School's image unfairly depicted
WE ARE writing on behalf of the students of St Sampson's High School. Throughout our time in secondary education, we have been frustrated by the way we have been perceived by a percentage of the public and the media. This unhealthy negative view has once again arisen over the 11-plus abolition discussion and we feel it is time to speak up.
On 2 February, the community of St Sampson's High came under fire by some pro 11-plus members of the public. A comment was made on the Guernsey Press website forum, stating: 'I don't see kids outside the Grammar drinking Red Bull for breakfast and having a fag outside before going in.' This romanticised comment, seemingly rooted in economic and social prejudice, refers to an extremely slim minority of our peers.
It is worth mentioning these students represent youths who come from a background significantly less privileged than others of their age; this type of behaviour is a sign of where their economic and social position has failed them – not them failing it. The comment perpetuates the idea of the 'chav', a caricature that has no bearing on the students at our school.
St Sampson's High is full of brilliant young individuals striving to achieve academic success; we within the high school know the comment to be grotesquely misinformed.
We, the students, know the school to be filled with friendship and endeavour and such misguided comments are slander to the community that we are so proud to be a part of.
We understand the nature of what people like to read; that the negative story sells better than the positive one. However, we strongly believe that our school's image has been unjustly damaged, especially in the last five to six years, by selective, hyperbolic and sometimes impetuous journalism from the Guernsey Press.
To name one example: In an article published on 10 October 2015, the Press reported on an apple-throwing incident concerning a small number of students. We do not condone their actions, neither do we believe that it shouldn't have been reported on.
However, the manner in which this was reported we feel was unjustified and unfair to our school as the event was described as a 'mass apple fight' that caused 'a mass disturbance'. These over-statements and fabricated situations give the public a negative and false stereotype of our school's students.
We've even found this in the Guernsey Press online comments, where the sort of remarks like the one we quoted earlier are in abundance.
As avid readers of the Guernsey Press, we do feel it is disheartening that an extremely small minority are seemingly shown as the archetypal St Sampson's High School student, in the media; while in reality we know we attend a school where the vast majority of students are kind, diligent and ambitious.
We feel that as the Press has a daily readership of almost 40,000 people, it has a certain responsibility to the community to fairly represent St Sampson's as a school, and as a group of students, and not just to misrepresent for effect.
TOM RYLATT, (head boy)
JAMES THOMPSON, (deputy head boy).
