Ignored at school

Online Learning has been greeted by a chorus of opposition wondering, “how will the children be socialised?”. The implication is that public schooling in New Zealand performs a miracle in a child’s life, without which they will stumble bewildered into adult life from the home they were cooped up in.

Actually, socialisation is something that happens with families, sports clubs, neighbours, churches, scouts and schooling, and each child suits a different mix.

Also, the socialisation these people refer to has never meant caring for the small group in every class that does not fit in. As a child it never occurred to me what life must have been like for the the ones we ignored, but as an adult I have met the parents of these children and discovered that school is actually a terrible place to be if you have any reason to be pushed aside by the others.

So well done to Hekia Parata for having a go at providing something different.

Rhys Lewis, St Heliers.