How can you justify this view-point?

[The Virgo]

I'm probably one of the most apathetic, uncaring, unsympathetic people you could meet and even I think he's a fucking prick ... to a point.

For most people, the loss of a relative is going to impact them ... to what extent depends on the relative and how close said person was to them. I think that there should be some leeway with these people for a certain defined duration, depending on the relative and how close the person was to them. After that time period, they should be expected to start doing better.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

"If you have lost a relative, it is not an excuse to do bad in school. I once said to my nephews after they lost their mother "just because this happened, is not your excuse to start failing in school"

That COLD. HEARTLESS. FUCK.

He lost his SISTER and he told his nephews to GET OVER IT.

I mean, losing someone is hard, but that can be stressful on people. Best of luck to you, bro.

 

[ZydrateDealer]

You can't. Kick up a fuss and get the bastard sacked. I would and it's no less than he deserves.

 

[Luke3184]

Is he also per chance a champagne Socialist? If he is I will happily hunt him down.... Yay for state education in a shit school....

No bit really I had a similar 'Business model' head master, are school went from an 80% pass rate to a 47% pass rate in a year.

And whilst his reasoning when looked at from a cold calculating view point is valid, at least to the degree you're not taking in the unhealthyness of bottling, in the real world with actual human beings it is total BS.

 

[Jumpingbean3]

He's not necessarily wrong but he sure as hell could have stood to have made his point in a less insensitive and mean-spirited way.

 

[willsham45]

How English to ask one to bottle up all your emotions and all will be fine...until the melt down.

I see where he is coming from get over it and move on...but he is doing it with the sincerity of...MANAGER looking at what is least disruptive for the community as a whole as apose to the individual needs...I would be asking for a school transfer he sounds evil...or learn his ways and become a greatest evil manager you can be.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I'm sorry but I agree with your headmaster. By all means you can hate him but its true. Boo hoo someone died, grieve a few days but down drown in sorry on it. Cherish their memory and hell get back to work. That is no excuse for failing.

Of course it's not an excuse for failing, but the way he is going about the issue I reckon will actually cause more damage.

There is no set time limit on grief. The 5 stages will take however long they need to take and that will vary dramatically from person to person. Forcing someone to 'get back to work' before they are necessarily ready might be done with good intentions, but it is still putting a lot of pressure on that individual while they are still too unstable to handle it. They will bottle their emotions up in order to deal with short term tasks, but in the long term this will make them heavily depressed and resentful. This overload of emotion is what will distract them from their work, causing their grades to slip, and what's more they will probably end up directing their anger and frustration at the people closest to them, thus alienating their support system. It happened to me and I've seen it happen to several other people who for whatever reason refused to deal with their grief properly at the time.

He might have a point at it's most basic level, but not only is he a callous shit head for wording it the way he did, his methods are only going to make things worse. It was my teachers who eventually saved me from the hell I was digging myself into, but if I had been under him at the time I would probably be in a prison cell, or worse, by now.

 

[I-Protest-I]

I'd like to hear exactly what he said before passing an ultimate judgment, but this sounds morally unjustifiable at the moment.

 

[Jumpingbean3]

Just a thought but...what was the context in relation to that line? Have there been many deaths in the families of students, or at the very least, a recent death that he was referring to? Seems kind of an odd thing to state out of no-where...

At the start of the year, he made a big speech to all the school (the year groups were separate due to space) and whilst he was talking about manners, behavior and all that stuff he said this. The worst thing is he had just sent out a girl who had just lost both of her brothers in a car accident out, saying she had terrible manners and will never have a good life when she was gone. Also, he said to everyone in the room that they are lesser humans because youre young, thats why you cant vote or drive. Also, at the end he asked us if we found any of his points unreasonable, which we would've got suspended if we actually did (noone did btw)

Was the girl in question actually being rude or just kinda out of it?

Either way knowing this and the fact he replaced most of the staff with businessmen I get the feeling this guy used to be a corporate businessman himself he's just so characteristically insensitive. When he says you are lesser humans what he really means is you don't have disposable income.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

I'd like to hear exactly what he said before passing an ultimate judgment, but this sounds morally unjustifiable at the moment.

