Our low expectations
Brian Cullen 2:29pm
Today’s Times tells the heart-warming story of Alex Griffiths who was kidnapped as an infant and has now achieved an A and two Bs at A-level to win her place at university. The story certainly has the feel-good factor, but one part struck me as depressing:
"Her mother, Dawn Griffiths, a nanny from Middlesbrough, was paid £110,000 for the story, but rather than spend it, she put all the money into a fund to give her daughter the education that she never had. The sacrifice - which allowed Alex to attend a private boarding school with fees of more than £6,000 a term - paid off."Sacrifice? Alex’s mother’s decision to spend the money on education was certainly laudable. She could have made life much more comfortable for herself with the money – in fact she lived in council housing while she saved the money.
But it’s her decision (not any sacrifice) we must praise - she seized an opportunity that most never get presented with. Having someone else pay for your child to be educated privately is an example of fortune not sacrifice; if spending a gift on education rather than on a car or house is a ‘sacrifice’ rather than just ‘the right decision’ I despair for how low our expectations have fallen.
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Hugh
August 15th, 2008 3:23pm Report this commentMore to the point, how can you have £110,000 in savings in 1990 and still qualify for a council house?
Geordie Lass
August 15th, 2008 4:01pm Report this commentMore to the point, how on earth did she manage to get a council house being white and English?
Keith
August 15th, 2008 4:10pm Report this commentYou're just being churlish.
Many congrats to Alex for her achievements.I hope she does just as well at Uni.
Cath
August 15th, 2008 4:17pm Report this commentI think is shows how low our expectations of state schools are that no one asks whether the girl could have achieved those results without private education.
Northern John
August 15th, 2008 4:30pm Report this commentCome off it - there'd have been nothing wrong with Dawn Griffiths buying a house of her own with the cash. If you lived in a council house in Middlesbrough, and you suddenly got £110,000 wouldn't you just be a little bit tempted to trade up? You'd have got a lovely place in the north east for that sort of money 15 years ago.
And why would that decision be so bad? Surely moving your child to a nice leafy suburb with decent state schools and low crime is just as laudable as staying put in (subsidised) council housing and buying private education.
Dan
August 15th, 2008 4:31pm Report this commentKeith - I don't think Brian is being churlish at all. He's absolutely right and I've long felt that there is an increasingly prevalent view that by making any choice or decision in 21st century Britain someone is automatically 'sacrificing' something.
Geordie Lass - Are you suggesting that if somebody lives in a council house they should be evicted the minute their personal wealth reaches an arbitrarily defined level?
Dan
August 15th, 2008 4:31pm Report this commentSorry should have asked Hugh the second question!!
Ian C
August 15th, 2008 4:57pm Report this commentI don't understand the convoluted argument made here Brian. If Dawn Griffiths instincts as a mother were to use a windfall for her daughter's benefit (in the very best of ways she could have) she should be applauded for her foresight AND sacrifice, not to mention her generosity.
motoros
August 15th, 2008 5:15pm Report this commentThis is a quibble about words, but the essential point is that what Mrs. Griffiths did deserves high praise: I'm sure Alex would agree.
mart
August 15th, 2008 5:23pm Report this commentAn A and two Bs... Loads of children achieve these grades from comprehensive schools and private schools alike.
As for sacrifice vs. the right decision. How can we know, since these things are in the eye of the beholder?
HJ
August 15th, 2008 5:46pm Report this commentOne of the problems with council housing is that it is subsidised housing (when I lived in Lincoln, the Labour Council claimed that it wasn't, because the rent receipts covered what they paid in repairs and admin - which of course is rubbish, because it doesn't take into account the fact that any other landlord would expect a return on the asset value) but that as you can't evict the tenants once they have a council house, they always get a subsidy however much their circumstances improve.
That's one reason why council housing is a bad idea. Better to give people the money to rent privately and withdraw the subsidy when and as appropriate.
Incidentally, £110,000 wouldn't pay for boarding school at £6,000/term for very long.
Keith
August 15th, 2008 7:31pm Report this commentIan C..well said.. precisely my point and I reiterate that Brian is being churlish. Mum chose not to spend the money on trading-up but instead to spend it on her daughter's education. Anyway you look at it, it is still a sacrifice
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