Margaret Thatcher Ate My Homework

Would you believe it, school kids in Britain show a "lack of respect for authority" according to their teachers. And -- get this -- teachers say kids today are worse than they've ever been. It's a sorry state of affairs, but take heart. Thanks to an impromptu lesson from the president of a British teachers' union, we know who to blame:

The legacy of Thatcherism is behind plummeting standards of behaviour in the classroom and a lack of respect for authority among young people, a teachers' leader has claimed.

The union's new president blamed former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for the decline in discipline and traditional values. He told its annual conference in Birmingham that this lack of respect in society was the reason why a minority of children now regularly disrupted lessons while a few had even physically attacked their teachers.

"I make no apology in adding my name to the long list of people who feel that Margaret Thatcher did more harm to the society in which we live than anyone else in modern times," he said.

Comments

[mediageek]

He must be taking a page from the playbook of your typical freeper. Nearly a decade on, and everything that's wrong with America is still Bill Clinton's fault.

[kwais]

See what happens when you elect a woman president.

[jf]

It all went downhill when they started allowing the kids their pudding without insisting they eat their meat.

[Mr. F. Le Mur]

http://www.archivist.f2s.com/cpa/instrument.htm

Nearly a decade on, and everything that's wrong with America is still Bill Clinton's fault.
I used to volunteer to be blamed for whatever had gone wrong at the software factory.

[Mark]

I tell you what, the UK sucks bigtime.

I live in London and have had three friends mugged in a month. And not nice muggings either, all smacked about and a knife involved in one.

Ladies and Gentlemen..'Bout time we got ourselves some firearms.

Did you know the BBC isn't allowed to interview Maggie live now because she's so bonkers. Her and Prince Philip. The latter always says something racist.

[Mr. F. Le Mur]

http://www.archivist.f2s.com/cpa/instrument.htm

Nearly a decade on, and everything that's wrong with America is still Bill Clinton's fault.
I used to volunteer to be blamed for whatever had gone wrong at the software factory.

[kwais]

BTW, I was kidding.

[Lady T]

Sorry about the double post.

[Timothy]

I've a friend a blame for everything. His name is Sean. Feel free to blame Sean for your problems.

[Another Lurker]

"the BBC isn't allowed to interview Maggie live "

But but but the state has absolutely NO influence over the BBC, it's totally independent!

[C.A. Jones]

I dunno, it seems like kids authority figures have become less willing to punish kids, and the kids just take it from there. What can teachers really do to kids anyway? Not much, send them to the principal? And then what? I guess that's why schools have come up with zero tolerance policies, so they can just punish everyone ruthlessly, but it seems like parents just lawyer up when the kids get in real trouble. I'm talking about casual observances of American schools, I know nothing about English schools, though if the songs of teh Smiths are to be believed, they're pretty rough!

[Anonopotomous]

When I was younger I used to blame my brother for everything reflexively. I still occasionally blurt out to my wife, "Tylerdidit!" Sometimes it's weird and inappropriate.

If Margaret Thatcher is responsible for the lack of respect for the self-proclaimed "authorities," well, I think we all owe her a debt of gratitude.

[thoreau]

I was commiserating a couple days ago with a colleague of mine who has run into problems with parents who complain when college students get bad grades. I don't think the problem is kids these days. I think the problem is with parents these days.

I look at these parents who call the Dean over an F and I think to myself "When my mother was their age she would have kicked my ass if I got an F. And she would have walked through 6 feet of snow to do it. Up hill both ways!"

[scape]

Margaret Thatcher did more harm to the society in which we live than anyone else in modern times

So it's the conservatives fault.

We must also put some of the blame ... on the over-liberalised attitudes of the Sixties and Seventies

Wait, blame the liberals too.

There are lots of cases where teachers are assaulted and ... they will be dissuaded from reporting it by the school because it doesn't look good

And the school administrators are guilty.

Everyone but the parents and children are responsible.

[Mark]

I know nothing about English schools, though if the songs of teh Smiths are to be believed, they're pretty rough!

Talking of the Smiths, that twit Morrissey was in the UK papers last week equating (and finding no moral distinction between) the wholesale farming of Guinea Pigs for medical research and, yep, you've guessed it, the Holocaust.

