I have been a Parktown Boys' High School parent for the past five years. Contrary to the school being ruled by what The Star superficially refers to as a "culture of violence", it is in reality ruled by excellence.
Parktown has excellent discipline and a strict code of conduct upholding respect for authority.
Traditional boys' schools are not for every young man: those who will thrive in an egalitarian atmosphere with few rules, and little emphasis on sport and school activities should enrol elsewhere.
Part and parcel of a traditional boys' school like Parktown is a certain amount of initiation: the various rites invariably include pranks and physical exercise. The going is sometimes tough, but 99% of the boys value the experience and lead the initiation ceremonies when they become seniors. We've never heard of any boys suffering undue hardship during initiation.
Does this mean that what has been reported - I might say from mainly one source, the mother of the boy who is alleged to have been beaten - is largely exaggerated or untrue? I don't know, but we should wait until a properly constituted inquiry is held. If there are boys who are proven guilty of barbarity, they will be punished. The mother jumped the gun, in my opinion, as did The Star.
We have a strange way in South Africa of wanting to denigrate and tear down success stories, when so much is defective in our society.
We've fallen into the trap of ageing democracies, that of political correctness at every turn. We should focus our attention a little more on the Singapores, Taiwans, South Koreas of this world, who may not be as democratic as we'd like, but, I have no doubt, run excellent disciplined schools like Parktown Boys' High.
Alan Murray
Parkview
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