Constitutional Bullying05-09-2006The happiest days of your life? Not if you're a teacher. The Stirrer's resident poet Brendan Hawthorne is in a class of his own as he marks the start of the new school term. And don't forget you can find out more about his work and other local rhymesters at www.poetrywednesbury.co.uk Today there will be other victims in the daily ritual of constitutional bullying Mr Johnson will be wrongly accused of the inappropriate use of language and will be suspended until found innocent but will still lose his job and his home because shit sticks whether it's true or not Mrs Abrahams will start the growth of her cancer due to poor eating habits, stress and lack of sleep It will cost her more than a summer holiday if she's to break free of her destructive cells and get on with a full and active life after teaching Mr Smith will dive to the bottom of his whiskey again tonight in his effective tail spin towards alcoholism and will try to dismiss its effect on performance targets now askew in his sights He'll continue to work on the way that he looks first thing in the morning by papering over the cracks again and again Miss Canforth will breakdown today and will not be fixed forsix months Her mind blunted by the continuous pounding of policy, reports and value-added measures She will cry uncontrollably for weeks and not get out of bed until she feels safe again and is free from the padding of Valium Mr Jenkins will go home tonight to find a letter from his soon to be ex-wife explaining that she has taken the kids because he has no time for them or her Ms Jones will comfort him after all she's been through it all and never bothered again because the pain was too great. But still the government continues its rally cry not concerned about the real asking price Destroying individuality in the name of the collective only interested in attainment targets and shallow image Its commitment sounding similar to blitzkrieg Similar to Nuremburg obsessions fuelled on blind ego with no hint of private confessionals Neutralise. Neutralise! NEUTRALISE! Place no value on professionalism Politicise. Politicise! POLITICISE! Because after all it's only Education. Education! EDUCATION! (Note! All names are fictitious to protect the innocent!)
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