Primary schools throw out 230 pupils a day

       More than 200 primary school pupils were expelled every day last year because of offences involving alcohol, drugs and sex.

       Some 43,720 children aged 11 or under were sent home as a result of illegal, violent or offensive behaviour during school hours, official figures show.

       It means 230 pupils were excluded on average each day.

       The figures, released under freedom of information rules, suggest the number of young children caught with drugs and alcohol or involved in sexual misconduct has shot up by 2,420, or 6 per cent, in just one year.

       The findings have provoked anger among teaching unions and education analysts, who warned that children are increasingly copying bad behaviour displayed by their parents.

       They also blamed parents for failing to discipline their children properly before they began school. Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: ‘One of the problems is that you cannot lock society out at the school gates.

       ‘A small minority of parents do not teach their children respect for others.

       ‘Primary schools have to overcome any lack of discipline already instilled in the child.’

       Robert Whelan, of the think tank Civitas, said: ‘children of that age have not been corrupted by the wider society. They are getting it from home.

       ‘Children are taking drugs or getting drunk because they are used to their parents doing it. If parents allow children to go to school with drugs or alcohol, that is a very serious breach of standards of parental supervision.

       ‘In this case it is certainly the behaviour of the parents that is reflected in the behaviour of the children.

       ‘It is very discouraging that any child ends up suspended. But it is better to disrupt the education of those 40,000 pupils to protect the education of the vast majority of the 3.5 million primary schoolchildren.’

       The majority of suspensions were for persistent disruptive behaviour and for verbal abuse directed at teachers and other children.

       But 150 pupils were suspended for incidents involving drugs, including possessions of illegal substances and alcohol abuse.

       ‘A further 150 pupils were sent home for sexual misconduct, including sexual abuse, sexual assault on fellow pupils, lewd behaviour and sexually motivated bullying.

       ‘Around 300 were excluded for racial abuse, including taunting, swearing, bullying and graffiti.

       The figures also revealed the age of disruptive pupils is getting lower. In the past year 800 children under five have been expelled after proving ‘incontrollable’

       Last night the department of education and Skills said: ‘Ideally poor behaviour should be prevented from happening in the first place.

       ‘We are ensuring that young people are aware of their responsibilities, understand the consequences of their actions, have good moral guidance and fully understand the difference between right and wrong.’                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       (the Daily Mail)

1. What do you know about the problem raised in the text? Does it exist in your country?

2. Do you believe well-behaved children should be protected from the bad influence of their schoolmates?

3. Can you think of any other factors apart from those mentioned in the article that cause minors’ poor behaviour?

4. Think of possible solutions to the problem raised in the article.

It’s a shame to discard little children the way we discard unnecessary things. If parents are incapable of bringing their children up in a proper way, it is the duty of teachers to take on the responsibility and to do their best in order to instil good qualities in their pupils. We can’t be called civilized society unless we take care of the old, the disabled and the young. Teachers who distance themselves from so-called ‘unruly’ children do not deserve any respect. A good teacher would never spare himself in order to develop his pupils and prepare them for adult life. The indifference and hostility some teachers show for children do harm to society, too. Where do neglected and written off children usually go and what activities do they get involved in? Is it merely their parents’ fault that they become a menace to society? Can’t respectable and experienced adults prevent them from roaming the streets and entering the world of crime? The answer is, they can. But for their unwillingness to face the problem and tackle it, the situation could be helped. It’s not children’s violence and misconduct that spoil our life but the total irresponsibility of educated and well-behaved adults.

All criticism of teachers we hear comes, for the most part, from those who are not directly connected with children and do not face the problem in question day in and day out. And that is the crux of the problem. How generous it is to guard the rights of children and show understanding and reason when you have very little to do with them. How convenient it is to put the blame on those who have actually reached the end of the line. Unfortunately it has never occurred to critics that teachers have no moral right to interfere in the relations between parents and their children. Any intelligent man would refrain from imposing his views and morals on someone else’s children let alone trying to convince them that their parents are doing a bad job. And how about other, better-behaved and more motivated pupils? Shouldn’t they be protected from the daily influence of their, so to speak, less fortunate mates. Why should hey suffer from constant teasing and abuse? Why should their parents live in constant fear for their physical and psychological well-being? Have the critics ever thought of this side of the picture?

 

Written exercises

Exercise 1

Write a summary of the text “The fun they had” using your active vocabulary.

Exercise 2

Translate into English.

1. Профессор уже заканчивал вводить данные, необходимые для общего отчета, когда экран компьютера неожиданно погас. Профессор печально вздохнул. Это был весьма неподходящий момент, поскольку анализ полученных данных должен был быть готов через два дня. Для поведения исследования собрали группу наиболее известных ученых, работающих в различных областях, каждый из которых уже сделал свои расчеты. Ожидалось, что результаты исследования будут ошеломляющими, хотя многие проявляли явное пренебрежение к проводимой работе. Чтобы закончить анализ в срок требовались срочные действия. Профессор снял трубку и набрал номер.
2. Путешественники были еще далеко от деревни, в которую направлялись, когда увидели вспышку молнии и услышали отдаленные раскаты грома. Они прикинули, что если поспешат, то, возможно, успеют добраться до места назначения до начала грозы. Однако из-за тяжелого снаряжения о быстрой ходьбе не могло быть и речи.
3. Джонсон был частым посетителем в этом заведении и знал, что половина блюд, которые здесь подавали, не годились к употреблению. Однако он прекрасно понимал, что человек с доходом гораздо ниже среднего, вряд ли мог рассчитывать на что-либо большее.

Exercise 3

Choose a statement for a composition.

1. The best way to make children good is to make them happy (Wilde).

2. Let the child’s first lesson be obedience, and the second will be what thou wilt (Franklin).

3. The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil (Emerson).

 

                                          MODULE 6