Sunday

Battling against rotten behaviour since 1940

The Dutch newspaper ‘Algemeen Dagblad’ reports:

“Brothers break into police station”

Rough translation follows:

“2 brothers aged 13 and 24 were arrested on Saturday evening when they were caught breaking into a police station in Rotterdam’s Maashavan district.

The police station was closed at the time.

According to the police, the 13 year old explained that his elder brother carried out the break-in because he didn’t agree with a fine.

The suspects have damaged an entry door, windows in other doors, and some pipes. The brothers have been detained and their father has been informed.”

I once read about a UK police officer who tried (unsuccessfully) to revoke his own speeding fine by some clandestine late night paperwork, and I think it would be quite a long shot for these lads to cancel the ticket by smashing up the nick.

I’m wondering if some of our pupils have been chatting online with these Dutch brothers and getting a few ideas about ‘the right to roam’. I know I’m getting old so of course I’m going to think everything is going downhill faster than Jill can tumble after Jack, but if I’m not completely senile then I’ll tell you there’s diminishing respect among pupils for the hallowed chamber that is The Staffroom.

The Staffroom is where we teachers sit, like Battle of Britain fighter pilots waiting for the bell signalling us to 'scramble' when lunchtime is over and battle rejoined. But it's a different type of bandit that's been intercepted recently.

Over the past year I’ve caught (and then released) a good two dozen kids who floated through the magic portal uninvited, and were unable to offer any good reason for their intrusion (well, to be fair, I didn’t ask for any excuses or listen to their protests - from the way some of them screamed and gesticulated as I assisted them on their way, well, anyone would think there had been some terrible accident or the building was on fire).

Next time I'm going to make it clear that the only acceptable reason for a child to enter the staffroom without permission is to report an emergency which urgently requires an adult’s presence. And while I'm at it, I'll tell them to stop getting bad influences from their online pals.

Excuse me now, I think my copy of The Times, my pipe, and my favourite moth-eaten armchair are waiting for me.

No comments:

 
Site Map A Big DirBlog Search EngineTop Dot DirectoryAdd url to free web directory Society Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog DirectoryAdd to Technorati Favorites