Graduation leaves bitter taste at Dunrobin Prep

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Having gone through hearing several complaints from a parent at the Dunrobin Preparatory School about the emotional abuse of her child, I was in shock and disappointment when it materialised before my eyes at the recently held graduation of the school.

This has underscored the need for ongoing training of our educators in areas where they may have forgotten about or did not grasp during their professional training.

The aspiration of every child is to fit in and to be treated as an equal. This may trigger different behaviours from the child that should be managed by both parents and teachers to encourage a feeling of comfort. The exclusion of ambition, favourite expressions and the like from a graduation programme for a child, who has gone through enormous emotional challenges before, can only cause more trauma.

This may, unlikely, have been an oversight in the programme planning, as this child was one of three who had 'no ambition' recorded in the programme for the graduation ceremony.

Behold, the slideshow with pictorial and audio recording of graduates thanking their families and expressing themselves had no audio for this child and the same two other students who had details missing in the programme. The display of the sole picture, without audio, generated an enormous amount of laughter from the graduating class, as they thought that it was something funny.

My concern grew more when I saw the distraught mother crying away at the back of the room. She was comforted as she expressed her dismay that emotional abuse had followed her son up to his graduation day.

Despite punishment for not conforming to classroom behaviour, I believe this child has been punished excessively.

As educational leaders, we have to create an inclusive, positive and productive environment for our children to excel, and not an exclusive one where they feel fearful, tearful, ashamed and embarrassed.

Let us utilise the training we got or redeem ourselves by seeking out refresher courses in educational psychology and emotional competence.

DEBRAH RIGG

Graduate Student

Mico Graduate School of Education

debrahrigg@gmail.com