NEWS FOCUS
SecEd: On Your Side
Election 2010: we’re in bits and pieces
Hilary
ASK A voter what really matters in this election, and most will say the NHS, some will say the economy. It’s surprising how few appear to say education. Surprising, when you think that we have just as much
Moriarty Election editorial
vested interest in education as we have in health. Lives are dictated and shaped by education. With it, you have hope; without it, you are lost, with diminished life-chances in a world which expects a highly literate, numerate workforce. So, it matters. And it’s definitely up for grabs in this
election. What most of us cannot see is what happens next and who will do the grabbing. But it does look as if break up is imminent, whoever is
elected. Want to start your own school? Fine! Go ahead! Whatever you like! Swedish models and Finnish examples are bandied about regardless of how Swedish and Finnish societies differ from multicultural, multifaith, multilingual Britain. KIPP schools in America? Wonderful – let’s get some here. And have you seen what is being done in Singapore? So who can do that for us? Er, how about the government? Is it shockingly old-
fashioned in these modern times to hope that the state could provide a good education for all its citizens? Isn’t that – like running the NHS or the armed forces – something we expect government to do? There probably never was a golden age of education,
and Lord knows the recent past has not been glorious. I’m not saying government always got it right, but has it really got so bad that the whole thing must be dismantled and cast to the highest grabber to do better if they can? Teachers? Parents? Business people who sometimes seem to want a school the way they might have wanted a train set when they were young? Surely fragmentation is the road to even greater disparities than are apparent now in what should be the birthright of every child born in a civilised country – a good education? If there is excellence anywhere, ought it not to be everywhere? The trouble with the free for all is that each individual
school intends only to be the best it can for the pupils it serves, and devil take the others. Surely as a nation we want someone at the top to decide all state schools will be equally good? And make them so? And if it gets hard, keep trying, and do not give up, because the government has a responsibility to all its citizens. Passing that responsibility to Tom, Dick and Harriet – surely that’s not acceptable? One can see how the excellence of the independent
sector is seductive, but they have more about them than independence: they have years of experience too, and a concentration on education going back centuries, as well as a fully-fledged awareness of the whole student and his or her needs, including the artistic, creative, physical, musical, sporting, and psychological elements that go to the making of a happy and successful human being. Buy into one of those, and you are buying a known product. But while you start wholesale nationwide experimenting
with models for schools run by whoever turns up and all the staff are bedding down in the new arrangements – or not – children pass through the classes and no-one gets a second chance. If Every Child Matters, how can you just abandon them to the hope of a promised-land school which may or may not deliver? Government may have the difficult job of forging
excellence in every school for every child. Tough. That’s the job. That’s what you signed up for. And if it is not excellent everywhere already, then what
the hell has government been doing for the last 13 years, with its promises of “education, education, education”, while education falls into a disarray to which the only answer appears to be: “Here, you have it, whoever you are, and see if you can do better. We give up.” How dare they?
www.sec-ed.com
Dealing with drugs
THE HEADLINES that accompanied the death of two teenage boys following their use of mephedrone earlier this year created a media storm ferocious enough to see the so-called “legal high” criminalised in near-record time. Schools became one of the main
targets of news reports from both local papers and the tabloids, with headlines such as Meow meow
rife in all schools and Deadly mephedrone sold to teenagers on
Facebook appearing in the Sun and
Mirror respectively.
There is no doubt that drug
dealing does take place in schools across the UK, but what can schools and teachers do to help pupils at risk of become involved in substance abuse? Jonathan Watson works for the
drug and alcohol charity Addaction as the young people and family substance misuse worker for Derby city. His work regularly takes him into secondary schools, where he gives drugs training and advice to teachers. He told SecEd: “There was a
bit of scare-mongering going on by the media, but there is no doubt that mephedrone is present in a lot of secondary schools. All of the schools that I have visited have had at least one incident involving the drug. “Although zero tolerance on substance misuse in schools should
Last week, the drug mephedrone, also known as ‘meow meow’, was criminalised. A string of media reports told how this previously ‘legal high’
was available freely in schools across the country. Chris Parr looks at what schools can do to guard against drugs
always be the key message sent out to students, it is of paramount importance that schools have close links with local external drug and alcohol services. Embedding an integrated working practice with all external services is one of the sure ways of ensuring that students are accessing the best possible support. Schools should not be left to tackle substance misuse issues alone.” Despite urging schools to give a
zero tolerance message to students, Mr Watson says that they should treat each incident on an individual basis, rather than immediately opting for suspension or exclusion. “In some cases, students
have been excluded after being caught with mephedrone. Perhaps exclusion is not the best solution, because after a child is excluded it can be difficult to re-integrate them into school. “All schools should have some
IN RESPONSE…
The decision to make mephedrone and other cathinone-derived drugs illegal sparked anger from a number of experts last week.
