23 May, 2024

“May you live in interesting times”. I always took that to be a bit of a curse whenever I was not feeling ready for change or had very little control over the circumstances surrounding that change. As a nation we seem to be going down a very odd track and it is possible accentuated by my current position as a secondary teacher. It’s possibly not a great time to be at the front line of increasing social issues.

I have been reflecting lately about the one dimensionality of our workplaces and how we seem to be plunging headlong into individualism at a rate that can only be described as dangerous (or possibly “interesting”). Schools are obvious areas of concern as they have been wonderfully stoic in their ability to ignore any systemic changes over the last 50 years and continue to persist with systems that are very clearly starting to fall apart. I work with young people who are clearly very troubled and not ready for the style of education we are peddling but they keep being crammed into classrooms and expected to operate in a sane way. Teachers at secondary level are often specialists and, while caring people, should never be mistaken for counsellors, psychologists or psychotherapists. I am personally a Designer who likes teaching. I am really not qualified to work with traumatised teens with horrendous backgrounds and they, in turn, do not need me showing them how to build a web site or learn programming.

Luckily we have decided now is the time to run with right wing politics and start really pulling down social structures to support people who are struggling with mental health issues. In the same way schools throw them into classrooms, the health system throws people into communities ill equipped to manage the increasing numbers and the more extreme behaviours. It feels mean and cruel and I hope this is a blip in our history that will be corrected over time.