'State schools are creating amoral children'

[BurgenSnurgen]

...because state schools are under so much pressure to improve results that there's no time to teach them right from wrong.

So says Chairman of the Independent Schools Association

Bit speechless really. It's giving me the absolute RAGE.

Delphinium she clearly stated "the most unpleasant cruel self interested dangerous and hedonistic people came from the best public schools" a sweeping generalisation if ever there was one.

There are sweeping statements on here! You get a personal experience and a bit of hearsay and apply it to all schools!
Hedwiggity didn't like her school, she doesn't like what she hears- makes huge leaps to how they teach science etc and thinks they are all the same. My son must be the same age- his science and maths was perfectly adequately taught- they got him to a Russell Group university and a physics degree- from a comprehensive. ( all without tutors)

I agree she made huge sweeping statements! There are however a minority like that. There are a minority like that from private schools! state schools or home education.

Sorry- have no idea how the exclamation mark crept in the middle.

I can accept that we all have different experiences of schools in both sectors, and that if we have a negative experience we can easily extrapolate this and conclude that all will have this experience. There is someone on here who has a negative experience of my DS2's school, hasn't got a good words for it, their experience is not mine but I accept that it's not worked for them.
But this is completely different from stating that societies most unpleasant people went to the "best public schools". As I said if I wrote societies mist unpleasant people went to state comprehensives most would be highly offended and angry.

Going back over asharah's posting the word minority was not mentioned you then delphinium said "very true".

I expect asharah was just reacting to the sweeping statements about state schools. It just shows that sweeping statements about anything are ridiculously inaccurate when analysed.
There is good and bad anywhere and teaching a moral code is a job for parents. It is just supported and reiterated at school. It starts at birth- long before the schools get them.

I scan read hapoygardening- I am sorry but before 7am I am not on top form! I saw some truth in what she said. I agree 100% with gingergenie but maybe I missed the odd word there too.

Many moons ago my lovely charming Afro Caribbean nanny said to me at a time when they was increasing violence amongst their community "there are nasty black people out there but the vast majority are hard working decent citizens, there are also nasty white people out there but the majority are hard working decent citizens, but we tend to hear about and remember the nasty one and assume that thus applied to all".

Personally I don't think it is an issue of State versus private more large versus small. Many State secondary schools are massive, which makes it much harder to know the children as well as would be possible in a smaller school. With size comes a lot more anonymity and the chance to get away with bad behaviour, which would be less likely in a smaller school.
I have experience of both private and state schools there are many rich people who do not have good parenting skills just like in state schools - I would imagine the percentage is about the same.

that is right sparklyglitter if rich people cannot deal with parenting they send their children to boarding school, if poor people cannot cope their children go into care,

Nigella a sweeping generalisation! Poor people's children are not routinely put into care if they can't "deal with parenting", despite exceedingly limited resources, increasing government pressure and negative press SS and others attempt to help and work with all who they know about who can't deal with parenting taking a child into care is really a last resort. On the other hand boarding schools are also not stuffed with children's whose parents can't "deal with parenting" either.

OK it was a sweeping statement but there is some truth in it.

Asharah and hedwiggitiy are both illustrating the easy trap of overextrapolating from narrow personal experience. Asharah must have been let down at Durham by some 'cruel, dangerous (!), hedonistic' man/woman. We all know the type although perhaps not in those extreme terms.
Nigella's comments seem to fall into the category of 'sweeping statements for a wind-up'.

no I am not trying to wind anyone up honestly.

but why do certain people send their children away at the age of 6 or 7 unless they hate being a parent? I do not refer to those who use boarding schools for good reason or older children.

Nigella to quote my nanny "we tend to hear about (and of course be haunted by the likes of Victoria Climbie) and remember the nasty (dysfunctional/abusive/non coping one) and assume that this applies to all.
I've worked with thousands of parents from every background nearly all love their DC's and are desperate to do the right thing often in the most tragic of circumstances.

that is true happy

Sorry Nigellas, cross posted (or winked). Sending away at 6 to 7 is extreme. It happens in China even earlier by parents who want the best education for their children. There may rarely be some good reason to in the UK but for most of us it would be unthinkable.

happygardening - "Many moons ago my lovely charming Afro Caribbean nanny..."

HG, was there a particular reason why you mentioned that your nanny was Afro Caribbean? If it had been my husband saying this, I certainly wouldn't feel the need to add "my African husband ..."

I "sent" mine "away" at 7-8 no one would dream of saying I don't love them, we are not a dysfunctional family although I accept we're very eccentric but that currently isn't a crime, and my children are also very far from dysfunctional. We are all different, we all parent in different ways, as long as we are not neglecting them, or abusing and providing our children are happy then we should leave parents to do things in the way that suits them.
I don't want to enter into the pros and cons of boarding debate because it's been done to death, we read endless anecdotal stories from thirty years ago of misery bordering on abuse and no one shifts their opinions.

mumtrying have you read the rest of happy post?

It was about a black person commneting on the black community ... so of course it was relevant.

I mention that she was Afro Caribbean because of the terrible increasing levels of violence that were occurring amongst her community at the time, (nearly 16 years ago) in a certain part of London, primarily caused by yardies, her own nephew was killed in a shooting incident which was what printed her comment and the black community in general were getting a terrible press from the like of the DM etc.
She had experiences high levels of racism from employers and was tired to see her community repeatedly criticised in the media.

Some of the reactions on here are quite odd. The HT of an unassuming day school says state school teachers are under too much result focussed pressure to allow them to deliver a broad education and folk are frothing. Yet this is a constant theme of the teaching unions.