I wrote an article recently about the problem with girl gangs, and I'm generally always going on about the youth of today. Because I'm a whinging old hag maybe, but one bright spark on the thread said we were always quick to point out these problems, but not so quick to find a solution. This is true for so many things. That we all have opinions but not many solutions. A television experiment came to my rescue though. "That'll teach 'em" Now here in England we have GCSE's all students do them. Then at sixteen they choose whether they want to go on and do A'levels for two years, and then finally university at eighteen. Now in the 1960's it was recognised that not all students were the same. Some were more practical than others. Some were not going to do as well in their exams, that does not mean they are stupid, it just means they had different skills. These children that weren't predicted to do very well in their exams were moved to a secondary modern school, which was much more hands on. They did things like car mechanics, and learning how to clean properly. So a group of modern day students have been moved to a secondary modern. To do their exams, to see how they would cope following a 1960's school regime.
The girls in these schools are taught how to be good wives, and the boys do practical tasks such as bricklaying, car mechanics. They are taught rural studies, how to grow their own food etc. Very different to education now, which is all about literacy and numeracy skills. Even though this was the time of sexual equality, in the 1960's they were split up to learn different things. Something that isn't very appealing to our modern day children. Even down to the food they feed them is different. They feed them the same things that they did in the 1960's which was hugely a meat and veg diet. Children back then were generally healthier and fitter. Now 15% of 15 year olds are obese.
The teachers are far stricter too. Back in the 1960's they used physical punishment alot more than anything else. At one point it showed two boys having to hold a heavy ball in the air, for a certain amount of time. May sound easy, but after a while they did start to hurt. Both these boys went away saying they would never do that again. The teahcers of these times command alot more respect, and they get it too. It took these modern day children a long time to adjust, but once they did, they gave these teachers respect, and in some cases built up lovely bonds with them. These teachers are firm but fair, and the children realised if they treated these teachers in a decent manner, the compliments would be returned.
Now I know not everything about these schools was perfect. The modern day boys enjoyed the experience far more than the girls. Because the girls were basically being taught how to keep their men happy. Not something that we are taught now. The girls didn't see why the men couldn't do such things for themselves. The boys enjoyed the practical tasks. They enjoyed getting their hands dirty. They did such things as scouts, which is alot less popular now than it was then. The boys enjoyed it though. They said in their spare time they were usually just on the streets with their friends. This was something to do to be social, but also constructive.