Thoughts 11/4/24

Describe something you learned in high school.

Senior school for us in the Uk lasts 5 yrs as standard unless you decided to stay on in sixth form to take further studies. Back in my day you were pretty much pumped out of the system into the working world at the end of the fifth year, as university wasn’t really an option open to everyone as it is now.

I enjoyed my years at senior school but boy did I learn a few things beside the prescribed curriculum.

It was an all boys school

Bullying was rife. I was the victim of it and I’m embarrassed to say I was party to dishing some out myself and I sincerely regret ever taking part in that.

I witnessed homosexuality, and the awful bullying that attracted, again an individual was sexually assaulted by a member of staff, both just seemed to disappear overnight and nothing was ever mentioned again.

Assault from members of staff was at epidemic proportions, in those days it was corporal punishment but nowadays would be downright full on assault. I took my fair share of this as well.

The first three years of schooling at this level were fine for me, and then I turned. The last two years when I should have got my head down just went to pot, i rebelled, probably a mixture of what had gone on above but I scraped through. It taught me a lot about people and their behaviours, it taught me that respect is a trait that is earned not just given out freely. I learned to protect myself, I have absolutely nothing good to say about any tutor I had dealings with in this period of my life.

My tutor in my last two years of junior school though has my full respect, he shaped me and my fellow students at a very early age and taught us about respect and what we needed to do to gain it. He was the most influential man I have met in my life, he did more for me than my own father, and that is true and not just written fodder for you to digest.

Teachers have this amazing ability to shape and put students on a course to navigate life and to become a valid member of society. Thankfully I have done ok, I’ve tripped and made mistakes along the way but I’ve learned and had to take some hard knocks along the way.

Unfortunately the teachers I met in my senior years did not have those abilities and I believe failed not just me but my fellow students.

This was probably the toughest lesson learned. They were inadequately prepared to do their job in a time where strictness, bullying and harassment was seen to be the way to forcefully teach subjects. They failed my generation in that particular school.

But we’ve done ok.

Have a great day all. Stay safe.