Klook and Plukey

This is an extract from a story in the online Guardian: 

"Shocked police were to find a “revenge plan” that detailed a scheme to assassinate former schoolmates and a teacher before carrying out a mass shooting at the school."

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/13/revenge-on-my-mind-somerset-man-jailed-for-firearms-offences-was-fascinated-with-mass-killers

The obvious message might be to ban all gun ownership - all knife ownership - ban ownership of anything you might be able to make a weapon of... However, would it not be feasible to make our school system kinder, more child friendly?

And surely jamming children together in large peer groups is a recipe for bullying?

I have written in the postscript to Klook and Plukey (one of the stories in The Umbrellas of Hamelin) how the "one size fits all" system weighs very hard on, possibly does permanent damage to, those many children who are for those long important developing years painfully square pegs in round holes.I hated my schooldays - the system did not fit me, and to be fair, I did not fit it.  I found it hard to understand what was going on much of the time so I was probably very exasperating. My saving grace was that I could do exams. I don't know why, but looking back it is possible that the orderliness and the quietness of the exam room suited me and helped me to concentrate. There were no worries about a teacher suddenly asking you a question, or shouting at you when you go it wrong, or failed to understand it. And there was no opportunity for a classmate to single you out for a bit of nastiness.  For me, the exam room was that currently fashionable thing, a safe space.

Caroline Glyn wrote about the "one size fits all" school system  brilliantly in Don't Knock the Corners Off.  The title says it all really.

However, neither of us resorted to plans for revenge killings.  Thank God.   

Wednesday morning was stormy again - grey, rainy, big waves on the English Channel.   It seems to be a storm without a name this time.  Who decides if they get names or not? And what would I call it if it were me who did?  Storm Sue maybe as I did get in a bit of a temper that morning as I lost the daily Wordle/Quordle/Octordle competition - yet again.

The above photo is me as a Catholic Convent Schoolgirl, in the 1950s.  I am Middle Row left of pic. Next to me is Rosemary, who now lives in NZ, and Sheila, who is very sadly no longer with us.

What if I could go back to my schooldays - knowing then what I know now?  I would certainly be able to appreciate the privilege of having all that time to learn, to study. Which I certainly did not at the time.

But I could no longer go to a Catholic school of course.  I would have to be one of the "non-Catholics", who stayed out of all the prayers, catechism lessons and religious ceremonials.  

How glad I am though that my schooldays are over. But I hope to go on learning forever, being taught by Jehovah, which makes for such happiness even now. As Ecclesiastes 3:11 says:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has even put eternity in their heart; yet mankind will never find out the work that the true God has made from start to finish.

Jehovah has put eternity into our hearts. We can live forever on this lovely planet, yet we will never stop finding out about the creation, we will never stop learning.  And every moment of it will be a joy.