You can use the f-word in class (but only five times)
I’m not one to gripe about our world “going to hell in a handbasket”, but this bit of sophomoric lunacy is tempting me to violate that personal rule.
Part of me is hoping that this is all some sort of horrible joke, an April Fool’s joke that just couldn’t wait. Could anyone really be so stupid, irresponsible, and inept as to let the inmates run the asylum in so egregious a manner? It would appear that this may well be the case.
Understandably, parents are not amused. While the school’s headmaster thinks that giving students “a little leeway” is a good thing, this is without a doubt a ridiculous idea that puts the lie to maintaining anything close to discipline in an educational setting. So what comes next? Sanctioned food fights? School-sponsored peeping into the girls shower? Cigarettes and Guinness in the school’s vending machines? Will the fun never end?
This isn’t public education. Welcome to Runamok High School.
A secondary school is to allow pupils to swear at teachers - as long as they don’t do so more than five times in a lesson. A running tally of how many times the f-word has been used will be kept on the board. If a class goes over the limit, they will be ‘spoken’ to at the end of the lesson.
The astonishing policy, which the school says will improve the behaviour of pupils, was condemned by parents’ groups and MPs yesterday. They warned it would backfire.
Parents were advised of the plan, which comes into effect when term starts next week, in a letter from the Weavers School in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.
Assistant headmaster Richard White said the policy was aimed at 15 and 16-year-olds in two classes which are considered troublesome.
OK…so rather than attempting to enforce a bare modicum of discipline in the classroom, we’re going to let the inmates run the asylum. So, what’s next?
Students will only be allowed to have in sex on classroom desktops a maximum of three times in one day.
Students will only be allowed to fire up their crack pipes a maximum of twice in one day.
Students will be allowed to participate in a maximum of one lunch hour gangrape per day.
Students will be allowed to set up a meth lab in the school’s chemistry lab. It will be called “life experience training.”
Students will be allowed a maximum of one hand gun with a maximum of five rounds on their person at any time while on school grounds.
Students will be allowed to strong-arm a maximum of three students for lunch money per day.
Where is this silliness to end? Have we let our standards sink so low that we’re willing to allow students engage in unacceptable behavior “because they’re going to anyway”?
If teachers are not allowed to exercise at least a minimum of discipline in their classroom, the public has no right to complain when they find out the Johnny can’t read. Oh, he’ll be able to curse, but he won’t be able to read a f——-g book, do a f——-g math problem, complete a f——-g book report, construct a reasonable f——-g argument, or…oops, better be careful…I’m down to my last f-word. Hmmm…how many G-d—-n’s do I get during the course of a day?
“Within each lesson the teacher will initially tolerate (although not condone) the use of the f-word (or derivatives) five times and these will be tallied on the board so all students can see the running score,” he wrote in the letter
“Over this number the class will be spoken to by the teacher at the end of the lesson.”
And what? The teacher will ask the student if he’d like another beer? What the f—k have we come to? Oops…there’s my last one. Gotta go; I sure don’t want to have a teacher come talk to me….
Looking on the bright side, at least the students aren't being exposed to the evils of prayer or the Ten Commandments!
Look! Words! They're scary! The slope is starting to look so slippery!
Perhaps I missed it, but I do not see the link for the original story, so I am providing it here.
What you also neglect from your post is that this is an experiment being conducted in Scotland and no one there is exactly wild about the idea.
It appears, instead, to be a measure of last resort, to get kids to be aware of how much they are swearing, because, as one person interviewed said:
"I do know of schools where teachers have learned to live with it, because if they were to exclude pupils for swearing there would be no-one left."
The words aren't scary. What is scary is how these looney toons expect anyone to learn in an environment that lacks basic respect. Think of the teachers you respect the most and the least, then ask yourself, "Who taught me more?"
"...think about their language??? Gimmee a break! Cussing is a literary crutch used by the verbally challenged, and the simple cure is education, not exclusion.
Any kid that cusses in class should get a good whack on the behind with a 1"x"4".