Fraser principal’s speech 3

The media has vilified Virginia Crawford for her address to her school students about the repercussions of truancy, claiming that they were over the top and outrageous.

They ignored that her views were directed at her students and were designed to have a maximum impact, and not for a public adult audience. Notice that no mention was made of the student who secretly recorded and posted her address on YouTube, an irresponsible and deceitful act in itself.

The issues Ms Crawford raised are statistically accurate, and the emphasis she placed upon them was designed to maximise her message.

Anyone who has take the trouble to follow the path of prison inmates from childhood to adulthood will know that statistically they follow a pattern. They normally start with the parents and family.

Children with low self-esteem seek a sense of belonging. They wag school, meet up with the wrong group and satisfy their desire to be part of something. Then there are those who come from a relatively normal background, but have a mate who plays the truancy game.

Frequently the group will then start petty stealing, and try to outdo their contemporaries to gain status. And all the while the adults who should be responsible for them are either in total ignorance, or don’t give a dam.

The principal of Hamilton’s Fraser High should be applauded for trying to drive home her message and the student who betrayed her trust by secretly recording her message and publishing it on YouTube should be vilified instead of left bathing in his/her notoriety.

(Abridged)

Brian Main, Hamilton