SecEd
• This guest election editorial has been written by Hilary Moriarty, director of the Boarding Schools Association. SecEd will be carrying guest editorials from practising teachers and educationalists between now and the election. To have your say, contact the editor, Pete Henshaw, on pete.henshaw@ markallengroup.com. Visit SecEd online at www.sec-ed.co.uk
The Lancet medical journal, editorial, Saturday, April 17:
“There was little time to consider carefully the scientific evidence on mephedrone. The UK’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs did not have sufficient evidence to judge the harms caused by this drug class. It is too easy and potentially
counterproductive to ban each new substance that comes along rather than seek to understand
more about young people’s motivations and how we can influence them. We should try to support
healthy behaviours rather than simply punish people who breach our society’s norms. Making the drug illegal will also deter crucial research on this drug and other drug-related behaviour, and it will be far more difficult for people with problems to get help.”
Professor David Nutt, former government drugs advisor (Speaking to the Daily
Telegraph):
“I wonder if there may be alternative approaches. I find
it very difficult to support criminalisation of people who are using drugs which are less dangerous than alcohol. These knee-jerk reactions
aren’t dealing with the core of the problem. They need to have a proper, mature debate about how best to deal with drugs. Why don’t we at least think
about alternatives and allow people like me to mention them without being vilified? We regulate other drugs, alcohol
and tobacco. Why are we so hostile to (regulating) new drugs? One way of reducing drug harm
may be to regulate their use in controlled environments.
Maybe we would allow clubs
to sell small amounts of drugs, like mephedrone and ecstasy, in a safe environment, just like we sell alcohol. There is no scientific reason
why mephedrone and alcohol should be seen as different. I hope that we start doing some very careful assessments of the consequences of making it illegal. We have to make sure there
is not a rise in criminality, with gangs getting involved. We’ve heard already the Chinese are gearing up to make another drug. We will be in the same boat in a few more months, possibly with a more dangerous drug.”
sort of core pathway in place for dealing with incidents relating to drugs, and it is essential that all teachers are aware of it, and know exactly what to do if they find a child involved, or suspect that a child might be involved in drugs.” Addaction is currently piloting
what it calls a “pre-exclusion package” to all schools in Derby. This will see any students who are at risk of exclusion for substance misuse given the option prior to take part in a 10-session programme at the charity designed to help them kick the habit. A number of experts have
criticised the government’s decision to outlaw mephedrone, claiming that it will play into the hands of dealers who will have stockpiled, and will now be able to sell on their stash at an inflated price. Other critics claim that the legal high market will adapt far too easily,
and will simply offer alternative products with similar dangers. Steve Lambert is director at
Re-solv, a charity dedicated to the prevention of solvent and volatile substance abuse – or “sniffing”. He told us: “With the topic of
legal highs prominent among the media it is inevitable that the focus will be on what schools are doing to engage with young people on the wider substance misuse issues. “Experience has taught us that
in preventative terms education and awareness of the topic and its consequences is the key. However such awareness must be in its broadest form with parents and professionals foremost in the process. “If a form of abuse is legal, and
the substance is available, then it is small wonder that young people believe the practice to be safe. It is vital therefore that those key influencers in a young person’s life have the knowledge and skills to be able to identify the issue and, more importantly, be able to engage with the young person about it.”
SecEd
Further information
• Addaction: www.addaction.org.uk • Re-solv: www.re-solv.org • Teachers TV has an informative documentary detailing three youngsters and their experiences with drugs: www.teachers.tv/ videos/45521
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SecEd • April 22 2010
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