At the chalkface Holiday riots


We told you that teaching is tricky, that some pupils are not always easy. Now do you believe us? two weeks without us and the nation’s on fire. two weeks out of our tender care and your children go haywire. they go extreme Shopping – and worse. Much worse. It’s Anarchy in the UK. dave scuttles back from


tuscany. Bozza bumbles back from Canada. Something is rotten


in the state of england. It’s not just “broken”, it’s “sick”. didn’t they know these things before? teachers did. We’ve long been predicting a riot. did they listen to us? Never. there’s panic.


Something needs to be seen to be done. let’s lurch to the right.out goes fuddy duddy hoodie hugging. In comes whizzo Zero tolerance.out goes deep analysis. In comes frontier gibberish.our children are “vile, feral, sick, rats and scum!” Bang them up in slammers! Set the army on them! “Club these looters like baby seals!” thunders Richard littlejohn. Read that again.dear me. What’s next? Kalashnikovs? Killerdrones? Who knows? And who knows the Causes?


diagnoses are Neanderthal. “30 years of liberal teaching,” says moaning Melanie Phillips. “Multiculturalism,” – says the torygraph. “original Sin!” says JC Flannel. Prime clots pop up on Newsnight. None more prime than david Starkey. “the whites have become


black!” says he. Yes he does. Really. eh? He then lurches into linguistics.the white youth talk like black folks and black folks talk funny and that won’t get you intooxbridge. Ah. He mutters that enoch Powell was on to something with that Rivers of Blood stuff. Why is he allowed out? other causes include cuts,


the sixties, gangsta rap, mimsy coppers, 120,000 rubbish families, loose women, looting bankers, Wayne Rooney and Mr Snoop dogg. take your pick! I ask my boys – housing, boredom, consumerism, cheap thrills. they assure me that they didn’t go burnin’ an lootin’.“Cos of


your citizenship lessons!” Ho Hum! Mania’s gone


straight these days and Crumlin’s gone dormant, since he got “well kettled”. We all agree there are no excuses. My diagnosis? the gap between rich and poor,


stupid. there’s a massive alienation. Check out my low streams. I’ve never known such sullen anger. Some pupils have a total disconnect with your world. Frightening. Anyway, we’re all back in


the classroom. there’ll be calm. teachers are shock absorbers to the raging nation. they control your “feral rats” with a bit of empathy and kindness – and without banging them up, hosing them down, or the insights of Good doctor Starkers.


• Ian Whitwham is a former secondary school teacher.


News


Great debate: The Singapore team celebrates its win while Charlie Holmes, 15, from George Heriot’s School takes to the stage for Team Scotland


Singapore conquers debating world by Daniel White


A team of student debaters from Singapore fought off competition from 48 other countries, including england, Scotland and Wales, to win a prestigious global title. the finals of the World Schools


debating Championship 2011 were hosted in dundee in Scotland at the end of August when more than 400 student debaters took part. each nation’s team was made


up of between three and five stu- dents and among the competitors were delegations from Hong Kong, Slovenia, Qatar and New Zealand,


as well as teams from england, Scotland and Wales. All the teams competed in a


group stage, taking on other nations in a round-robin of debates, hosted at venues across dundee. the best 16 then proceeded to a knock-out stage. For each debate, the teams were


allocated a subject and told whether they were opposing or supporting. they had just one hour to prepare their arguments. Singapore eventually took the


title (the first time in its history) after beating Australia in the final debate, which was on the subject of “this house believes that autocracy


is doomed in the age of Facebook”. Singapore spoke against the motion. the final against the eight-time


winners Australia took place after eight days of debates, all on the theme of english, social, moral and political issues. of the UK nations, Scotland got


the furthest, losing out to Australia in the semi-finals. this defeat came after the Scots had ousted england in the quarter finals. Wales, mean- while, lost in the round of 16. Councillor John letford,


lord Provost of dundee, said: “the World Schools debating Championship has been a fantastic success for dundee – it has given


us a unique opportunity to enable young people who are destined to become tomorrow’s world leaders to get to know more about our city, our traditions, our highly esteemed schools, colleges and universities, our world-leading status in science and technology, and, of course, our people.” the competition has been run-


ning for 23 years in which time england and Scotland have both won three times. Wales has yet to win. Next year’s event is due to take place in South Africa. For more information, visit


www.schoolsdebate.com or www. wsdctournament.wordpress.com


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SecEd • September 8 2011


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