Wednesday 1 March 2006

The sickness

I'm ill today, and I won't bore you (or gross you out) with the details. Suffice it to say that it's unpleasant. I left work early yesterday and on the bus home I was seated in front of a couple of high-school students, one of whom had apparently been recently suspended. She had written a very creative story or poem about it, and was reading it to her friend. It was colourful and clever (for a teenager) and included a calculation of the time she'd be stuck there, in whole hours, in just minutes and also in seconds.

My point is that this was clearly a creative, intelligent girl who was being sidelined and victimised by our school system. I won't deny that she did something wrong to be suspended, nor will I assume there aren't other circumstances driving her to that behaviour. All I want to say is that here is a girl who has a creative gift that is being ignored and possibly even discouraged by our traditional schools. Doesn't that mean there's something wrong?

Mokalus of Borg

PS - I also have a feeling this is what is happening to Bart Simpson.
PPS - Though, of course, he's not real.

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