Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Madeleine Murphy's avatar

Subscribed to Watters' newsletter - thanks for the reference. Yes, absolutely, the heirs of Gradgrind are the data-and-testing obsessives; the irony of their complaining about some mythical "factory" model makes my eyes water. (What do they mean? That kids have to sit at tables? the "sage on the stage?" Actually that's a medieval monastic model. But I digress.)

"Hard Times" isn't my favorite Dickens, but in the Gradgrind family he nails something completely true about living in an atmosphere where you're constantly surveilled by people who are trying to ensure that your inner life measures up to whatever yardsticks they've created. Gradgrind's kids are stunted: Louisa is sullen and struggles with herself constantly, and Tom is hopeless. We've all noticed that today's kids seem, on the whole, a bit more timid, more prone to stress and fear and anxiety, less prone to adventure and optimism. And while there's obviously lots of candidates for why this should be (social media, climate change, politics sucks etc.) I think that the surveillance mode of schools is a big candidate. You can't grow in an atmosphere where you've got no freedom to develop, and little privacy.

Expand full comment

No posts