CREATING BEDLAM FOR YOUTH

By A. K. CHESTERTON

This   article   was   written   by   A.K.Chesterton.   In   this   work,   which   was   first   published   in   1971,   the   writer accurately   predicts   the   outcome   of   the   new   liberal   dogma   which   began   to   shape   the   opinions   of   naive   and ignorant public servants at that time. It   may   appear   a   lengthy   article,   but   if   you   take   the   trouble   to   read   it   you   will   come   to   understand   why   so many   of   our   children   have   been   let   down   by   schools   and   the   politically-correct   education   authorities   which has led to a dysfunctional society. What   has   long   been   described   as   the   world   conspiracy   is   now   openly   proclaimed   as   the   changing   of attitudes   -   a   term   encountered   almost   daily   in   the   world’   press.   It   has   many   aspects,   but   none   more menacing   than   the   attempt   to   cause   chaos   among   youth   and   thereby   wean   it   from   the   well   tried   and   proved standards   of   the   past.   This   does   not   mean   that   everybody   involved   in   the   business   is   a   revolutionary.   The conspirators   have   only   to   create   a   trend   for   cranks   and   public   service   workers   who   then   eagerly   rush   in   and hasten   its   momentum.   I   do   not   know   which   category   the   deputy   leader   of   the   Labour   Party   belongs,   but   as   a supposedly   responsible   leader   Mr   Edward   Short   should   surely   not   be   encouraging   the   vicious   attempts   to demoralise the nation's youth. Note   should   be   taken   of   utterances   by   him   which,   if   not   subversive,   must   be   bordering   on   insanity.   Speaking at   the   Caerleon   College   of   Education   in   Monmouthshire   he   delivered   himself   of   statements   such   as   this: "The    old,    externally    imposed    discipline    made    children    into    hypocrites    and    liars    because    when    the disciplinarian   was   absent,   whether   he   was   parent,   teacher   or   policeman,   there   was   no   discipline."   This   is   a monstrous   generalisation.   Hypocrites   and   liars   there   have   always   been   and   always   will   be,   but   to   suggest they are the end products of discipline is an absurdity so manifest that it scarcely needs refutation. Mr   Short's   own   scholastic   idea   of   bringing   up   children   is   beautifully   simple. They   should   be   "Free   to   talk   and walk   about   as   their   common   purpose   demands,"   he   told   an   audience,   without   specifying   what   he   meant   by the   demands   of   some   hypothetical   "Common   purpose".   "The   gain   from   cutting   down   rule-structures   in communities"   he   said,   "whether   schools,   colleges   or   universities   would   be   well   worth   a   little   marginal chaos." A   little   marginal   chaos   -   it   has   indeed   become   a   mad   world   when   a   leading   politician   is   able   to   utter such   claptrap   and   not   be   derisively   hooted   out   of   public   life.   Would   Edward   Short   be   good   enough   to indicate   the   size   of   the   marginal   chaos   that   could   be   called   little".   Were   he   in   charge   of   a   boisterous   class   of forty   or   fifty   young   hopefuls,   free   to   talk   and   walk   about   as   they   pleased,   and   whose   "Common   Purpose",   as it   might   well   be,   to   take   "the   mickey"   out   of   him,   would   he   sit   back   congratulating   himself   that   by   non- intervention he was preventing them becoming hypocrites and liars? The   answer   is   perhaps   simply   that   Short   wishes   to   cash   in   on   the   trend.   His   supporting   argument   would suggest   nothing   more   serious.   Here   in   a   nutshell   it   is.   "   Clearly,   the   notion   that   the   teacher,   parent   or   the priest   knows   what   is   best   for   the   child   is   pushed   much   too   far   in   our   society.   The   principal   determinants   of what a child truly learns are his own interests and his own experience." It   would   indeed   be   a   teacher   of   superhuman   ingenuity   who   managed   to   make   sense   of   that   fantastic concept.   What   does   it   mean   if   not   that   the   child   knows   better   than   the   parent,   teacher   or   priest   what   is   best, and   that   all   they   have   to   do   for   him   is   to   make   a   ring   while   he   proceeds   to   promote   his   own   interests   and undergo whatever experiences he considers desirable? This   kind   of   rubbish   is   not   even   new.   Forty   years   ago   no-discipline   schools   were   enthusiastically   run   by pioneers   such   as   A.S.Neill   and   Dora   Russell.   Bertrand   Russell   in   his   autobiography   confessed   that   the school   experiment   was   a   total   failure,   while   Neill's   books   were   surprisingly   candid   about   what   went   wrong   in his   establishment.   One   incident   I   remember   is   that   when   his   wife   lay   dying   in   the   house,   he   asked   some rowdy   pupils   -   if   pupils   they   could   be   called   -   to   make   things   easier   for   her   by   being   less   noisy.   Their response was to show their independence which they did by stepping up their row to yelling point.  SINISTER What   makes   the   present   trend   so   sinister   is   that   even   as   things,   are   with   discipline   still   supposedly enforced,   conditions   in   many   educational   establishments   especially   comprehensive   schools   -   are   such   that keeping   order   has   become   a   farce.   Only   too   often   the   bullies   in   the   class   dominate   both   class   mates   and luckless   teachers. The   latter,   either   from   their   own   weakness   of   character   or   because   of   lack   of   support   from above,   have   long   since   given   up   the   notion   that   their   job   is   to   impart   knowledge   and   are   content   if   they   can keep    their    classes    intact    until    the    bell    sounds    their    release.    