Instead of libraries being repositories of the truth and a resource for all, that hushed approach to a vital community asset put people off.
Suggestions this week from an Oamaru school principal that media reporting on bullying should be restricted smacks of that same old librarians’ desire to hush things up because it is easier and more convenient for some people.
St Kevin’s College principal Jo Walshe must be living on a different planet if she thinks a ban on the media reporting of school incidents while disciplinary action is being considered will stop holus-bolus discussion in the community of unsavoury conduct.
Ms Walshe says she is promoting such a move to better protect students’ privacy and wellbeing. Her views have been heard by the Waitaki District Council’s strategy and advocacy committee and have reached Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith via Waitaki MP Miles Anderson, who she wrote to with concerns about reporting causing ‘‘significant harm’’ to young people, undermining schools and distorting public perception.
What Ms Walshe wants are the same protections extended to youth offenders in the justice system. But what she has to realise is that, even if some over-the-top censorship move were to be introduced to stop media reporting, the horse has well and truly bolted thanks to social media.
If any generation is going to be scrolling social media platforms to find out who is involved in schoolground bullying, it is the students themselves. And when it comes to gossip in the grounds and in the classroom, the kids and teachers are potentially the biggest scandal-mongers of all.
We are unsure how Ms Walshe might plan to retain any threads of secrecy around school matters in those circumstances.
Schools are at the heart of communities. All the people who live there, not just parents, have a right to know what is going on and what is being done to fix things if a fix is necessary.
Preparing for Vaianu
Most in the South will be sparing plenty of thoughts for friends, family and Kiwi compatriots in the North Island as Cyclone Vaianu continues along its unstoppable path aimed directly at landfall somewhere between Auckland and the Coromandel tomorrow morning.
These beasts have a life of their own and it is possible Vaianu could alter its track a little as it crosses the North Island throughout tomorrow and heads well out to the east of the South Island on Monday. However, computer models are so accurate these days that any transgressions from its predicted path are only likely to be of the order of 10-20km either side.
Emergency agencies and those in northern and eastern areas of the North Island likely to be hit hardest have at least had the luxury of early warning going back to the start of this week. While it is horrific devastated communities still struggling from the last events are about to be hit again, it is some comfort they have been given enough time to either make thorough preparations to sit it out or to leave.
This is the most damaging and life-threatening storm from the tropics since Gabrielle in February 2023. MetService has already issued a range of red and orange warnings for severe gales and torrential rain across much of the North Island and these will be updated frequently today. If there is one bright spot to be had, it is Vaianu is expected to barrel across the North Island and depart at far greater speed than Gabrielle did.
It appears Vaianu will have no direct significant impact on us this far south. But while we breathe a sigh of relief, let us prepare to do as much as we can to help support the poor folk in those storm-battered and shellshocked communities in the north.
