Really, watching some of the rubbish the BBC churn out as an evening’s “entertainment”, I wonder how many people have been prosecuted and sent to jail for refusing to fund such….
Though in a way, they are to be commended for (unwittingly) exposing the dark underbelly behind State-mandated “compassion” and “concern”….
Thus, in the name of the BBC’s abundance of social responsibility, do we have Bunking Off (last night, 10.35pm) a show following a group of social enginee– I mean workers and their attempts to control truancy. Featuring interviews with parents, their kids, and the SW’s entrusted with the task of bringing these kids back into line for their own good (Hyeah!), the show opened up a rather disturbing bit of policy – namely the government punishing parents for the “sins” of their sons (and daughters). A reversal of the usual line of sins of the father scapegoating, eh?
And, of course, not one of us can forget our place as Parliamentary property, now can we?
But then again, looking at it from a bureaucratic perspective, I can see the “logic” in fining and incarcerating parents if their kids fail to put in an appearance at school:
1) Parents – being (generally) adult in the legal sense of the term – are the ones with the earning power are they not? Therefore throwing kids in the detention centres and whatnot would achieve nothing in terms of bolstering the administrative treasury. So if anyone has to go down….
2)Criminalizing “neglectful” parents, or those who simply refuse to allow their kids to be brainwa– I mean taught in government-run institutions, forces any other parents watching to bring themselves with the State’s plan and line of thinking – remember parents, state education is a blessed, sacred thing and the kids and parents who think otherwise are evil, twisted deviants who should be purged from our society!
Given the alarming number of people who are stupid enough to mistake legality for morality, I expect that such a scheme will be a roaring success!
An amusing aside – whilst making use of a bus, a few months back, I espied, on one of its walls, a similar anti-truancy campaign on behalf of the Newham administrative machine; after all the patronizing bollocks it finished up with summat along the lines of: “Don’t disregard your CHILDRENS future.” I had to restrain myself, on a packed bus, from bursting forth with laughter – clearly state education worked so well for the mastermind behind that campaign that he forgot all about his apostrophes and possessives! Dumbfuck social engineers!
One of the SW Blackshirts, in response to a child’s protest that he needed no education, barked: “So you think you’re a genius, do you?” Judging from the finely-trained literate minds behind the movement to keep kids educated, the poor little bugger has a better chance of achieving genius whilst evading the grip of the State Führers, no?
~MRDA~
Cocksuckers. That’s exactly why I haven’t had a TV licence for about the last five years now, and don’t miss TV at all.
I personally left school at 14 completely illegally because I hated it and wanted to die(!). The truancy officer told me I’d end up a prostitute, the school told me my parent/guardian would be fined thousands of pounds, and in the end they made my parent/guardian drop me right outside the school gate every morning. I just used to walk straight in and straight out of the back gate.
In the end they sent me to a psychiatrist as obviously I was highly disturbed, not liking school and all. He told me that he had a very deep understanding of child psychology and that any child won’t do what they’re told, only what they’re told *not* to do. He said, therefore, that I ought never go to school again. With express permission like that, I never did.
you are pretty much my hero. that’s awesome.
I’m not sure I’ve ever been anyone’s hero before. I’m honoured. Thank you!
I try to avoid heroising people so much – but you undoubtedly kick ass!
You’re very kind. : ) x
I watched part of that until I felt ill! That was about 2 minutes worth. TV here in the UK is either the greatest or the most miserable.
Out of Interest….
What do you consider “great”, Jsang?
Re: Out of Interest….
Fawlty Towers and Cadfael!
Things like this are why I’m glad I don’t watch much TV.
I don’t know if I agree with your dislike of state schools, other than the room-temp IQ level of my peers, I haven’t found it that bad. The Head we’ve had since we started takes every possible chance to have a pop at government educational policy, so maybe my expreience is the exception rather than the rule.