THE INQUEST
The
inquest had gone on for hours, and the class-teacher was still giving her
evidence. Her lawyer, adamant that she was not going to carry the blame had
rehearsed her evidence several times before coming to Court.
“My
client Sir, is a highly trained professional.
She is a mature, experienced classroom leader, and has a string of
successful students emerging from her care, year after year.
“As
is usual, on this occasion her communication was extremely clear, and the
children – for the most part – satisfactorily cooperative. As you would well know Sir, there are always
one or two in a classroom who seem to have a need to be defiant – or at least
uncooperative.”
“Mmmm. Yes Mr Andrews” the Judge replied, “I would
like your client to give me a full description, in her own words, of what
happened on that, as I understand it, somewhat hot, Tuesday afternoon.
“Well Sir, yes it was a hot day and my group’s
allocated swim time was 1.30 pm. My
instructions to the students – all around 10 years of age – were the same as on
each such occasion. Children respond
well to clarity and consistency.”
“And those instructions Mrs
Barrows?”
“Mrs
Barrows, kindly tell the Judge exactly what you said to the children. The actual words you used.”
“I said – It is time for our swim now.
Get your togs and towel.
Line up in two lines at the door.
Now we will walk, quietly, in
line, to the pool.”
“And
what happened then”?
“They did exactly as I instructed, and
walked quietly in two lines to the pool”
“And
then?”
“Then they all changed into their gear, and
as they emerged from the changing sheds they entered the pool.”
“I see. And your next instruction?”
“It is usual to let them have a few minutes
free play – for the girls to warm up, and for the boys to burn off their excess
energy.
So I gathered them all to the side of the
pool and let them know that they had five minutes ‘free play’ before the actual
instructional session.”
“Mrs
Barrows, tell the Court what, and why, you said at that stage.”
“Well, as is usually the case in every
classroom in this country, I have two or three pupils – usually boys – who are
typically boisterous, frequently uncooperative, and even overtly
disobedient. They don’t – or won’t –
listen to, or comply with the rules.”
“The rules?”
“Yes Sir.
We have four basic school rules when in the pool. No ducking.
No splashing. No bombing, and No
diving.”
“And you reminded the class of this?”
“Yes, very specifically – and even
deliberately looking at each of these probable offenders as I reminded them of
those four rules.”
“So
all of the children heard those rules, and you took particular effort to ensure
that the more unruly of the group were specifically addressed?”
“Yes”
“So
what did you observe to happen then?”
“Well, thirty three of my thirty six
students were specifically cooperative – as I would expect them to be. They played, and enjoyed being in the pool.”
“And
the other three?”
“Within moments I noticed one was splashing
another in the face – who responded by jumping on top of, and ducking the
first. The third boy saw this, climbed
out of the pool, leapt off the side, and bombed the other two. The exact scenario the rules are designed to
avoid.”
“So
what was your response to this behaviour?”
“I called all three to the side and checked
that they had heard the rules. I asked
each in turn, and on request they each repeated the rules to me – as I knew
they could.
So having checked that they had heard,
knew, and remembered the rules, I checked that they were aware of their own
actions – their own behaviour. I asked
the first to tell me why I had called him to the side of the pool, and he said
‘Because I was splashing’. When I
checked with the second he acknowledged that it was because he was ducking the
other boy, and the third volunteered that it was because he bombed the other
two.”
“So
Sir, it is evident that my client communicated very clearly and effectively
with the pupils concerned. She gave
clear spoken instruction. She checked
that they had heard, understood and remembered the rules, and she even checked
that they were aware of their own actions.
I
put it to you that she conducted herself in a fully professional manner, and
that she is without fault, or to blame in this situation.
The
three boys in question have a history of repetitive behaviour and discipline
difficulty and may be regarded as potentially ODD – that is, Oppositional
Defiance Disorder. Psychologists tell me
that we don’t really understand this condition Sir, but there are some boys who
just seem to need to defy directions, rules and guidelines. As a Judge I am sure you will be aware of
this.
“I see.
At this stage Mr Andrews I
would like to hear from the School Principal.”
“Yes
Sir. Mr Jacobs, as Principal, please
advise the Court of your involvement on that day.”
“As Principal I accept ultimate responsibility
for discipline in my school.
My
first involvement on that day was when I saw the three lads in wet swimming
gear walking across the quadrangle towards my office. I have to add at this point that this was not
the first time the three have had to report to me, and my immediate reaction
was – ‘When will these three lads learn?’
As
is our agreed procedure with staff, I immediately checked to see if the lads
knew, and understood why they had been sent to me – had they heard, understood
and remembered the instruction, and were they aware of their own offenses.”
“And your conclusion?”
“The same as that of my staff member. Thirty-three members of the class heard the
instruction and cooperated – and this clearly signals to me that there is no
lack, or difficulty, in the teacher’s communication style. These same three boys are repeat offenders. We have given them many chances and at some
stage we have to decide that it is the end of the road.”
“Thank
you. We have yet to hear from the School
Psychologist.
Mr
Beckham, you have heard the accounts from the class-teacher and the Principal.
Please, your perspective on this situation.”
