Roll up! Roll up!
Free Education here!
As long as you learn what we say is important
As long as you are willing to hear
The necessity of doing as you're told
How dare you question us dear!
Might is right and teachers do no wrong
If your child is not fitting in
Then maybe here is not where they belong?
You're just his mum, you don't have a clue
The egg shells that we are walking on
In fact maybe deep down it's you!
Well yes it is lucky for you all!
To be blessed with children who have no needs
Of course I train him at home to shout and swear and bawl
Yes it really is a delight for me
To hear my son say he wishes he were never born
For everyday confusion to cause his fight or flight or freeze
All he wants is you to not give up
To understand and help him be
Be firm, be clear but be kind too
Just because he's clever
Doesn't mean he knows exactly what to do
You need to understand he doesn't have a clue
It's like he's in an alien world
And no one speaks his language
The busy school is like a scary riot
People moving quick and slow
Their faces may as well be masked
People pushing passed
Teachers shouting
Panic alarm!
He really did not mean you harm
What would you do?
If you felt like you were in the middle of a warzone
And didn't know who was coming for you?
Did not even understand your crime?
Knew there would be no fair trial?
I think you might run or fight
Now can you understand his plight?
- Author: sylviasearcher ( Offline)
- Published: August 15th, 2018 03:30
- Comment from author about the poem: I was delighted to read the piece of news below https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/aug/14/school-discriminated-against-expelled-autistic-boy-judge-rules?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Our education system os broken. Inclusion is dead. The government pour money into mental health for the growing needs of our young people but refuse to see how there is no space for love nurture or kindness in schools today. People are quick to judge. Teachers are under a lot of pressure. All because our children don't rank highly enough compared to other countries. I will probably delete this rant shortly...
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 28
Comments5
The link does not work. It was a story from yesterday's Guardian about a judge ruling that the exclusion of a boy with autism was an act of discrimination.
Sometimes roles are amazingly reversed. Here you have led us to read of how a child has educated the system.
'One size' does definitely not fit all in education.
I have a special child and she taught me so much about life and myself. Things i would never have learned without her.
Difficult though it is, you are blessed with a child who gives you a sight no one else will perceive, beauty no one else will see, tears of joy few will understand.
Thanks dusk arising. I think only people who have a special child can understand. It is easy to judge.
Did you ever read welcome to Holland. It is a newspaper article.
No i haven't heard of that before.
WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by
Emily Perl Kingsley.
c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.
That's such a good article. It says so much. 'Holland' is a beautiful place.
If you believe in destiny or have followed/learned a spiritual path it can be a comfort to believe you were chosen for the Holland diversion because your soul was ready to see differently.
Yeah I think that way sometimes π
Very good write sylvia, some educationalists are trying form stereotypes to fit in the places that those in power want them to be. We are all different and need to show who WE are and be understood by those who donβt care.
Yes, I hope one day they realiase what they learned from my son π
Tolerance, understanding, appreciation , and love - where have they gone? Were they ever with us? Great write
We're they never with us?
Sigh
I think maybe not.
We're they never with us?
Sigh
I think maybe not.
We're they never with us?
Sigh
I think maybe not.
Today's education system is too willing to leave people behind, wonderful poem about an important topic!
Thanks poetboy.
My son is a puzzle and a challenge. I know it must be hard for the teachers because it is hard for me sometimes. But I try to remind myself of the panic inside. He is a clever boy but the schools system is so limiting. And so judgmental!
Thanks for reading and responding!
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