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1078   29 March 2005  

School Indiscipline

I confess I was flattered by The Guardian’s excellent review of Tam Dalyell’s political career.    He was cited as “defying Left-Right” labels, because he was
(a) deeply opposed to the invasion of Iraq, (b) pro-Europe and (c) in favour of nuclear power.  That demonstrated his independence of mind.  And all three are also my own personal positions, quite precisely.  But I have a fourth position, on school indiscipline, which will seem odd to many people. 

I favour reducing the mandatory school-leaving age.  RoSLA (Raising of the School Leaving Age to 16) was a mistake.   I favour extending the payment of “education allowances” to pupils over school-leaving age – but I want to reduce the leaving-age to 14.   

I think that much “indiscipline” and disruptive pupil behaviour is caused by society’s use of coercion against pupils. Compulsory education is itself a form of violence: we are using violence against our children.  We would not consider using such coercion against adults (e.g. military conscription) except in circumstances of extreme national emergency – yet we use coercion daily, against our children.  It is hardly surprising that some of them, resenting that coercion, use violence back.   

I say that, for all children of 14 and upwards, education should be a matter of choice, of persuasion not coercion. We should not expect our teachers to teach resentful, rebellious pupils.  We should enable such pupils to leave the classroom to earn their “allowances” in other work-related schemes, regardless of the earnings of their parents. 

It is not enough that we should believe that coercion is “in their best interests”: many dictators have justified autocratic action by appealing to the same argument.  We should devise educational systems which give respect to our teenagers, and help them to take command of their own future.  I recognise that parental influence will remain powerful, to the advantage of children from households with "middle-class" values.  But the policy of using coercion as an instrument of enforced equalisation has proved counter-productive.  We should not tread the US path, which raises the school-leaving age even higher (ordinarily to 18) - at the price of having the Police in school corridors and playgrounds...

We should choose another way. 

What do you think?  Drop me a line

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1079   4 April 2005   

Equality?  I'm against unreasonable inequality...

I disagree with with Roy Hattersley, who keeps banging on about material equality as the lodestone of socialism.  He regularly condemns Tony Blair for his refusal to accept this formulation.  And he does so again this week, writing in The Guardian.

Now watch my lips: I agree with Blair.  I find no appetite, among the younger generation, for ideals of old-style material equality. The publication of statistics measuring the "distribution of wealth" leaves them cold.

For contemporary society, both UK and worldwide, the key issue is the active engagement of all citizens in the processes both of the economy and of "society", including its governance.  Equality of participation, equality of access to education and training, equality of access to healthcare, the removal of barriers to personal development and advance - these are all vital, as is the systematic avoidance of any form of under-class, lacking any prospects of engagement.

Important too is the elimination of unreasonable forms of inequality, by using a variety of techniques, and confronting in particular the corporate sector's exploitation of artificial personality - see Tame the Corporations.

  • Blair is in my view right to avoid any entanglement with earlier, utopian, concepts of material equality.  It is Hattersley who has got stuck in a rut...

What do you think?  Drop me a line

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