“Sir, it is a common scenario in classes
and school systems, not only in this country, but across the globe.
We
have what is commonly referred to in layman’s terms as the ‘Naughty Boy
Syndrome’. Mostly, but not exclusively,
these are boys who seem to need to do exactly what they have just been told not
to do – commonly within moments, or minutes of being told.
Parents and teachers find this so frustrating, and
it often leads to heavy-handed discipline, punishment, as adults desperately
try to find ways to get the cooperation of the child.
Unfortunately there are always a few who can’t be
reached, they tend to become surly and resentful, and often end up living
socially marginal lives, in and out of trouble – or even prison.”
“Is there no hope?”
“Many approaches and therapies have been
tried, but with marginal success – ranging from Behaviour Modification to Boot
Camp, and anything between, and our prisons are now over full.
However there is however another school of
thought with a different and interesting emphasis. Let me approach this in a reverse sequence.
The literacy rate in our prisons is extremely
low. We know that our prisons are
disproportionately filled with males – many of them school failures both
academically and behaviourally. We also
observe that the rate of left handedness in our prisons is greater than in the
general population. While left-handedness seems to be between 5 and 10 percent
in the general population, some claim that it is as much as 50 percent in the
prison population.”
“Are
you suggesting that there is some connection between male left-handedness,
school achievement and personal behaviour Mr Beckham? It seems a little remote, please explain.”
“My explanation Sir is tentative, and in crude terms
only.
Right-sided, that is right-handed, right-footed, and
right-eyed people tend to use their opposite side brain, and do most of their
conscious thinking in their left frontal brain area. This would appear to include about 85 percent
of the population.
The other 15 percent may be left-sided, or perhaps –
and more to the point – a mixture of left and right sidedness. This apparently causes them to do their
predominant conscious thinking in their right brain. The suggestion Sir, is that we don’t all
think in the same manner, that this is not a matter of choice, and that very
few people are aware of how they think at all.
The significance apparently lies in the tendency of
right-sided, left-brained people to process information using language as a
thinking tool. They think in words, just
as I am talking to you right now.
By chance these people find school to be a
user-friendly place, as our education system uses language as its basic
teaching system. Our teachers are
required to teach in language, meaning that the pupils need to learn via
language, and what they have learned is assessed via language – written
exams. This suits the majority well, and
is for them a highly successful system.”
“And the
others? What of this ‘right brain
style?”
“Those others, the other 15 percent Sir, may well be
the ones who struggle with our education system, and even with our rules
system.
The right-brain style Sir, tends to be expressly
pictorial. These people apparently do
most of their thinking in pictures, and in their number we tend to find
architects, engineers, artists, musicians and hands-on, practical workers –
farmers, builders, plumbers, electricians, drivers. The suggestion Sir is that their
picture-thinking style has advantages in these sorts of activities, but that it
is a real disadvantage in our language-based school system, and it is a real
struggle for them to do well.”
“This is
all very interesting and may perchance be valid Mr Beckham, but I cannot yet
see how it is related to the incident with the three boys that we are dealing
with in this Court today.”
“As I understand it, it is that tendency to think in
pictures Sir.
Let me explain as it was explained to me.
If I ask you to think of a tennis racket, it is
almost inevitable that you will see a picture a tennis racket in your head.”
“Yes, I
see my own old Spalding.”
“If I mention the words ‘Teddy Bear’, it is
similarly the case that you will picture some personal version of such a soft
toy. However, if I tell you ‘Do not
think of a step-ladder’, what happens?”
“I immediately picture a step-ladder,
then remove it promptly from my mind so as to cooperate with your instruction.”
“But you do initially think of a step-ladder.”
“Yes.”
“Now Sir, don’t think of, or even consider the Eifel
Tower”.
“I did because you named it.”
“Yes, precisely.
Now
consider the picture in a child’s mind when a parent says “Don’t spill your
drink.”
“I think I follow the pattern. The
words created the picture….”
“Yes
Sir.”
“… and the picture, so planted in the
brain, acts hypnotically so as to induce the person – in this case our three
lads – to behave in the very way they have been instructed not to.”
“Yes. The
other pupils, who think mainly in language – that is, in words – probably do
have much the same picture in their minds, but for them, the word message
predominates, and they comply with the words, and are seen to be cooperative.
The
picture thinkers are less able to focus on the words and their consequential
behaviour is more likely to follow the picture that the words left in their
pictorial brain. For them the command “No
diving” generates the urge to dive, and they are as confused as the rest of us
as to their own behaviour.”
“And the solution to the problem would
thus rest with ….?
“The
adult Sir. The professional. We can’t change the way the child thinks –
this is their natural process. But we can
educate our adults. If this explanation
is indeed valid, we need to help teachers, parents – and perhaps Social Workers
and Counsellors – and with due respect Sir, our Judges, to understand that
their own language – by stating what is not
allowed – causes some people to act in certain ways, and to appear disobedient,
oppositional, non-compliant, naughty – to be seen as being behaviour problem
children.”
“A case of blaming the victim?”
“My colleague who explained this to me
suggested that these children are like diesel engines – perfectly good motors,
until we put petrol in their tanks.”
Laughton
King
1.1.13
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