martonschool.myfreeforum.org

mary · Reaching Full Speed Joined: 05 Oct 2005 Posts: 81

This forum has gone very quiet over the last few months, which is a shame, but not particularly unpredictable. After all, the shock value of happenings over the last few years inevitably wears off, and people become blasé about the whole situation. It begins to seem as if everything has been said, and there is nothing to be added. The Marton School Action Group did everything they could to get things put right. For three years now, concerned parents, grandparents, staff and local residents have been trying to get to the bottom of this huge mess. Everything they did, despite malicious rumours to the contrary, was above board: they wrote letters to all the right people; they waited patiently for replies; they contacted parents, Local Authority staff in high places, school governors, councillors, MPs. They reported the facts, and waited for justice to be done.

Sadly, justice never has been done. On the contrary, there have been lies, threats, cover-ups and corruption on a scale unheard of to a law abiding citizen. Many people would have thrown in the towel by now, and admitted defeat, but one person has held the whole thing together, and continued, relentlessly, to try to secure justice.

Alan Veale’s blog, which has been serialised through these pages, makes fascinating – and horrifying reading. How anybody could read this account and simply shrug his shoulders and walk away, is beyond me. This is a modern day horror tale – one which should sound loud warning bells in any right minded person’s ears: it is relevant, not just to those connected to Marton Primary School, past or present (or potentially, future), but to anybody who cares about right and wrong, justice and injustice, and is concerned at the abuse of power. Those people who have fallen by the wayside could be any one of us: bullied out of our right to speak up, intimidated by threats, careers and reputations ruined. I know there were people who kept their heads down, pretended it wasn’t happening. I also know there are people who wish now they had spoken up for what they knew was right. Because those are the people who now face a very similar situation. The problems were never resolved: they are still there.

Just recently, an article in a national newspaper caught my eye. I found myself nodding as I read it. I think it goes some way in explaining why this forum has gone quiet, and I make no apologies for reproducing the relevant passages, below:

In 1965, the American psychologist Martin Seligman stumbled across a phenomenon that would have a far-reaching impact not only on our understanding of human behaviour, but also on how authority can control individuals.

While repeating an established experiment that involved giving dogs electric shocks, he noticed something strange. The basis of the experiment was that when a dog that had previously learnt to associate the sound of a bell with an electric shock heard a bell ring again, it would jump in anticipation of another shock.

Seligman observed that after conducting this test a number of times, the dogs stopped jumping. Instead, they simply lay down and waited for the shock - even if a route of escape was provided. They had given up hope. The psychologist realised that when a creature believes it has no control over its situation and that whatever it does is futile, it begins to believe it is helpless and stops trying to fight or escape. He termed this condition "learned helplessness".

It became a well-established principle and……it is argued that this is a mechanism at play…….in people's responses to traumatic events that are outside their control……..

Interestingly, it has also been suggested that this is a subtle tool employed by governments. They say they are listening to us, but do nothing to change a situation, so we eventually give up, accepting there is nothing we can do to alter it. We become helpless. Once this has taken place, it becomes even easier for a government to pursue its own agenda.

………..But, of course, this isn't the whole story. Seligman also observed, to his surprise, that not all of the dogs gave up. In fact, about a third continued to resist the electric shocks. This is reflected in the course of human history, which is littered with examples of individuals who have resisted; those who have stood up against what is wrong - and won.

If you haven’t yet read the blog, please read it. Then read it again, and take in the details. Don’t dismiss it as a work of fiction. It is the culmination of months and months of careful research, and is fact.

If you feel strongly about what you read then please don’t be a victim of “learned helplessness”. Instead, become “one of those who stood up against what is wrong – and won.”

http://martonprimaryschool.blogspot.com/

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EVENTUALLY THE TRUTH WILL OUT, JUSTICE WILL BE DONE.