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Incredibly two 17yr olds kids from our local very expensive Public School (Perse School for boys in Cambridge) thought it was OK to take personal artefacts from Jews who had been gassed there.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/23/uk-teenagers-held-thefts-artefacts-auschwitz-museum
You do wonder what you get for your £15k a year (non boarding) fees, it certainly isn't a moral compass or common sense.
I prescribe a shower in a basement shower stall.
Not offering any type of justification, but they're probably just kids looking for kicks.
The gravity of what they were doing would not dawn on them until they had lived some sort of a life and become adults, which they're not.
Nice headline for the media though.
preparing for a career in government then 😉very expensive Public School
On a more serious note - stupid, stupid boys. At 17 they REALLY should know better. They need a very thorough lesson into the Holocaust as I am not sure they understand the significance of their actions.
Children are a product of their parents to a degree so dont blame the schooling or hijinx's.
I'm really not sure why this is headline news.
Not offering any type of justification, but they're probably just kids looking for kicks.
Naively, I would just expect better from public school kids, esp a rather top end one.
Not going to look good on the CV is it.
Certainly that will follow them around when they apply for Jobs, most companies do background checks on offences and for sure this will pop up.
But... I expect Dad will already have a plan for Son..
🙄
a rather top end one.
Top end?
Hardly. More Vanerama Conference South than Barclay's Premiership! 🙂
Not that this fact really matters, unless you're a lazy journalist looking to make a "rich toffs in doing something bad SHOCKA!" headline.
However, what a pair of asshats.
It's all a bit bullongdon club innit
Didn't farige get blocked from making head boy at his private school coz he was caught singing Hitler youth songs?
Just standard posh kid tomfoolery with a hint of antisenitism
They're on a school trip to a nazi death camp. I'd like to think someone would have at least given them an abridged version of what happened there. So the little ****s should definitely have known better. No matter what school they came from.
But yes it is hardly headline news.
This weeks headline pish...BRING BACK MOUNTAIN NUDITY
It's all a bit bullongdon club innit
In which case stealing from the poor (or dead) is seen as a birthright rather than a crime 😉
I was going to write something dismissive of this thread, but instead I'll bite.
Why would you expect better from posh school kids in particular?
Why would you expect better from posh school kids in particular?
As in other than generic stuff like smaller class sizes, better results, better educated parents?
Why would you expect better from posh school kids in particular?
As in other than generic stuff like smaller class sizes, better results, better educated parents?
In other generic stuff would you expect it from poorer/less privileged kids ?
I don't think you would, but shirley the end result is they've got a criminal record for theft.. which in itself emits them from quite a few decent jobs.
So, so I'm happy.. pay their penance for a lifetime..
Happy with that.
parents and teachers, regardless of the cost of education, instilling the simple message that theft is wrong, perhaps?generic stuff like
Also, lets not forget, The most important element to this (the theft aside for just a second, which in itseft is primary and totally abhorrent act) and thats....
The..
Network.
Yup, the network all Public Schools work in. The Families they link up with, the social engineering that goes on, the extra classes they are forced into/taken too.. Think of all the the noses that will bent right out of shape and the sheer collapse of the Kids social/come work channel.
Utter pricks, and I bet their Families are reeling from it now, now certainly it's been in the Tabloids.
I'm sorry but I have no sympathy whatsoever in this instance. The utter disregard for Human catastrophe and oppression is lost on these two.
Long may a lifetime of regret hang upon them.
The most important element to this (the theft aside for just a second, which in itseft is primary and totally abhorrent act) and thats....The..
Network.
Are you Fred in disguise?
Is that really the most important element of this story? Really?
[quote=footflaps ]As in other than generic stuff like smaller class sizes, better results, better educated parents?
Do any of those help with morals? I'm wondering whether you have much experience of public school kids - I'm certainly not saying they're all awful, some were my best mates, but I met a lot at university and I got the impression that a similarly high proportion of them as in the general population are nasty and unpleasant people.
😈 Of course bearing in mind the sort of morality it takes to be successful enough in business to send your kids to a school like that, you'd almost expect this sort of behaviour from them 😈
They're only doing what the Germans were doing 70 years ago, and seeing as they are public school, it fits.
Not fit to be pond slime.
Teens make mistakes. It's what adolescence is made for. Give em a telling off and move on.
What's the expression, reverse what?
Teens make mistakes. It's what adolescence is made for. Give em a telling off and move on.
Totally agree, public school or not a mistake at 17 ought not to be a lifetime of grief, the embarrassment brought on themselves should suffice.
