Shore school: Private school majority pay for the sins of a few
Yes, end-of-year muck up plans from a few immature students at Shore School are offensive, but no-one talks about the private school students who give up their celebrations to pick up litter, writes Louise Roberts.
Opinion
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Here we go again: Private education is nothing more than a ritzy summer camp for spoiled posh rich kids who reek of entitlement that leaves the rest of us normal members of society as nothing more than collateral damage.
Yep, it’s time to bash private schools again and on this occasion it’s conveniently triggered by plans for Year 12 muck up days and the offensive challenges dreamt up by a handful of immature students who in the excitement of graduation have lost all sight of decency and empathy.
It’s been a feeding frenzy on the so-called elite pupils after plans for the “Triwizard Shorenament” were uncovered when HSC students at the all-boys Shore School were outed for their sick pointscoring scavenger hunt.
Other Sydney private school students have since been dragged into the furore over the weekend revealing more drinking, drug taking and other illegal and potentially life-altering stunts.
No one is going to defend a disgusting dare to spit on a homeless man, sexually humiliate a woman, use a train as a toilet or eat a live small animal.
But I will defend the private school sector and this is why.
Not all mums and dads who send their children to private schools are wealthy.
Many parents, myself included, work extra hard to give their kids the best education they can afford.
Children who are pupils at these institutions are not vile, sociopathic brats.
People hate the perceived privilege these kids have and the minority who create these heinous lists only serve to fuel that.
But it is worth noting that turning a blind eye to transgressions is not the routine behaviour for staff at these schools because they are dedicated to a universal cause — helping parents turn out students who are equipped for adult life and leaders of their generation.
It’s not to say public schools don’t have the same mission. But public schools do not get blamed for the misbehaviour of their students in the same way the fee paying ones do.
None of these private school principals made excuses for these kids or tried to hide the behaviour.
And they shouldered it in full knowledge that the private school haters would come after them.
In the case of Shore, the school immediately notified police plus contacted parents and students.
Headmaster Dr Timothy Petterson condemned the scavenger hunt in a letter to parents and vowed to hunt down those responsible, telling parents in a letter it was “not who we are as a school”.
“Unfortunately, the activities encouraged in the document … are illegal, harmful and, in many cases, disrespectful towards members of the public and portray an arrogant sense of entitlement and an underlying attitude that the school finds deeply offensive,” the letter read.
“It is extremely disappointing to all of us that their thoughtless actions have cast a shadow, not only over the considerable achievements of their classmates, but the reputation of our school generally.”
Likewise Waverley College principal Graham Leddie, who doubled down on Year 12 students who staged an impromptu muck up day by skipping class for Bronte Beach.
They went to the beach all right — to pick up other people’s rubbish instead of attending an end of year barbecue.
Even some tone-deaf whingeing from a smattering of clueless parents who said it was “humiliating”.
“Yes, they broke a school rule. No harm done. No crimes committed. They’ve had one of the worst years of schooling due to COVID.”
Leddie responded: “Every action in life has a consequence. And part of our role is to give students every opportunity to be a young man that leaves people and places better for them having been there.”
There are a string of other institutions embroiled in this mess but none of them pass the buck and instead take it as a leadership and accountability opportunity, themes that dominate these environments.
Next will be the clarion call to cut all funding to private schools, a pointless argument because every child in Australia should be allocated exactly the same amount of government education funding.
As a parent if you can afford to top it up, then that is your right.
Without doubt, the small number of kids involved should be held responsible for their actions.
Likewise their parents or guardians should be in the room when the bollockings are handed out.
After all, they are the ones responsible for setting the moral compass for that child.
An uncomfortable truth for some it seems.