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Lisa Adams's avatar

Interesting read but it sounds like your experience sadly highlights the wealth gap. Having worked in an international school in Europe (which my children also attended) and now working in a state school I also see these differences in teenagers attitudes (not all, but some) but equally I am also aware that none of my current students are living in homes with maids, butlers, drivers or having 4-5 holidays a year or, more to the point, not with affluent and probably better educated parents. It's a battle for some of them to even get to school so sometimes it's no wonder they feel angry towards adults - and disrespectful, probably because they are not shown much respect themselves. It's a shame as they could probably do with more outside visits to be shown there is another way to get and give respect.

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Claire Hennessy's avatar

This was so interesting to read. I'm a good bit younger but pulled back from school events a few years ago, though I still love working with young people who've chosen to be there, and, wow, this resonated a lot. (Not so much the fancy times, it must be said, but I'm glad you've had lovely experiences to balance out the less pleasant ones!) Thanks for sharing.

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