# How stupid we've become since I was at school!



## TDG (May 26, 2009)

SCHOOL - 1957 vs. 2012

Scenario :
Johnny and Mark get into a fight after school.
1957 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends. 
2012 - Police called, and they arrest Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it. Both children go to anger management programmes for 3 months. School governors hold meeting to implement bullying prevention programmes. 

Scenario :
Robbie won't be still in class, disrupts other students.
1957 - Robbie sent to the office and given six of the best by the Principal. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again. 
2012 - Robbie given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADHD and the result deemed to be positive. Robbie's parents get fortnightly disability payments and school gets extra funding from government because Robbie has a disability. 

Scenario :
Billy breaks a window in his neighbour's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1957 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman. 
2012 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care; joins a gang; ends up in jail.

Scenario :
Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
1957 - Mark gets glass of water from Principal to take aspirin with. Passes exams, becomes a solicitor..
2012- Police called, car searched for drugs and weapons. Mark expelled from school for drug taking. Ends up as a drop out.

Scenario :
Johnny takes apart leftover fireworks from Cracker night, puts them in a paint tin & blows up a wasp's nest.
1957 - Wasps die. 
2012- Police & Anti-Terrorism Squad called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, investigate parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated. Johnny's Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly in an aeroplane again. 

Scenario :
Johnny falls over while running during morning break and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. She hugs him to comfort him.
1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing footie. No damage done.
2012 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy and ends up gay.


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## locrep (Dec 5, 2011)

It would be very funny, if it was not so true.

Dave.


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## KeithChesterfield (Mar 12, 2010)

The Clattenburg 'incident' could be added to your scenarios - 

Mikel may, at worst, get a fine and short ban.

Clattenburg could have been thrown out of the job.

In the words of Jim Royle - "Justice my *rse!"


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

TDG said:


> She hugs him to comfort him.......... Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy and ends up gay.


We really have become stupid if we can see cause and effect here :roll:

Dick


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## Phil42 (Apr 4, 2006)

*Rose-tinted bottle glasses*

US origin, like much of the garbage sweeping around the internet:

US blog post


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

you may think this, but unfortunately it is very much on the mark. even in the UK.
PC at it's silliest.everyone afraid to use common sense.

cabby


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## Phil42 (Apr 4, 2006)

cabby said:


> you may think this, but unfortunately it is very much on the mark. even in the UK.
> PC at it's silliest.everyone afraid to use common sense.
> 
> cabby


No sorry - the whole thing is b******s from start to finish.

Scenario 1 - Schools rightly take fighting seriously. That's not PC or health and safety but what they should be doing, educating young people to understand the dangers. There's a story in the press today about a boy who died after being punched in the head in a school fight. I'm sure you wouldn't send your kids to a school that didn't take violence seriously. Schools were very violent places in 1957 - I was there! Generally speaking they're much less violent now.

I could spell out the facts about each of the scenarios but there's none so blind as those who will not see.


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

We also become idle and rely too much on calculators


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

One 2 is two, two 2s are 4, three 2s are six, four 2's are errr - ouch! My poor knuckles.

At least I can now remember my times tables.


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

Maybe we should ask nuke if we could have a "isn't it awful today" forum  

Dick


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## adonisito (Nov 6, 2009)

Having spent 15 years in an SEN school as Dep Head, I did find the post amusing, but there isn't space on here to tell the truth !
8O


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## vicdicdoc (May 14, 2005)

Phil42 said:


> Schools were very violent places in 1957 - I was there! Generally speaking they're much less violent now.


Yep, I went to a dump skool in the east end of London - didn't do me no harm


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

vicdicdoc said:


> Phil42 said:
> 
> 
> > Schools were very violent places in 1957 - I was there! Generally speaking they're much less violent now.
> ...


How do you know?

Chris


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

pippin said:


> One 2 is two, two 2s are 4, three 2s are six, four 2's are errr - ouch! My poor knuckles.
> 
> At least I can now remember my times tables.


I can remember the tune but not the words :-

Singalongakev

Dum Dum De Dum, Dum Dum De Dum... :lol: :lol: :lol:

As for the OP, not too far of the mark,regardless of where it came from, violence is less acceptable these days, but are we raising a world of wimps who don't know how to fight or defend themselves or their country so any aggressor could just take over.

The whole world is becoming over cautious due to the extremes of some, in so many areas a natural life is no longer possible due to the knee jerk reactions of those who think they know better.

The stuff I used to get up to as a nipper would get me locked up now, back then a thick ear was all I needed.

As for the more criminal minded, what happened to Borstal and detention centres, they made more than one "bad lad" think twice, but because of violence/suicides they were shut down, bad move, they should just have been better run, hard work and discipline were what was needed, rather than thugs in charge.

