You cannot put all kids in a box and expect the same method would work on everyone. The whole school concept as far as i am concerned is not suited to everyone. Especially to guys. We were not created for that. And that is why kids cant cope with it. That is why you have ADD and conditions like that. Everyone is unique and should be treated like they are, and not just pushed into a mould.
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Posted: 2006-09-10 15:53:33
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