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As I watch various threads come and go lamenting the state of kids behaviour in schools, I try and think back to my own youth to make compassisons. In those days, computers were very much in their infancy and beyond imagination they would ever be found in schools. We communicated our learning to the teacher via our handwriting, conducted using a stick with a nib on the end and ink from the ever-ready well in the right-hand corner of the desk. The Ink Monitor had the task of ensuring the wells were not only full at the commencement of each lesson but free from debris such as blotting paper. It was a task awarded as an accolade to well-behaved kids who could be trusted. My only regrets of this scheme apart from never getting the job myself was it ought to have included replacing the bent nibs on the pens issued to make their task more worthwhile but that is another matter. In addition to the Ink Monitors, our school had dinner monitors as well. These were kids endowed with the priviledge of leaving class 10 minutes before the dinner bell to help in the canteen, arranging the tables and ensuring adequate flasks of water and cups were available. Servitude such as this wasn't an onerous task. We considered it a luxury to be let off lessons early and made up for the loss of a few minutes teaching by ensuring we were as attentive as possible during the lessons to be given the chances. Unimaginable now?
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