From the Principal...

Schools like ours are interested in providing an education that transforms. As children receive instruction, they should undergo a systematic, progressive transformation in spiritual, academic, and behavioural aspects, as well as in their approach to life and work. However, it is easy to sometimes make the mistake of mapping out the goals we wish to achieve, and then simply enforcing them by introducing a whole bunch of rules to conform children to these standards.

This is exactly what Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity. In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:27, 28 HCSB)

To produce meaningful and sustainable transformation in our students, we need to transform them from the inside-out and not from the outside-in. We need to instil values in them that will direct their actions, rather than impose external controls and restrictions.

Parents of children at a school in British Columbia received a surprising letter from school last month, informing them of a “no touch” policy. They’ve banned all forms of hands-on play at break— adding that it’s a zero-tolerance policy and disobeying the rule would result in being grounded during break and a meeting with the principal.

A middle school in New York banned the use of all balls during recess, saying that basketballs, baseballs and footballs, as well as cartwheels, were too risky and caused too many injuries. More schools have joined them. A school in New Jersey banned hugging last year due to “unsuitable” physical interactions between students. In Tennessee, lawmakers included a ban on “hand-holding” on campus as it may lead to further physical activity. On the other extreme, Kentucky high school athletics has now banned shaking hands after games, as it has started too many fights.

To avoid lawsuits, we no longer feel we can teach kids proper behavior, we just make up rules to harness them. It’s easier. Instead of equipping kids and preparing them for adulthood, we choose to create regulations. Sadly, external changes rarely transform kids. They simply make kids want to find loopholes to violate them.

Think about it. When kids see a sign on a freshly painted wall that says, “Don’t Touch” what do they want to do right away?  Yep. They immediately want to touch it, even if that wasn’t on their mind before they saw the wet wall. Rules don’t transform us. What our kids need is not behavior modification, but attitudinal transformation. We must work to equip them from the inside out. It’s about the heart, not the hands.

This is why we have, at The King's School West Rand strived so hard to train into our children executive functioning skills, or self-regulation skills as they are commonly known. As parents, you can help us by reinforcing these at home and chatting to your children about how they apply them in their work. The Five Self-regulation Skills we are focussing on are:

1. Don't delay - start today
2. Get organised
3. Prioritise - first things first
4. Listen actively
5. Stay on task

KL