All was quiet at the youth camp during the holiday period when suddenly at midnight the whole camp was awoken by a young girl shouting swear words out at the top of her voice.
The leaders of the camp all rushed to try to calm the situation before it escalated into anything more serious.
They ushered all the other youngsters back to their dormitories and settled the young girl in question.
When eventually the leaders then were able to go back to their rooms, the one leader said to the overall camp leader, “We must make sure that never ever happens again!” While the sentiment was understandable and indeed reasonable, if we stop to think about it, it was also somewhat ludicrous and amusing.
How exactly can we prevent such an outburst? Will a warning bell go off five minutes before the girl prepares to swear loudly? “Warning, swear word coming up! Danger! Watch out!”
More than that, though, we might ask: what is the problem with what happened? Yes, we do not like swearing, especially swearing loudly, and yes, we will do what we can to prevent it, in terms of education, but such things still happen.
It is not to excuse it but it is to explain it. And in fact, it provides a wonderful learning opportunity for all concerned.
Are the camp leaders failing because a young girl swore loudly at midnight? Once it happened, they can deal with it positively.
The story of Horatio Spafford is an intriguing, inspiring and instructive one. He was a successful lawyer and businessman with a loving family in Chicago in the late nineteenth century but in a few short years his life and his faith were deeply tested and challenged.
His four-year-old son died of scarlet fever; he lost various properties in the Great Fire of Chicago leaving him facing financial ruin; the economic downturn hit his business even further then his four daughters were all drowned as they travelled to Europe with their mother, on a trip he himself was meant to have taken.
The reason the story is intriguing, inspiring and instructive is that he went on to pen the powerful and hauntingly-beautiful hymn, “It is well”, whose first verse reads: “When peace like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
Another Horatio, this time Horatio Nelson, the legendary British Naval Commander, had a similar philosophy; on one occasion he pointed out that “I cannot command winds and weather.” He recognised that “Desperate affairs require desperate measures”.
Most famously (and not entirely accurately) when he felt he could defeat his opponents he wilfully disobeyed a signal to withdraw during a naval engagement by holding his telescope up to his blind eye and declared “I see no ships”.
The fact of life is that things often go wrong or not as we might have expected, hoped or planned.
At times they can go horribly wrong. Sometimes it may have nothing to do us, which makes it much harder. We do not doubt that or question it; such things happen. It follows, therefore, that the same applies to schools.
Things do not always go as expected or hoped; results (be they academic or sporting) are not what we would have wanted but that does not mean that things are bad. The purpose of school is not to make sure nothing bad ever happens to the pupils; that will never happen anyway. Children will misbehave. We are to make good out of it by whatever means.
At the heart of that message, that things go wrong with schools, is the soul of the school.
It is not what we see on the outside that is important, nor indeed is it the school spirit but rather the soul.
The soul of the school is centred on the values it upholds, not the achievements.
We cannot boast of the good that happens if we try to hide the bad. “Whatever my lot”, may we learn to say “It is well.”
It is what we do with what happens that matters and that determines if it is well. We must not rip into people or schools because bad things happen; we can be glad for what they teach us.
As we face each new day with the huge challenge of educating our children in the face of massive difficulties and obstacles, it may be hard for us to say “It is well” with our soul. It is as important for us to say “It is well” not just with our soul but also with our school.
But let us not turn a blind eye to this truth. Equally let us not utter profanities at what happens at any time of day or night.
These things may lead to it being well with our soul, our school and our school’s soul. Hooray-tio for that.
Have we got it?
- Tim Middleton is the executive director of the Association of Trust Schools [ATS]. The views expressed in this article, however, are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of the ATS. Email: ceo@atschisz.co.zw
- website: www.atschisz