Not sure a criminal conviction in Poland turns up on CRB (Criminal Record Bureau) check in the UK. It's not clear they will be tried anyway. I would suggest a few days in Polish custody and being expelled from the school is sufficient. Some name and shame wouldn't go amiss either.
.... I got the impression that a similarly high proportion of them as in the general population are nasty and unpleasant people.
Yep, being an arsehole transcends social classes, I'm not sure why that should surprise anyone. I suspect that the motive was bravado and the obvious shocking aspect of their stupidity was designed to impress others.
Being young and incredibly stupid doesn't however preclude that they won't grow up. Stephen Fry despite having received a rather privileged upbringing managed to get a conviction and serve a custodial sentence at the age of 17, he seems to have turned out alright.
Totally disagree with "let em' make mistakes and move on"
To understand what went on there and be respectful of it means an intelligent understanding of moral grounding.
Cleary they have none.
Let em' suffer, ridículas situation brought on by some sort of "higher than tho'" attitude.
And if you think my comments about their "network" being the main point of my argument then I feel very sorry for you for not understanding written English.
Totally disagree with "let em' make mistakes and move on"
You probably need to explain how they should punished relentlessly for the rest of their lives in that case.
This is common stuff of teenage years is it really any worse than taking and crashing your dads car or minor shoplifting should two kids be publicly pilloried for it and have their entire lives ruined. Utterly wrong and shameful behaviour they have been punished for it in Poland and will no doubt be disciplined in school and home but the wider publicity and class envy witch hunt is out of all proportion.
Do any of those help with morals?
Not sure, what is the answer?
I'm wondering whether you have much experience of public school kids - I'm certainly not saying they're all awful,
That's a relief then
some were my best mates,
Along with the other usual suspects?
Of course bearing in mind the sort of morality it takes to be successful enough in business to send your kids to a school like that, you'd almost expect this sort of behaviour from them
So all parents at the Perse and similar schools are immoral? Hmmm, that's a lot of folk you are being rude about.
And expectations? Of course you would, being an arse is part of the extra curriculum activities. Thursday nights after prep. Special classes....
😯
I'm never quite sure about the difference between a moral and an ethic but I certainly think private education and giving some a better chance than others is morally questionable so I would expect people who send their kids to those schools to have questionable morals. Having said that I would not blame any individual parent for sending their kids to a private school because state ones are not that good, but that links back to my first point.
I went to a good private school, single mother social worker. Quite a lot of the kids at private schools are on scholarships and bursarys. I'm certainly not part of any network I know of and some of my furniture is MDF.
I went through a stage of being a thieving little ****, I'm a model citizen now, glad my teen misdemeanours haven't been held against me.
Doubt I'd ever have gone that far but teenage brains aren't wired up like us grown ups.
Ok, well that's getting better. Questionable morals but excusable. The sighs of relief will be palpable....
Could someone post a link to this 'network' mentioned above. I feel I'm not getting my monies worth without it.
you only need to look at the earning power of private school kids post the same uni education as state kids to see the monetary value
It is disappointing to find so much hateful prejudice on a thread about Auschwitz.
[quote=richmars said]Could someone post a link to this 'network' mentioned above. I feel I'm not getting my monies worth without it.
It's all here.
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Heard this on the radio yesterday.
Once my knee had stopped jerking, it sounded to me like they'd just picked up some random bits that were lying on the floor. (Dunno if that's the case, just how the news seemed to be explaining it.) Have they actually "stolen precious artifacts from a museum" or is it more akin to finding fossils on the beach and pocketing them without thinking? Anyone know anything about how the place is laid out?
I visited Auschwitz last month...I'm interested in history, in particular the WW2 and have read about it in a few books.
If you understand the history and the suffering there, touring the place is a sombre experience - reading about what happened is shocking, but seeing the scale of the place in person brings it home.
There was a chap with a flag of Israel crying as he walked past.
When I was there, there were many school parties...groups of kids wondering about laughing and messing about, taking selfies etc.
I don't think they can relate to what they're seeing...I wonder if they visit the place, then learn about what happened. So to them it's just a school trip/holiday.
is disappointing to find so much hateful prejudice on a thread about Auschwitz.
Thats funny! What have I missed?
It's all here.
Sorry, still don't get it. I went to a state school, my son didn't. How does it work for me?
If doesnt, you went to a state school.
The disconnection of a large chunk of today's youth from events more than half a century ago is inevitable, sadly, despite the best efforts of the older generations.
Background or privilege has nothing to do with it. I'm sure lots of kids who are taken around Auschwitz will be glued to their phones and taking selfies.