Too much influence by parents creating mummies boys, bring them up strict but loved, punish but not molest, encourage not mock, teach not lecture.

I had a very hard life as a child both at home and at school, I have eventually turned out almost normal.


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## Phil42 (Apr 4, 2006)

pippin said:


> I had a very hard life as a child both at home and at school, I have eventually turned out almost normal.


See previous post. :wink:

It never occurs to people who say this that they may not be the best judge of this.

And certainly they can't know how most of their fellow-students turned out.

Phil


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Phil42 said:


> pippin said:
> 
> 
> > I had a very hard life as a child both at home and at school, I have eventually turned out almost normal.
> ...


Of course Kev cannot be 'normal' - he is building his own MH!

We 'normal', i.e. privileged, people pay somebody else to build one for us 

Go for it Kev - you are doing great!  

Geoff


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Phil42 said:


> It never occurs to people who say this that they may not be the best judge of this.
> Phil


I think as I was present for the biggest part of my life I'm not only the best judge. I'm the only judge Phil. :lol: :lol:

But I take your point.

Kev.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

nicholsong said:


> Phil42 said:
> 
> 
> > pippin said:
> ...


Ta Geoff, if you ever notice me being normal, pull the bloody plug. :lol:


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## Phil42 (Apr 4, 2006)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> Phil42 said:
> 
> 
> > It never occurs to people who say this that they may not be the best judge of this.
> ...


And I take your point Kev. But the judgement I was talking about was about how someone 'turned out' as in 'it never did me any harm' or 'I'm normal' and in this case other people may have a different and more objective view.

Phil

P.S 'Back in the day' I converted a Tansporter into a camper van (wouldn't have called it a motorhome then). Not sure if that allows me to claim I'm normal.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

What's normal anyway.


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

Actually I'm really envious of kids today.
They seem to have fewer hang-ups and be able to converse much more easily with adults than my contemporaries when young.
So maybe, just maybe, there really is something in the modern schooling methods.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

I must nail my colours to the mast after 38 years of keeping school kids entertained - never a dull moment and always lots of really great things to remember.

Violence is unacceptable and always has been - if we got involved in a fight we were hauled off to the Head's office to cool off.

Sadly, parents have become very much more protective and will not allow their children to do anything that MIGHT, just MIGHT result in the child getting hurt even through an accident - hence why risk assessments and covering one's back have become an increasing workload for all teachers.

The old "nature walk" from my primary days has long gone as it requires weeks of paperwork to set a trip out of school up no - we had a risk assessment form, a cost analysis, a supervision ratio of between 1:2 for "risky" activities like abseiling, through 1:6 for walking in wild country in the summer to 1:10 for trips to the coast for fieldwork with provision made for both sexes "just in case", and many other sheets to be completed before approval for the trip would be granted and only then could letters go home to the students seeking parental approval and if that was not signed and returned the child could not leave school so alternative arrangements had to be made.......

Sadly such things have increased, roughly at the rate that teachers have lost their enthusiasm for taking youngsters on trips......

and trips requiring an overnight stay......... (take the above and multiply by about 5 times the workload....)

So society has put more requirements on such people and, not surprisingly, the number of such chances has reduced.

Ultimately the children are the losers; they will not be able to sample so many activities as we were offered. But society has changed and schools have reflected these changes accurately, even if it is easy to say that the faults are all due to the schools; calculators for instance were introduced into society as a labour saving aid - schools had no option but to introduce them as society expected children to be able to use such things in everyday life (sadly).

Computers have reduced markedly the ability of people to do anything - how often have you bought e.g. 10 tins of something costing 99p (for instance) and the assistant has had to put in every one individually ("for stock control purposes, Sir") rather than saying 10 x 0.99 = £9.90 or similar........ That is society and business that has produced this example of "dumbing down"........

Children ARE more confident than they used to be - surely that is a good thing? They are able to discuss things much more openly than we used to as kids - they don't bottle things up but bring them out into the open. That, to me, is good news and I don't regret my part in the progress that the approximately 8,000 children that I taught have made...... 

Dave


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

Dave - _8,000 children that I taught _

I am submittings forms for your eventual canonisation to the sainthood!


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

No chance on that........

that was the figure the Head of Department came up with - that means 24,000+ termly reports.......

plus an inordinate amount of marking.......

I managed to blow one class up twice (not my fault they did not follow instructions......) and flooded one room totally when the tap came off in the students hand - with mains water pressure......

But such things are typical of 38 years of such fun - you cannot beat it as a career - working with youngsters is fantastic fun and a real privilege......

Dave


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