Movember – raising awareness of men’s health
Movember – Changing the face of Men’s Health. Movember (the month formerly known as November) is a charity event held during November each year.
Wellington School orders a student and Movember participant to shave off moustache. (Wellington is the capital and political centre of New Zealand)
A Wellington private school boy has shaved his Movember moustache off after his school threatened to ban him from sitting his NCEA exams. Scots College says it is inappropriate for students to grow a moustache, even if it is done for charity.
Facism (sic) …has a new name and look.
Subdued in All Her Rage: The musings of an unemployed twenty-something undergrad – School: Preparing Us For More School
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I have always been prepared for the pretend world — that is, school and school-like situations. I’ve always received good grades. I think I’ve had like 1 or 2 B’s, like 3 or 4 A-‘s and the rest A’s my entire college career. I’m well adjusted to the learning environment, and all that crap.
Bella and I have similar feelings about the school uniform
Culture Kitchen – Does School Teach Kids to Survive and Thrive?
And to carry the thought further, which kinds of education (if any) are best preparing future citizens to survive, and even help prevent, all manner of potential catastrophes to come? I’d put a high premium on self-reliant yet socially responsible technology, schedules, lifestyles, networking, world views and income generation. The kinds of learning based on intrinsic motivation, privacy and sustainability, learning that doesn’t require or prepare people to live and work in assigned dorms and barracks under constant public supervision and scrutiny.
Youtube – Despotism and Democracy
Archive.org “Despotism“Deschooling Society discussion in Wikiversity
“The most radical alternative to school would be a network or service which gave each man the same opportunity to share his current concern with others motivated by the same concern.” — Ivan Illich.
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4 comments
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November 17, 2007 at 5:45 pm
John Larkin
Hi Leigh,
How are you? I cannot help but feel that the executive of the school were well within their rights to ask the student to shave off his moustache regardless of the motivation. There may be more to this story than the press has revealed. The student may have additional agendas other than the desire to be charitable. Did he approach the school executive prior to enrolling in the charity drive?
The school community, which includes the executive, teachers, students and the fee paying parents, expect the school to observe a set of standards. That is why the children are enrolled in that school. Rules are meant to be observed. They are simply rules. That is all. Nothing more, nothing less. If a student and/or the parents are not happy with the decision of the executive then they should exercise their right to enrol their student in another school.
School uniforms are practical. In the long term they save the parents money, they reduce harassment, bullying, competition, peer pressure and the like. School uniforms assist emergency personnel to identify students when they are involved in an accident.
The school has not acted in despotic manner. Their actions were not cruel or oppressive. Neither can their actions be considered fascist. The executive is not acting in a demagogic manner. They are simply applying the rules.
Students will sometimes find that when they eventually enter the workplace they may have to observe similar and if not stricter grooming and dress regulations. Students who presently work part time for fast food outlets invariably find that they have to observe specific dress, uniform and grooming regulations. If that is not to their liking then they can simply select a different occupation. That is the real world.
The students I have the fortune to teach are not preoccupied with their uniform. They put their uniform on each day, come to school, interact, learn, teach and play. The focused students, regardless of their demographic and ability, actually appreciate the rules and recognise that they are designed for the good of the entire community and that they work. It is when the rules are “bent”, relaxed or ignored that the environment in which they learn and acquire knowledge does not work.There are times when the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
Of course, one must acknowledge that strict dress codes are not for everybody. There are schools that thrive on individuality while others need a more constrained regime in order to manage a restless student body. Schools should consider their student populations and establish rules, etc that appropriately meet the needs of the community, including the parents. The parents can then decide which school is the best for their child and observe the wishes of the community that they have decided to join.
Just my opinion,
Cheers
John
November 18, 2007 at 12:18 am
leighblackall
Thanks John,
I think it is remarkable how much a school resembles a society and political order we (in NZ) apparently reject. Of course it is necessary to manage a restless population, I’m sure every autocratic rule has said the same thing.
I appreciate your opinion John. I just wish our society’s future elites (The boys in Scots) could experience a sense of social order different to this… I just wish we could have a chance to build something different before falling back to this system. No doubt these private boys will become tomorrows bosses and employ the same tried and true rules on the next batch of restless individuals who might otherwise have a different way of being. Who knows, perhaps their restlessness will be even worse, perhaps there will be scarce resources and considerable inequality. Perhaps cropped moes will be back in fashion, and there will be a unanimous desire in the population for some sort of order. They will think back to those good old uniformed days where everything seemed to work like clockwork and think, “yeah – that’s what our people need!”. And we will group, categorise, and march to the same drum, sing the same anthem, and aim at the same enemy.
November 20, 2007 at 10:56 pm
John Larkin
Hi Leigh
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback. I share your concerns regarding scarce resources. I do consider the students and wonder what the future holds for them. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change increases my alarm.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24704&Cr=Climate&Cr1=
Cheers
John
November 23, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Belinda
I’ll just say…that’s my daughter in the last photo, and the soul-crushing dress code for girls at her private preschool is one of the biggest reasons she’s starting kindergarten at public school next year.