tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post1009153361387639882..comments2023-09-15T02:40:58.916-07:00Comments on Move Along. Nothing To See Here.: Further Trials And Tribulations Of A Private School ParentFlintharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17456024642528783549noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-46215223592181070972013-10-10T14:02:52.619-07:002013-10-10T14:02:52.619-07:00Well done the both of you.Well done the both of you.Jyggdrasilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13103800860401813367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-65463959286872176942013-10-07T12:07:26.313-07:002013-10-07T12:07:26.313-07:00I would like to see that, too, but for purely prur...I would like to see that, too, but for purely prurient reasons.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13295997500719366814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-19590386703791952642013-10-06T17:34:44.777-07:002013-10-06T17:34:44.777-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13295997500719366814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-1348192018140091422013-10-06T00:40:44.856-07:002013-10-06T00:40:44.856-07:00Yep. And it pisses me off that the school endorses...Yep. And it pisses me off that the school endorses it. I'd like to take the teachers in question -- all of them, male and female alike -- and force them to pole dance in edible underwear in front of an audience of VB-maddened mullet-headed bogans from Westernmost Sydney.<br />Flintharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08862235828346393495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-91446552868540008072013-10-05T23:33:44.294-07:002013-10-05T23:33:44.294-07:00Ms. Brown, the performance had nothing to do with ...Ms. Brown, the performance had nothing to do with the free expression of sexual identity. The performance had everything to do with perpetuating a chain of abuse that stretches very far back in time. Those senior students coercing younger others were coerced themselves and now inflict the pain they felt upon others in order to relieve their own suffering. Coercion is at the heart of what is wrong with this odious tradition.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13295997500719366814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-75405133064560895702013-10-05T22:53:00.382-07:002013-10-05T22:53:00.382-07:00Mrs Brown -- you misconstrue me utterly and absolu...Mrs Brown -- you misconstrue me utterly and absolutely.<br /><br />These are thirteen year old boys. I don't worry for an instant as to their sexual orientation. That's their business. What I worry about is their peers pointing and shouting "Gay!" and laughing and sneering -- because peer abuse is painful, and if any of these boys DID happen to be keeping a secret, an incident like this might be enough to convince them to try to keep it under wraps indefinitely, with all the problems that entails.<br /><br />As to the 'standard of raunch' -- I don't give a shit, frankly. What I care about is the fact that the boys DIDN'T WANT TO BE INVOLVED. I object QUITE STRONGLY to the school's endorsement of social and peer pressure to force these boys into a public and humiliating performance that makes fun of their sex roles.<br /><br />If it had been the boys' own idea? No worries. None at all. But as an idea imposed on them by people who are supposed to be responsible for their social development and standing inside the school community? <br /><br />Fuck. That. Shit.<br /><br />This bullshit was forced on the boys by the social structures deliberately set up by the school, and until I got written confirmation that they could withdraw, none of them thought they had any option in the matter. <br /><br />Think about it this way: suppose this was being done to a bunch of thirteen year old girls? Can you say "sex-u-al ha-rass-ment"? Sure you can!<br /><br />I repeat: I have no concerns whatsoever about the sexual orientation of any of these kids. I have GREAT concern about them being socially pressured by the school system into a humilating, sexualised performance that will certainly be recorded and distributed on social media, and has the potential to become one of the 'defining moments' of their time with the school.<br /><br />(And of course, yes -- I don't actually think that putting underage boys into leotards and making them do Beyonce's dance is at all smart. You DO know that paedophiles don't actually require nudity in their preferred porn, right? Sexualised images of children are the target, as I understand it. It strikes me that this performance has the potential to produce some really fucking serious blowback for the school, if it ever turns up on somebody's computer during a police investigation...)<br /><br />I'm not going to bother addressing the 'parent of teenagers hanging out with them' matter, by the way. Can't be stuffed playing one-upmanship games. But if you need my track record for validation, I'll happily supply you the names of five or six teenagers from outside my family that you can contact via FaceBook. They'll be willing to let you know that I'm not entirely blind to current standards of teendom...Flintharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08862235828346393495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-55096984407992718792013-10-05T16:00:05.209-07:002013-10-05T16:00:05.209-07:00I think you're more worried about this than is...I think you're more worried about this than is necessary. I'm a parent of teenagers and done a fair bit of hanging out with them. They surprise me with their comfort around gender roles and sexuality. The boys my kids hang out hug each other and show much more physical affection than would have been standard in my own adolescence.<br />The video is quite tame in terms of raunch - there are no men, no rubbing or simulated sex acts.<br />I'm concerned with your last comment; " uncertainty with his sexual identity". Do you think involvement with this activity will make a boy gay or trans? and is that a bad thing?<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-68113731909529828322013-10-05T07:46:29.064-07:002013-10-05T07:46:29.064-07:00You've come up here as "unknown". I&...You've come up here as "unknown". I'm just gonna assume you've got my email...Flintharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17456024642528783549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-48509859076519726812013-10-05T07:46:03.884-07:002013-10-05T07:46:03.884-07:00Well, for Jake, sure. And his two friends. But I r...Well, for Jake, sure. And his two friends. But I really feel for the other boys. Especially the boarders, who don't have their parents close by to confer with.Flintharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17456024642528783549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-68568037206553712312013-10-05T07:45:18.346-07:002013-10-05T07:45:18.346-07:00It was entirely unexpected for me. I thought we...It was entirely unexpected for me. I thought we'd gone past that British private-school bullshit. <br /><br />Honestly? I'm astonished that they aren't more concerned. The only reason that more of the boys didn't withdraw is that some are boarders, without parents on-hand to confer -- and of course, some that do have parents on hand don't have the kind of relationship that Jake does with his parents. <br /><br />This is primitive bullshit, as far as I'm concerned.Flintharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17456024642528783549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-8805802644935352642013-10-04T21:12:04.354-07:002013-10-04T21:12:04.354-07:00Dirk, I'm thinking about writing an opinion pi...Dirk, I'm thinking about writing an opinion piece on the mainstreaming of raunch culture--will send you an emailUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964902869409146357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-31753886869378068162013-10-04T17:33:56.540-07:002013-10-04T17:33:56.540-07:00That's some messed up shit right there. But in...That's some messed up shit right there. But indeed well handled and as positive an outcome as could be hoped. Michael barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08986102144813296339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-41743737296290958742013-10-04T16:47:47.542-07:002013-10-04T16:47:47.542-07:00Well done. Excellent parenting.
Nothing is right ...Well done. Excellent parenting.<br /><br />Nothing is right with that planned public humiliation. Everything is wrong with it. And the reaction of the administration is, sadly, typical. For reasons utterly unknown to me, sadism dressed as "traditions" that are "just fun" seems deeply entrenched in educational institutions.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13295997500719366814noreply@blogger.com