Sigh.....

What a fuckstick.

[P Brooks]

Margaret Thatcher, notorious softie, and poster matron of the Permissive Society. Good Gravy.

Let me guess- History is an elective in GB.

[Thales]

Reminds me of a line from Raising Arizona:

"I tried to straighten up and fly right, but it wasn't easy with that sonofabitch Reagan in the White House."

[JD]

P Brooks: No, no - the standard leftist complaint about Thatcher is that she promoted "ruthless individualism". OBVIOUSLY, all the schoolkids were perfect little angels beforehand, who just loved obeying authority figures and never would have thought about blowing off school and rules, were it not for one politician who's been out of office almost 20 years. Damn you, Margaret Thatcher, singlehandedly changing an entire nation's culture! Who knew you were so powerful!

[TomHynes]

"more harm to the society in which we live than anyone else in modern times"

What about Hitler?

I invoke Godwin's law and this thread is finished.

[Warren]

Thatcher? Don't be daft dearie. This is all Prince Edward's fault. Ever since he took up with that Simpson woman the whole country has gone straight down the bung-hole.

[mitch]

Are we goofing on Morrissey today? My contribution is this: Some lefties I know love the song in which Morrissey complains that there has never been black U.S. president.

[Mark]

Are we goofing on Morrissey today? My contribution is this: Some lefties I know love the song in which Morrissey complains that there has never been black U.S. president.

Hold on. Wait a minute. You mean Will Smith is an actor?

[Milton]

"Still, we have to be careful with this point otherwise we're going to start sounding like those who bemoan the lack of family values."

God forbid!

[C.A. Jones]

Talking of the Smiths, that twit Morrissey was in the UK papers last week equating (and finding no moral distinction between) the wholesale farming of Guinea Pigs for medical research and, yep, you've guessed it, the Holocaust.

He also recently cancelled a tour of canada because of those seal hunts. Meat is murder!

[Pig Mannix]

Margaret Thatcher, notorious softie, and poster matron of the Permissive Society. Good Gravy.

What are the chances we can trade Britain our conservatives for theirs?

Talking of the Smiths, that twit Morrissey was in the UK papers last week equating (and finding no moral distinction between) the wholesale farming of Guinea Pigs for medical research and, yep, you've guessed it, the Holocaust.

Well, if I had to pick my entertainers based on their politics, I wouldn't be able to listen to anything.

Enjoy the art. Ignore the artist.

[Viking Moose]

"Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day. Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day"
(couldnt' resist)

"BTW, I was kidding.
Comment by: kwais at April 14, 2006 11:17 AM"

grin. LOL!

grin: we kinda figgered that, since she wasn't president nor was she directely elected

nice one!

cheers,
VM

[coyote1284]

I BLAME ZOIDBURG!

...and El Nino.

[Zoidburg]

It's not my fault

[mk]

I blame the Chavs.

[Stevo Darkly]

'Eighties nostalgia. This takes me back to the olden days, when Ronald Reagan was responsible for crack and teen pregnancies.

[80sfan]

I had first heard this argument advanced at UMass, of all places

[wayne]

"...when Ronald Reagan was responsible for crack and teen pregnancies."

Actually, it is the filling of the crack that is responsible for teen pregnancies.

[Mr. F. Le Mur]

Rich:
I was one of the lucky ones- when my Dad realised I'd been spinning my wheels for 7 years he sent me to a private school outside government control where there was still discipline and formal lessons. For me it was not too late to get back on track.

One of my unpopular views is that typical state schools are essentially extraneous (babysitting under the guise of education), and if anything your comments support that thesis.

Do you really think you missed out on anything at all by the 7 years of "messing around?"

[Larry A]

If the ruling political philosophy in a country is that the government should make all the decisions because individuals aren't competent to run their own lives, sooner or later the kids will figure out that getting an education is a waste of time.

[Eric the .5b]

Some lefties I know love the song in which Morrissey complains that there has never been black U.S. president.

Ah, that one. That song isn't quite a love song or hate song to America - it's more of a creepy note America finds left in its underwear drawer.