When Kids are In Charge !!!

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Deleted member 26715

Guest
We are staying in a huge old Victorian hotel in Crieff. Every single member of staff is non-british. What are the locals doing?
They're all at University doing media studies so they can create a persona for when they become a reality TV star
 

Drago

Legendary Member
And the rest are stockbrokers snorting cocaine from their filofaxes.
 
Summerhill School in Suffolk gives equal rights to everyone regardless of age. I was able to attend one of their meetings ( by their voting consent) and they certainly liked having lots of rules.
Lessons were not compulsory but after a term or two of wildness, most children come into the classroom.
This system seems to work ok for the children of progressive/artsy/hippie parents who are expected to be creatives rather than professionals
 

Brains

Legendary Member
Location
Greenwich
Can't speak for the majority but the ones I have known were. Often home schooled for good reason.

I agree, there are a fair percentage that can not fit into the normal school regime, some are exceptionally bright or have severe social issues, however this does not include the thousands of kids from Roma and Traveller families, the Ultra Orthodox religious families (of multiple religions), kids who's parents have chosen a Hippy way of life, and the simply "don't care" group.

The issue is when these kids start having kids of their own are they then going to send them to school ?
In the majority of cases, I'd suspect not.
However as unschooled kids are not registered there is no way to know if this follows from generation to generation.

Personally I'd like to introduce a law that said every kid HAS to be registered with a school
And they HAVE to physically turn up at school at least once per term, if for no other reason than to see if they are not being excessively abused.
Normal 8 year old's that can't write their own name should be getting visits from Social Services ......
 

vickster

Legendary Member
The armed forces don’t want that any more than the general public do
 

Brains

Legendary Member
Location
Greenwich
We are staying in a huge old Victorian hotel in Crieff. Every single member of staff is non-british. What are the locals doing?

That is a different unrelated issue:
I have friends in the Hotel and Hospitality industries.

To use one example, some friends, originally from Cornwall, but 'emigrated' to London in their teens (as do most Cornish with any sort of drive), both ran hotels in London, Hong Kong, Paris etc. and decided to move back to Cornwall in their mid 50's and bought a hotel.

They then tried to employ locals;
They were paying perfectly decent wages, above living wage and rates above most of the other local hotels.
They struggled to get entrants. People did not turn up for interviews, or if given the job did not turn up on the first day.
Those that did turn up lasted days, or at the most a couple of months.
Like all the other local hotels, they now also have 100% non Cornish staff.
Most of their staff are Eastern European, but they do have a couple of Brits, (both from London) out of a staff of 30

There is also a skills issue at the most basic level.
The English people were unable to make a bed or clean a room without full supervision.
Even when finally taught how to do this, their speed was about half that of the Eastern Europeans (who did not need to be instructed on the basics)
 

Brains

Legendary Member
Location
Greenwich
National Service would stop mall this hippy parent nonsense.

As long as "National Service" does not necessarily involve being in the military.
But does involve uniformed work for society for several months away from home.
Such as helping out in the heath or education systems, working on national construction projects, working in agriculture, fisheries or food, etc.
Then yes, I'm all for it, as long as it's for everyone with no loop holes (unless they are confined to an institution of some sort)
 
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mudsticks

Obviously an Aubergine
Unfortunately its not just one family.
Home Schooling is surprisingly common
Local Authorities have no idea at all how many kids are on their patch as amazingly their is no need to register home schooled kids

The problem is that the majority of home schooled kids are not schooled in any real sense at all.
The problem then becomes what are these poor kids going to do when they get into their 20's ?
They will not be fit for employment, family, or future.
They are unlikely to be able to excel in society

It's not that simple, there's plenty of kids who have been to school who are not fit for employment, or who are bullied in, or have been let down by mainstream schooling..

Which is why some parents take their kids out of school..
I've known many families who've done it over the years.. The results being as varied, as they generally are with 'conventional' education.

Agreed there are a few who don't do home schooling very well either, just as there are who don't do 'parenting' in general all that usefully.

But for instance, I personally know two fine young men, who were both diligently home schooled by their mum, who also got in extra help, with certain subjects such as Higher level maths, and who took part in many other enriching out of school activities.

They are now both fully qualified electricians, making good livings, and fully participating in, and contributing to society.

Lets not be so polarised, and 'one size fits all' about these issues.

I've not seen the telly prog, nor am I likely to, but it sounds like the usual extremist, sensationalist, conflict egged up for public entertainment nonsense, that gets the 'Daily Fail Frothers' frothing as per..
 

mudsticks

Obviously an Aubergine
There are plenty of practically incapable kids coming out of high end schooling.

I was that 'hippy parent' who would have been the subject of much derision from some on here.

Both my boys went to mainstream state, schools..

The primary one was very 'aspirational' academically, with all the little darlings (apart from mine) being taken around to after school cello, and supplementary this and that so as to get them into the local state grammar.

Even when the local comp was perfectly good, and gave (to my mind) a far more rounded education.

I used to go into the Primary, on a Friday, to run a garden club, many eleven year old I encountered there hadn't ever been taught to use a saw..

In fact it was mainly a 'mud and sticks' club.. Because just being practical, or even having fun outdoors, wasn't really on their parents agenda. (unless it was skiing holidays at Easter)

In the intervening years, quite a few of those same youth have told me how they were inspired by those experiences, to do other stuff with their lives.. Such as farming, and growing, and other practical and outdoor things, environmental work even.

So maybe we could be a little slower to judge and label, and realise that education is about much broader stuff than turning out freshly minted cogs for the unquestioning capitalistic machine.??
 
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