Chaotic    though    such    a    state    of    affairs undoubtedly is, there is at least the saving grace that those subjected to this little marginal chaos deplore it. Were   they   and   their   charges   trained   to   act   on   the   assumption   that   the   children   were   free   to   walk   around   the classroom    and    talk    to    their    hearts    content    about    some    "common    purpose”,    without    reference    to    the teacher's   requirements,   then   the   result   would   be   sheer   Bedlam.   Violence   would   be   enthroned   and   youth made serviceable for the cause of world revolution. I   do   not   suppose   that   Edward   short   has   the   least   idea   that   he   supports   such   motives,   but   here   more   than any   other   sphere   of   public   life   ignorance   is   no   excuse   for   folly. A   man   aspiring   to   participate   in   government, even   though   he   may   lack   a   sense   of   history,   should   at   least   be   able   to   read   the   signs   of   the   times.   Was   Mr Short   sunk   deep   in   coma   when   a   certain   Cohn   Benditt   spread   revolt   from   Nanterre   to   the   Sorbonne, whence it surged under the inane title of "Student Power" to almost every university in the Western world. Daniel   Cohn   Bendit   (Danny   the   red)   below   was   the   creator   of   the   “student   power”   revolt.   Despite   being   a Jewish anarchist he held key positions in the French government for decades. The   lunacy   has   now   reached   the   stage   where   the   Edward   Shorts   in   the   land   -   those   who   are   blindly indoctrinating   the   youth   with   their   subversive   ideas   and   bringing   about   the   destruction   of   our   nation   -   must wake   up   and   face   the   facts   and   what   these   facts   portend.   Let   them   for   a   start   pay   heed   to   a   plan   by   the militants   at   York,   Aston,   Reading   and   Bath   Universities   (representing   more   than   12,000   students)   and placed   before   a   National   Union   of   Students   conference.   The   plan   demands   that   violence   and   vandalism, without   let,   hindrance   or   punishment   should   be   accorded   as   a   right   to   Britain's   half   million   students.   It expresses   the   view   that   they   would   be   justified   in   attacking   anyone   who   disagrees   with   them   or   attempts   to control their unruly behaviour. Particular   targets   are   named   as   college   authorities   who   try   to   restrict   them,   and   dons   who   carry   out research for the Ministry of Defence. Reading   students   put   forward   the   motion   that   state   paid   funds   should   be   used   to   defend   students   who   have fallen   foul   of   the   law.   The   British   taxpayer,   already   paying   for   the   education   of   the   brats   is   now   expected   to pay   for   their   lawlessness.   It   is   not   supposed   that   our   country   as   yet   is   so   far   sunk   in   decadence   as   to enfranchise   these   hoodlums   to   run   amok   and   smash   anyone   or   anything   they   please.   The   menace   lies   in their   being   able   to   present   their   thuggish   aims   in   a   serious   resolution   to   be   debated   by   the   National   Union   of Students.   It   shows   how   rapidly   madness   is   encroaching   on   institutions   established   to   serve   as   centres   of enlightenment. Taken   in   conjunction   with   the   disorders   rampant   in   so   many   schools,   colleges   and   universities   throughout the   land,   the   lack   of   calibre   of   so   many   whose   job   it   is   to   maintain   order,   and   the   pathetic   leniency   of   so many   magistrates   in   bending   over   backwards   to   pass   sentences,   which   are   a   mere   pretence   at   punishment. One   would   expect   a   man   in   Edward   Short's   position   to   tighten   up   on   discipline   rather   than   diminish   it   almost to   vanishing   point.   Parliament   is   seen   to   be   wildly   irresponsible,   damaging   to   the   nation   and   in   particular   its youth. It   is   easy   to   assume   that   the   violent   student   rioters   that   create   havoc   on   our   streets   have   nothing   in common   with   parliament.   They   in   fact   work   together!   While   the   students   are   too   young   to   become   MP’s, they    are    used    to    attack    groups    that    oppose    the    government’s    unpopular    policies.   The    media    always overlooks   that   fact   that   it   is   the   student-rabble   that   always   makes   unprovoked   attacks,   on   members   of   the public    who    dare    raise    objections    to    what    they    consider    hostile    anti-British    policies.    The    way    the confrontation   is   misreported   ensures   that   the   public   will   reject   the   innocent   parties   thinking   they   are   to blame.   Student   leaders   often   have   an   arrangement   with   the   Labour   and   Liberal   Parties   that   a   cabinet   place will be found for them when they come of age. The   time   has   come   for   Britons   to   declare   on   whose   side   they   stand   -   the   side   of   anarchy   or   law,   order   and good sense. The   decline   in   standards   has   been   created   deliberately.   The   change   was   most   noticeable   in   the   early 1960’s   when   a   mass   of   Marxist-trained   teachers   left   colleges   and   took   up   teaching   positions   in   secondary modern   schools.   They   couldn’t   teach   to   previous   standards,   they   were   incapable   of   holding   their   students attention   or   maintaining   order.   Many   of   the   older   schoolteachers   were   so   annoyed   and   frustrated   that   many of    them    took    early    retirement.    Because    the    younger    generations    have    grown    up    with    unacceptable conditions   they   too   readily   accept   it.   Our   enemy   knew   that   each   successive   generation   would   not   complain because   they   have   grown   up   with   it   the   way   it   has   become.   The   anarchists   that   have   assumed   power   are forever   writing   new   politically-correct   directives   for   civil   servants   and   schoolteachers   to   conform   to   or   get   the sack.   For   decades   parliament   along   with   the   American   government   have   mobilised   our   military   to   attack nations   that   were   not   our   enemies,   but   have   turned   a   blind   eye   to   the   enemy   within.   The   time   is   long overdue for the public to speak out against this tyranny.