EXCELLENT QUESTION: “There is a lot of focus on the kids who are failing, on schools that are failing and using that as a basis for change. But I think that is the wrong way around. There are kids who (despite our changing culture) are thriving. And I want to know, what do they have that is lacking in the other environments?”
A good piece but I would add that in my experience kids are not taught to play football in school .. some bring a ball and if you can kick it you get to play .. this leaves boys who aren’t very good out .. girls too .. parents need to demand schools provide alternatives to football .. kids don’t have the chance to play outside of home .. busier roads etc .. so teaching kids orienteering wd be great .. no special equipment / strip needed teachers great skills & fun .. parents need to step up & volunteer .. teachers set an example by relying less on devices especially as a easy option during golden time … music dance, singing , art bring joy not anxiety
Oh I totally agree! I guess my point is that if our *most* popular activity is not tended to (in my son's school they literally have no space for *anything*) then what does that say about everything else? They did a consultation about play space here in 2012 which found that children had the equivalent of an A4 size of paper for outdoor play. (!) I mean that fact alone should be enough for the council to find a way to liberate the school yard for ALL sorts of activities. I used to run outdoor discos on the tiny park on my corner and would get upwards of 100 kids (!) And I see what happens (in my son's current school) is that they alternate between activities. In Glasgow kids are offered a six week block of afterschool activities - 6 weeks hardly time to develop any competency let alone excellence (as I have said) - so this year the blocks have mixed between sport, dance and gymnastics. So they are trying to appeal to different groups but should not be an either or situation. ALL should be offered. I watched in my High School as students went on to be pro-athletes at the same time others went on to work professionally in the arts (not least myself). There is such a short space of time that we can give children these opportunities. It really should be prioritised. As you said brings joy - and serves them for life.
thanks! I think what we are seeing is massive bureaucracies whose sole purpose is to survive not to facilitate kids to thrive. We need to collectively find solutions out of this. The kids cannot do it on their own.
The problem is though that simple solutions like setting up groups and activities is actively obstructed at authority level in many different ways. It’s not just, ‘oh we don’t have funds’ it’s legislative requirements that put ordinary people off taking responsibility and getting involved. Parental authority has also been systematically eroded not only by external forces but sometimes from within. I walked through Oak Mall in Greenock the other day and there was a boy who looked to be about 9yo lying on the floor having a tantrum. His grandfather knelt beside him, his face distraught with helplessness. In his day, the grandson would have been told to not to be stupid and the family would have walked away and left him on the floor. Now this grandfather feels he has to play along with idea that the grandson’s having a ‘mental health episode’ when in reality the grandson has simply learned how to bully his family into getting what he wants.
Society has been bombarded with messages of hidden problems and of disabilities so we all self-silence and play our part in our own societal demise.
I was also told about a family friend with a 10 yo son. Smart boy, very clever, active, attends lots of activities and has just started football but his parents are talking about taking him to a therapist because he’s starting lashing out at school and at his father. Why are you going to a therapist? Why not talk to him and sort it out yourself?
There is an ongoing push to disempower western society. To remove rights, freedoms, personal security and render people helpless. When people feel helpless they get frustrated and when they get frustrated they lash out. They don’t lash out at the authority that’s causing their problems, they lash out at people around them. That’s what we’re seeing today and it takes a very a strong mind and a saintly good heart to stand up against that.
Completely agree with you. Firstly that people who *want* to 'do something' are disincentivized by the state - partly because our resources have been sold off and stripped bare. Partly what comes of that is this abdication of responsibility wherein *only* the council can be seen to fix things. But of course the council/the government are not living up to their end of the bargain either. It's a odd paradigm. Purgatory of sorts. And like you said brings a response directed at the wrong place.... Locally we have gone from 4 community centres to none, in 2012 when they did a local consultation they found that children had access to the equivalent of one A4 sized piece of paper for outdoor space. Despite that no action has been taken - with all the chat on climate, and environmentalism and active travel and blah blah blah. Lies. We can be more clever about it, I used to run outdoor discos and 100 kids would show up. But artists are not trained to think this way (also waiting on 'permission' from the state). The story you tell of the child having a fit in the mall is familiar. This is the whole child-led approach (and the stupid UNCRC stuff). We *do* need to bring back authority. Nothing is more clear to me that a child needs boundaries when they are kicking out. They need the safety and security of the edges not to let out into the wild woods. And again I think on those kids who *are* thriving and I would bet they opportunities matched with responsibilities. It's not a one answer thing. I will also say that one of the first things I would do in a workshop setting with kids (having worked all over the world in very different environments with kids with lots of things going on) is set the rules. Without rules nothing moves forward. We set them, we know them, we agree to them. And then we can make stuff. I never had issues in any of my projects getting kids in line to do the things we needed to get on with - on this premise. Sometimes the establishment of the rules would take longer, but we did not proceed until that was set.
