Great Scot December 2019 Great Scot 158_December_ONLINE | Page 10

JUNIOR SCHOOL
MR JON ABBOTT
HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL
RESPECT FOR OTHERS:
THE ESSENCE OF THE
CONCEPT OF GOOD
GRACE
Each time I turn on the television to watch a news
or current affairs-type program I feel like vowing never
to do so again. It seems to me that the vast majority of
stories are doom and gloom and they portray a world
that is in total disarray. Now I am not naïve enough
to believe that our world does not have significant
problems, but I also don’t feel that the popular media
outlets are presenting a balanced view.
I often find myself pondering what our Junior
School boys must think. Are they worried about
growing up in a world torn apart by war, internal
conflict within countries, soaring crime, drug issues,
poverty, racism, violent behaviours and impending
environmental disasters? If they do find themselves
worrying about such things, they must wonder what
the leaders of our nations and the adults of the world
are doing. Hopefully, as children down the ages have
done, they still see the world through the eyes of the
innocent and remain blissfully unaffected by such
matters.
However, the boys we are teaching in the Junior
School now are going to grow up in a world of
increasing change and volatility. In the past, with the
exception of world wars perhaps, our world changed
slowly, providing opportunity for members of society
to become accustomed to the changes. At times,
change took place so imperceptibly that it appeared
there was no change. That is no longer the case, and
the pace of change will only increase in the future.
The marvels of modern technology and
communication have seen a rapid increase in how
quickly change occurs, both in developments and
in the way society thinks, acts and manages itself.
Societal expectations and behavioural norms are more
and more subject to the influencers of the world, and
our personal thoughts and opinions are increasingly
being impacted by voices from across the globe and
from all points of the political and moral compass.
As well, we are becoming a far more mobile
population, despite the efforts of many governments
to control immigration. With international travel
becoming so readily available and corporations
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Great Scot Issue 158 – December 2019
operating more and more on a global scale, many more
of us are experiencing and living among the peoples
of other cultures and belief systems, and our own
country, so long a predominantly white Anglo-Saxon
country, is increasingly a place that people from across
the globe have chosen to call home. I believe that is a
positive change.
As they move into adulthood, our boys will
need to be adaptable in both their thinking and in
their acceptance and understanding of the views,
beliefs and practices of others. In their world they
will find themselves continually challenged by those
with differing views and beliefs, and they will need
to develop the ability to listen to, reflect on and
accommodate alternative attitudes and thinking.
The question is – how do we best prepare our boys
to be able to do this?
As any Junior School boy will attest, my favourite
word is ‘respect’, and I truly believe that almost all of
the social problems we face in our world come down
to a lack of respect. In the Junior School we talk to the
boys a great deal about respect – respect for others,
respect for property, respect for learning and respect
for self. The concept of having an adaptable mind and
good grace, I feel, is in part developed through an
ability to have and show respect for others. We don’t
necessarily need to agree with the beliefs and values
of others, but it is vital that we are able to respect
and defend their right to hold them. I feel this is
the essence of the concept of good grace in an ever-
changing society.
We work hard to impress this attitude on the
Junior School boys every day. We want them to see
the differences between us as a positive rather than
something to rail against. We can assist these young
minds to understand that, as people of the earth, we
all have far more in common with each other than
differences that can set us apart. In doing so, we will
have started them on their journeys to becoming
adaptable and gracious in their adult lives, and our
world will be much the better for it.