Dear Editor,
School is about learning. But it is also about socialisation, preparing our youngsters to be responsible and productive adults. We want to judge a good school by its academic results, its athletic prowess, the smartness of its faculty or other criteria. However, the real judgement of a school's success or failure can come only years after: when we see how their graduates have performed, as parents themselves, as contributors to the community, in the service of justice and peace and in the building of a better country for all of us.
I cannot understand or support a position that puts the achievement of 100 per cent passes at a the Grade 4 literacy test above the need to ensure that 10-year-old children are not psychologically traumatised by the threat of corporal punishment. I was beaten mercilessly by my preparatory school teacher and although I passed my exams, the psychological damage was with me for at least three decades. The teacher involved remained a good friend - she was a friend of the family before I was born, but the damage was done.
I would never have had the confidence to write a letter like this 10 years ago.
Unfortunately, schools today put too much store in short-term results. The children who are beaten in school are more likely to become those who abuse others, whether as husbands, teachers or even policemen and policewomen. We will never get out of the cycle of violence with this sort of approach. So what if only 90 per cent pass the test? The real saviours in our midst may well be in the other 10 per cent. Why must we destroy them?
Anton Thompson
anteron@gmail.com
No need to beat students
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School is about learning. But it is also about socialisation, preparing our youngsters to be responsible and productive adults. We want to judge a good school by its academic results, its athletic prowess, the smartness of its faculty or other criteria. However, the real judgement of a school's success or failure can come only years after: when we see how their graduates have performed, as parents themselves, as contributors to the community, in the service of justice and peace and in the building of a better country for all of us.
I cannot understand or support a position that puts the achievement of 100 per cent passes at a the Grade 4 literacy test above the need to ensure that 10-year-old children are not psychologically traumatised by the threat of corporal punishment. I was beaten mercilessly by my preparatory school teacher and although I passed my exams, the psychological damage was with me for at least three decades. The teacher involved remained a good friend - she was a friend of the family before I was born, but the damage was done.
I would never have had the confidence to write a letter like this 10 years ago.
Unfortunately, schools today put too much store in short-term results. The children who are beaten in school are more likely to become those who abuse others, whether as husbands, teachers or even policemen and policewomen. We will never get out of the cycle of violence with this sort of approach. So what if only 90 per cent pass the test? The real saviours in our midst may well be in the other 10 per cent. Why must we destroy them?
Anton Thompson
anteron@gmail.com
No need to beat students
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