EXCELLENT QUESTION: “There is a lot of focus on the kids who are failing, on schools that are failing and using that as a basis for change. But I think that is the wrong way around. There are kids who (despite our changing culture) are thriving. And I want to know, what do they have that is lacking in the other environments?”
It’s common sense isn’t it? Yet no one does it. I suspect there is more money to be made the other way round??
A good piece but I would add that in my experience kids are not taught to play football in school .. some bring a ball and if you can kick it you get to play .. this leaves boys who aren’t very good out .. girls too .. parents need to demand schools provide alternatives to football .. kids don’t have the chance to play outside of home .. busier roads etc .. so teaching kids orienteering wd be great .. no special equipment / strip needed teachers great skills & fun .. parents need to step up & volunteer .. teachers set an example by relying less on devices especially as a easy option during golden time … music dance, singing , art bring joy not anxiety
Oh I totally agree! I guess my point is that if our *most* popular activity is not tended to (in my son's school they literally have no space for *anything*) then what does that say about everything else? They did a consultation about play space here in 2012 which found that children had the equivalent of an A4 size of paper for outdoor play. (!) I mean that fact alone should be enough for the council to find a way to liberate the school yard for ALL sorts of activities. I used to run outdoor discos on the tiny park on my corner and would get upwards of 100 kids (!) And I see what happens (in my son's current school) is that they alternate between activities. In Glasgow kids are offered a six week block of afterschool activities - 6 weeks hardly time to develop any competency let alone excellence (as I have said) - so this year the blocks have mixed between sport, dance and gymnastics. So they are trying to appeal to different groups but should not be an either or situation. ALL should be offered. I watched in my High School as students went on to be pro-athletes at the same time others went on to work professionally in the arts (not least myself). There is such a short space of time that we can give children these opportunities. It really should be prioritised. As you said brings joy - and serves them for life.
Spot on! 👏
thanks! I think what we are seeing is massive bureaucracies whose sole purpose is to survive not to facilitate kids to thrive. We need to collectively find solutions out of this. The kids cannot do it on their own.
The problem is though that simple solutions like setting up groups and activities is actively obstructed at authority level in many different ways. It’s not just, ‘oh we don’t have funds’ it’s legislative requirements that put ordinary people off taking responsibility and getting involved. Parental authority has also been systematically eroded not only by external forces but sometimes from within. I walked through Oak Mall in Greenock the other day and there was a boy who looked to be about 9yo lying on the floor having a tantrum. His grandfather knelt beside him, his face distraught with helplessness. In his day, the grandson would have been told to not to be stupid and the family would have walked away and left him on the floor. Now this grandfather feels he has to play along with idea that the grandson’s having a ‘mental health episode’ when in reality the grandson has simply learned how to bully his family into getting what he wants.
Society has been bombarded with messages of hidden problems and of disabilities so we all self-silence and play our part in our own societal demise.
I was also told about a family friend with a 10 yo son. Smart boy, very clever, active, attends lots of activities and has just started football but his parents are talking about taking him to a therapist because he’s starting lashing out at school and at his father. Why are you going to a therapist? Why not talk to him and sort it out yourself?
There is an ongoing push to disempower western society. To remove rights, freedoms, personal security and render people helpless. When people feel helpless they get frustrated and when they get frustrated they lash out. They don’t lash out at the authority that’s causing their problems, they lash out at people around them. That’s what we’re seeing today and it takes a very a strong mind and a saintly good heart to stand up against that.
#thechildrenarenotincharge
Completely agree with you. Firstly that people who *want* to 'do something' are disincentivized by the state - partly because our resources have been sold off and stripped bare. Partly what comes of that is this abdication of responsibility wherein *only* the council can be seen to fix things. But of course the council/the government are not living up to their end of the bargain either. It's a odd paradigm. Purgatory of sorts. And like you said brings a response directed at the wrong place.... Locally we have gone from 4 community centres to none, in 2012 when they did a local consultation they found that children had access to the equivalent of one A4 sized piece of paper for outdoor space. Despite that no action has been taken - with all the chat on climate, and environmentalism and active travel and blah blah blah. Lies. We can be more clever about it, I used to run outdoor discos and 100 kids would show up. But artists are not trained to think this way (also waiting on 'permission' from the state). The story you tell of the child having a fit in the mall is familiar. This is the whole child-led approach (and the stupid UNCRC stuff). We *do* need to bring back authority. Nothing is more clear to me that a child needs boundaries when they are kicking out. They need the safety and security of the edges not to let out into the wild woods. And again I think on those kids who *are* thriving and I would bet they opportunities matched with responsibilities. It's not a one answer thing. I will also say that one of the first things I would do in a workshop setting with kids (having worked all over the world in very different environments with kids with lots of things going on) is set the rules. Without rules nothing moves forward. We set them, we know them, we agree to them. And then we can make stuff. I never had issues in any of my projects getting kids in line to do the things we needed to get on with - on this premise. Sometimes the establishment of the rules would take longer, but we did not proceed until that was set.