Sir Denis upsets teachers

Press, 5 August 1976, Page 3

Sir Denis upsets teachers

PA Wellington Teachers’ associations are upset about a recent claim by the Governor-General (Sir Denis Blundell) that teachers are turning a blind eye to the drug problem in some Schools.

The allegation made in April during a speech to the Otago University Club, has prompted the executive of the Post-Primary Association to ask that an exchange of letters between its head office, the Governor-General, and the Kelston Boys’ High School branch of the association be published in the latest edition of the P.P.T.A. Journal. Sir Denis told the club that the drug problem was so rife in some schools that teachers must be blind not to notice it. He believed teachers must

know more about what went on in their schools than the public were told. “Untrue and defamatory” was the comment of the Kelston school branch of the association.

Mr C. J. Duley, the branch secretary, wrote, “While we in no way deny that instances of drug taking by secondary school pupils have occurred and we agree that even a single instance is a serious event, nearly all have occurred away from school and outside school hours.

“To suggest that the drug problem in schools is rife is a gross misrepresentation of the situation. Besides, teacher vigilance has often been a factor in detecting drug taking, even when it has occurred outside school, while parents are frequently reluctant to divulge information. “Moreover, to suggest that we know more than we tell, in other words, to withhold information deliberately, is to cast a serious slur on our integrity.” Mr Duley wrote that he believed the statements by Sir Denis were likely to damage relationships between teachers and parents and to cause parents unwarranted apprehension.

“We firmly believe that there are no grounds for such statements, and call upon you

either to produce evidence to substantiate your accusations, or to retract them publicly.” In reply, a representatve of the Governor-General wrote that members of the association were unduly sensitive in their reaction to the references to schools and teachers.

Surely it was a matter of common knowledge • that, speaking generally, there was a serious problem in secondary schools of young people’s taking drugs, “His Excellency has had confirmation of this from a number of sources. All this leads to a justifiable assumption that in some schools this taking of drugs must be sufficiently common for the teachers to be aware of it and, what is even more important, of at least some of the pupils involved. “No doubt many teachers also would be reluctant to involve , the individual pupil or the good name of the school in further investigation. The point His Excellency was trying to drive home was that, as the problem had reached such serious proportions, in the public interest there was an obligation on parents, teachers, and others to assist with authorities in coping with this problem.” Echoing his letter published in the journal, the general

secretary of the association (Mr B. A. Webster) said that he was upset by Sir Denis’s statement, which “implies that teachers are incompetent, that they have no concern for their pupils, and have some degree of complicity in drug taking with pupils.” Mr Webster said the association had taken the matter up with Sir Denis through the journal for the benefit of its members.