Desperately Seeking Scapegoats

Indulgent Parents 

Modern psycho-babble demands that we surround our children with "positive" messages.  "You are a wonderful child.  If anything bad happens to you, it's not your fault.  We are telling you this now, in advance, so that you will be surrounded by a self-image of relentless positivity.  It's the least that you deserve."  

Whatever happened, one innocently asks, to the duty to warn the young of the dangers that lie ahead, of good and bad choices?  No, never.  How can children ever grow up into wonderful human beings if doubts are cast upon the inevitable triumph of gooey, sweet goodness.  Such destructive negativity.  Tut.  Tut.  Tut.

Some parents are up in arms over one school principal's "tough love" approach to unacceptable behaviour--particularly truancy.  For our money, Principal Crawford stands out as a much needed, welcome truth teller.  When you see a child at the top of a sheer cliff skipping along, the righteous person shouts at them, warning them of their danger.  But, apparently, there are more than a few who, upon seeing such a child, will clap and cheer, giving lots of "positivity" and "affirmation" and "support" assuring the child they are a wunnerful, wunnerful dancer and that their future is bright and red-rosy.

Let us be clear.  Those kinds of parents are the child's worst enemy.  They represent the serpent's hiss.  Not so in the case of Principal Crawford:

The principal of a large secondary school has taken a 'tough love' approach to truancy - telling students who cut class they are highly likely to go to prison, be illiterate or be a rape or suicide victim.  The speech yesterday by Hamilton's Fraser High School principal Virginia Crawford was secretly recorded by a student and was uploaded to video sharing site YouTube at 8pm. It already had 7000 views this morning.  It has drawn the ire of students and parents on social media with many condemning the speech as demotivating and stereotyping.

"Any student that walks out the gate to truant is already the statistic of the worse kind," Crawford said during the speech given at school assembly.

"Highly likely to go to prison, either commit domestic violence or be a victim of domestic violence, be illiterate, be a rape victim, be a suicide victim, be unemployed for the majority of their life, have a major health problem, die at an early age, have an addiction, gambling, drugs or smoking."  Crawford told the students truants wouldn't survive outside of Hamilton and pretended they were "a big person" in Nawton, Dinsdale or Western Heights.

"When I drive out of school during class time for meetings, and I see groups of students sitting outside the dairy, fish and chip shop, bus stop, some of the things I am thinking is that is another group of students without a future.  "That is another student who will end up as a statistic, that's another loser, that's another wannabe. Another student desperate for friendship, another we've lost."

She urged students to put in the effort at school to make a better life for themselves.  "You and I know the only way to fix this is to do the mahi now, to do the work now. School is not easy, but it is a lot easier than having no hope and being cast aside without any worthwhile future." [NZ Herald]

The reaction has been a salutary lesson, helping explain why so many schools are failing.  It has to do with a fifth column beavering away--the indulgent parent brigade.

One parent commented on the post calling the speech "disturbing" and said they would pull their daughter out of Fraser High School until Crawford was replaced.  "Yes she's had days off school, and there's been a time I've forgotten to call ... But when you say such things like this," Mardonmac wrote.  "You have failed my daughter as an educator, you have failed the system. My daughter hasn't failed as a student and I haven't failed as a parent.  This revolting, tormenting speech has only proven that you madam principal are the failure in this matter. Disgusting inappropriate accusations."

Jenna Smith said the speech was full of shame and condemnation.  "I think her motive might have been genuine - but her method was terrible ... If you really want people to succeed you need to inspire and build a platform for them - not predict their horrible future.

"Basically everyone in this hall who has been truant has just heard that they are a wannabe loser with no hope of a positive future.  Unfortunately I don't think this speech will turn them around ... and this lady has presumed the reasons for every child's truancy is cookie cutter 'I'm too cool for school' reasons when they are not".

We agree.  As long as such parents indulge their children (and themselves) they are putting their children at serious risk.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees is strongly endorsing the Principal's siren warnings to over-indulged pupils:

Board of Trustees chairman Jeff Green said the school had received a "great deal of positive feedback" on the speech.  He said the board was very supportive of its principal "for being strong enough to have challenging conversations with our students".

"Everyone on the board of trustees, in the senior leadership team and on the staff at our school wants to equip each one of our students with the best possible education and tools for life.  We consider that even if just one student reconsiders the path they are taking and takes steps in a more positive direction after this speech then that could have huge impact on their future lives and those of their family and friends and wider community." 

Let's declare war on psycho-babble and relentless positivity.  It is little more than a cruel confidence trick perpetrated by fraudsters attempting to cover their own parental failings.