Mostly just stuff about good manners, and conduct telling us to be nice to staff. All the usual. Im fine with that but this just seemed like something to make us scared of him.

 

[fragmaster09]

So, I have currently gone into another year at my school. The year before we got a new Head Master, and he has made a lot of changes. He's changed the school uniform (i'm British btw), put everyone into a class system and has put a business park over the road (or at least going to). He has also made most of the veteran teachers and senior staff redundant, and replaced them with business people. Anyway, all of that doesn't matter but what does matter is what he said in our opening assembly.

"If you have lost a relative, it is not an excuse to do bad in school. I once said to my nephews after they lost their mother "just because this happened, is not your excuse to start failing in school"

The main reason I'm offended is because I lost my father when I was 6, it affected most of my school work and social life. He is basically saying that if you have had a life affecting tragedy, that doesnt mean you dont have to do your work.

So escapees, what do you think could justify this, or make it unjustifiable.

[EDIT] He has also just sent out a person who had just lost two of her brothers in a terrible car accident because she was being ill mannered and wanted to have attention. Theres some more reasons for you to call him an asshole

[return of the edit!] For people who have been asking about the context, it was at a start of year assembly where he boasts about last years exam results and tell us all to behave well and not be naughty.

losing a important member of your life isn't an excuse to NOT DO, the work, but it is a reason for a drop in concentration, effort, motivation, happiness and an increased risk of depression, so he is technically justified: it doesn't let you off work completely, but it does give you margin for a drop in abilities(temporarily)

also, those Darn Americans with their jeans and phones in school, while we're sat there all day in shirts, ties etc, wishing we could loosen it a bit or something because the science lab has a tendency to get warm, or you're flustered because you just made a fool of yourself in front of some young woman you REALLY don't want to look a fool in front of(if you get my point)

also, he seems rather harsh on people, maybe because, as Romeo says: he jests at scars that never felt a wound"(or he says something to that effect), he also doesn't seem to understand that people take things different ways, like when my Nan died in the night, i took one day off and was back in school the next day as if nothing happened, but some people i know would take a week or more off if the same happened to them


in conclusion:

he seems to be insensitive because he was either older when he lost family, or he just hasn't lost family.

 

[Rin Little]

What a royal douche... Granted constantly thinking about the loss isn't going to help anything but even I am out of commission for a couple days when things like this happen. When my grandfather died a couple years ago I was pretty much useless for a few days.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

Just a thought but...what was the context in relation to that line? Have there been many deaths in the families of students, or at the very least, a recent death that he was referring to? Seems kind of an odd thing to state out of no-where...

At the start of the year, he made a big speech to all the school (the year groups were separate due to space) and whilst he was talking about manners, behavior and all that stuff he said this. The worst thing is he had just sent out a girl who had just lost both of her brothers in a car accident out, saying she had terrible manners and will never have a good life when she was gone. Also, he said to everyone in the room that they are lesser humans because youre young, thats why you cant vote or drive. Also, at the end he asked us if we found any of his points unreasonable, which we would've got suspended if we actually did (noone did btw)

Was the girl in question actually being rude or just kinda out of it?

Either way knowing this and the fact he replaced most of the staff with businessmen I get the feeling this guy used to be a corporate businessman himself he's just so characteristically insensitive. When he says you are lesser humans what he really means is you don't have disposable income.

She was being rude, I think. But thats not the point, the point is that he used her to install fear in us, and he has no intention to help her in any way. BTW, some of the people he replaced were our so called "pastoral managers", who helped with kids problems like bullying and other emotinal problems.

 

[WarpZone]

I can't justify it myself, but I can easily tell you how the wanker justified it:

"The children do not matter. Only the school's profitability matters."

Or possibly, the profitability of whatever business(es) he's deliberately running this school into the ground in order to advance the interests of.

 

[crhoades]

it would make sense if said in the same way you did,but he did not, he said it in the most callous and heartless way possible.

 

[TheBelgianGuy]

To all people who seem to think this, SCHOOLS ARE NOT BUSINESSES.
CHILDREN ARE NOT PRODUCTS.

Unless, of course, you are a member of a certain national socialism regime.
(I call Godwins first and second law on myself and anybody who called him hitler)