Obama’s dreadful
error about the
‘Polish death camps’
Life of George
Gerry Hassan’s ‘lost stash’ scenario (17 January) reminded me of a low-level dealer’s dilemma when rabbits ate his stash of Es.
He’d neglected to secure them in a metal box or bury them deep enough. ‘There’s deid rabbits all over the place,’ muttered Deek, in the dark shuttered security of The Bar with No Number. ‘Maybe they’re jist chillin’,’ suggested my pal, ‘did you smell grass – or see wan o’ they lava lamps?’.
Deek’s real problem was how to explain things to the owner of said Es. ‘Did ye bring wan o’ the rabbits Deek – y’know – as proof?’ said my pal. ‘Ah did’nae think o’ that – ah jist brought what’s left o’ the Es’, said Deek, and spilled about 50 bunny-ravaged tablets on the bar. The gathered throng shared looks and said they’d speak on his behalf.
When the owner of the Es arrived to see a bar full of middle-aged sociopaths dancing, it didn’t take him long to work things out. Deek’s only mistake was to mention the rabbits.
Like Bill Hicks said: ‘Why is every drug story a negative one?’.
Today’s banner:
Observers
Dunure, Ayrshire
Photograph by
Islay McLeod
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Two young people
who are standing up for
what they believe
Walter Humes
It is always encouraging to come across examples of young people who are prepared to take a stand on an issue of principle. Instead of going with the crowd, and conforming to the expectations of peers or adults, they resist pressure and risk unpopularity for the sake of what they believe.
A few years ago, in a rural Scottish primary school, a boy of 11 (let’s call him Alan) found himself in precisely that situation. The school had organised a leavers’ event to mark the rite of passage from the primary to the secondary stage of education. In itself, this was an entirely worthwhile occasion, signalling an important developmental milestone. Pupils were invited to prepare a short speech reflecting on their experiences at the school.
Alan, like his classmates, had a number of complimentary things to say. But he also wanted to include a reference to an episode when he and a friend had been subject to bullying, which he felt had not been dealt with satisfactorily by the teachers. He was told that this was not appropriate and that he should remove that section from his text. When he declined to do so, he was advised that he would not be able to take part in the leavers’ event.
The decision of the school was supported by the local authority on the grounds that such an occasion was ‘celebratory’ and only positive experiences should be mentioned. With the backing of his parents, Alan stuck to his guns and found that there were definite limits to Scottish education’s commitment to social inclusion.
Unpleasant though this encounter with officialdom must have been, Alan would have learned a great deal from it. He would have discovered that adults do not always mean what they say (‘Think for yourself’) or practise what they preach (‘Tell the truth’). A year or two later he might well have identified with Holden Caulfield in J D Salinger’s ‘Catcher in the Rye’ where the protagonist has a well-developed ‘phoney detector’ in relation to adult hypocrisies and double standards. Educational policy documents may pay lip service to encouraging youngsters to become ‘independent critical thinkers’ but most of the time the system prefers them to be compliant and biddable.
The hostility took several forms. Police had to investigate threats against her and at least one Cranston student was disciplined. A Rhode Island State representative referred to Jessica on a radio show as an ‘evil little thing’.
A more recent – and more contentious – example of a young person taking a stand is the case of Jessica Ahlquist in the United States. This has become something of a cause celebre. Jessica is a 16-year-old student at Cranston High School in Rhode Island. Her mother is a nurse and her father a firefighter.
For some years a banner bearing the school creed and a specially composed prayer had been displayed in the foyer of Cranston High. In 2010 the America Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lodged a complaint, on behalf of a parent, that the banner violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which prohibits the making of any law ‘respecting an establishment of religion’. Originally the amendment applied only to laws enacted by Congress but over the years the provision had been extended to cover states and districts. As Cranston High is a publicly funded school, the ACLU argued that its banner represented a breach of the First Amendment.
Jessica had taken a keen interest in the issue and started a campaign in favour of removing the banner, arguing her case at a meeting of the school committee. This provoked such unpopularity that at one point she had to be given a police escort to and from the school. ACLU asked her if she would be prepared to act as the plaintiff in a lawsuit. Jessica agreed and a district court judge ruled in her favour last month. In his comments at the hearing, the judge remarked that Jessica ‘is clearly an articulate and courageous young woman, who took a brave stand, particularly in light of the hostile response she has received from her community’.
The hostility took several forms. Police had to investigate threats against her and at least one Cranston student was disciplined. A Rhode Island State representative referred to Jessica on a radio show as an ‘evil little thing’. Local florists refused to deliver flowers which supporters wanted to send her. Those who wished to retain the banner produced t-shirts with the text of the prayer. Jessica’s supporters responded by selling ‘Evil little thing’ t-shirts to raise funds. The legal dispute may take a further turn if the school decides to lodge an appeal against the January decision.
It would be easy to characterise this dispute as one of faith versus atheism, or tradition versus reform. Some religious leaders, to their credit, have condemned the campaign of vilification directed against Jessica and have acknowledged that there are deep matters of principle at stake, involving the law, democracy and various interpretations of freedom. Whatever one’s view on the substantive issue, it is surely to be welcomed that a young woman feels sufficiently engaged – intellectually, socially and morally – to withstand attempts to silence her. That is a much healthier educational outcome than the dull passivity which is so often in evidence.
Walter Humes held professorships at the universities of Aberdeen, Strathclyde and West of Scotland and is now a visiting professor of education at the University of Stirling
