You gotta love reactionary rightwing blog commentators. I generally ignore them for the endless drivel about how everything that’s wrong in the world is due to leftists. But I couldn’t resist the latest diatribe from a Western Heart (obviously not a compassionate one) about dozens injured in Christchurch when a car ploughed into a crowd of gate-crashing teenagers outside a party.
The basic Western Heart response is ‘serves them damn well right’.
These selfish, self-absorbed undisciplined scrotes think it’s fine to take over a suburban street, with the attendant noise, and broken glass and wilful damage to the property of others.
And who is responsible for these teenagers, so full of self-esteem, but lacking in basic self-respect? Teachers, of course! They neglected to instruct them that there are consequences for their actions! It’s so obvious, really. Damned leftist teachers!
Reactionary right-wingers lament that things are not the way they used to be. Never mind that the world our teenagers inhabit bears no resemblance to those halcyon days of moral clarity they grew up with in the 50s. Global 24/7 market capitalism and its impact on family life, amoral trash TV and celebrity worship where the winner is the one with most money and fame, lying politicians, cheating corporations, and a materialist culture addicted to endless consumerism – all those things the Right are so fond of. Nah, those things couldn’t possibly have any impact on the moral compass of young people. It’s those bloody teachers!
Reaction – beats thoughtful analysis any day.
Filed under: Australian values, Education, Nonsense
The Dog's Bollocks 
A Western Heart would be awesome satire if it wasn’t for real.
Satire indeed.
The author might be better off spending time with the grandkids rather than digging up any amount of human misery to get all self-righteous about. Maybe even volunteer as a classroom helper or youth worker if he really wants to get a handle on the young people of today.
He is correct ‘though, that actions have consequences. The youth of today are the consequence of our collective efforts to date.
Reaction – beats thoughtful analysis any day.
Reaction . . . and scapegoating.
It wouldn’t surprise me if some of the AWH crowd weren’t among the “problem parents” that are the bane of many a teachers existence. The parents who can’t possibly accept that their precious little angels’ laziness and lack of motivation might be contributing factors to their performance at school, and seek to blame the teacher for their kids’ failures.