Am I Bovvered?

Schools are in the news again today with details of new stop and search powers being vested in teachers. It is a sad reflection on the breakdown of school/pupil/parent relations, a situation which can be traced back to several things. Undoubtedly the abolition of corporal punishment was the thin end of the wedge, relaxing the grip which teachers had on pupil discipline during school hours. This was followed by a trend for more families to have two bread winners, and introduced the term 'latch key kids' into society. Children were forced to entertain themselves after school, often in an antisocial way. Finally the removal of the selection process at 11-plus stage grouped all and sundry into comprehensive or community college systems while marginalising the Grammar School system.

David Cameron this week has also indicated his approach to eduction by further distancing government from the Grammar School system, in an effort to attract the blue collar, lower socio-economic voter to his party.

One of Tony Blairs legacies will be that which brainwashed kids and parents into thinking all 'little Johnnies' were bright and intelligent people capable of becoming captains of industry. He introduced uniformity into Polytechnics and Universities in the same way as with the secondary education system in years past.

Unfortunately re branding Polytechnics as University's, diminished their technical and trade status reduced the number of children learning core artisan skills or undertaking apprenticeships. Lets be fair here, plumbers, brickies and electricians these days can name their price for remedial work, and a good carpenter is worth their weight in gold, so it certainly isn't second class citizen work is it?

Many things in society go full circle, often because parents reject the system they evolved under and look at something different for their children. Here's hoping that will be the case as far as education and discipline is concerned, as some sort of intellectual hierarchy is re-introduced and parents become more accountable for, and proud of their children's achievements.