Royal St Georges College - Georgian Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

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TUDENT

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l I ' THE UPPER SCHOOL REPORT J I recently wrote, on his report card, that a grade 13 graduate was one of the most thoughtful students I had ever encountered . and that, nthoughtfulness was a rarity these days. I then worried that thoughtful might be mistaken for polite or considerate lthough I don't want to diminish the importance of those qualities - both of which the above student has in abundancel. So I changed the comment slightly from thoughtful student to thoughtful mind lthough I hope one follows the otherl so that the student would understand that I was saying that he was a true thinker. He was a person who thought carefully about words and actions, their meanings and interpretations. their nuances and subtleties. their context and their im- plications. He understood that it wasn't good enough to do or say something unintentionally cruel or insulting or crude or vulgar or racist or sexist and then try to justify the ensuing damage by saying I didn't mean it that way . He knew he had to consider how someone else might interpret or react to his words or actions. lSee the Chairman's Graduation Day comments about the old saying Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me which can be found else- where in this yearbook.l In the spring. some of the students wanted to have a Prefect Slave Auction to raise money for charity. Though a noble end. the means couldn't be justified by it. When I asked why the event had to be a prefect slave auction. the answers ranged from It will be fun ordering them around to It's a way of getting back at them . Most of the students realized. as they listened to the reasons, that such an event was an ill-conceived idea. For the unconvinced. I asked them to consider how they would feel if they were one of the prefects being auctioned and they received the lowest bid or no bid at all. The potential humiliation was something I think they under- stood. I hope they did. I had a disturbing conversation last year with a Georgian who stated quite proudly that he was a super- ficial person who didn't think about things and took everything at face value. without digging deeper. Though I believe such a thoughtless attitude is a minority one at St. Georges we must strive to make it a non- existent one. Of all the things we try to teach students at the College. the most important. albeit difficult one. is the ability to THINK - thoroughly, rigorously. and honestly. And. if that's difficult to teach. it's even harder to learn and to do. But we must make the effort. All of us. G.D. O'fNleara Head of the l'pper School

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