Dear
CAS Students,
Last week the SMT (Senior Management Team) were asked, we imagined, to decide whether the School should formally support a head-shaving campaign to raise money for a targeted radiation device at Mount Miriam Hospital. We discussed the issues and, while there were various levels of support and opposition, in the end the
unanimous decision was not to have this as a formal school event.
(According to a student, there apparently has been NO vote and NO unanimous decision despite what was stated) Unfortunately, without waiting for the SMT decision, the event was to be announced to students and I have since been given a letter outlining the arguments for this event, none of which change
my own view that our original decision was the
correct one.
(Is there any justification for banning a charitable event that doesn't do harm?!) Nevertheless, I would like to respond to the letter, in a spirit of a
thinking-skills exercise (I'm not sure if he used his pea-sized brain for this...), because I think
the students involved have not really subjected their arguments to proper analysis.
(Judge this for yourself after you've read the points below given by him and tell me who should be the one to subject their arguments to proper analysis) Some of the views below I actually hold while, in others, I am tending towards the provocative, but all need to be thought about by the proposers of this
scheme (I wonder if he intended it as a pun):
Point 1: this is a CAS event that will raise funds for a theraputic machine that may extend life in some cases. This is a worthy aim although students should be aware that this is a very expensive method of health-care and that their CAS funds could improve more lives per
ringitt (WTF! He can't even spell Ringgit right!) by being used in other ways - vaccines for
third-world children, cataract subsidies for the
poor, etc
(WOW, I didn't know that all cancer patients are rich *rolls eyes*) and my own opinion is that part of CAS should be for students to be aware of and investigate the
economics of charity.
(MAJOR WTF!? We are talking about CHARITY here for fuck's sake, people do it on their own freewill, cheapskate people like him do not have to contribute if he thinks it's a waste of his fucking money!) With so little around, it is crucial we use it wisely.
Is supporting high-technology medicine in Penang actually for others, or ultimately for ourselves? (erm...ourselves? Of course it's for others like *DUH* If you don't have cancer, how is the technology going to benefit you? And has he been living on the other side of the universe or what? Cancer treatments are ALL high-tech because they NEED to be and that makes them EXPENSIVE)
Point 2: this creates awareness about the side effects of cancer.
In what way is this at all useful? (What kind of question is this?) If you were to, say, create awareness of the signs of cerebral palsy then that might be very useful in making some people more tolerant of sufferers rather than mistaking them for, say,
drug addicts.
(I bet he thinks that way >_<) My opinion is that the massive majority of people already know that hair-loss can result from cancer therapy, but
how does my knowing that help them in any way? (Only people who lack empathy or are as apathetic as him can say this out loud) Since more men have shaved heads this days than are suffering from cancer at any one time, and since
many cancer patients wear wigs (I wonder if he really thought about why they wear wigs. I mean they could be self-conscious and don't want ignorant people like him to stare...),
I am in danger of misidentifying the PE Department as cancer patients.
(Is this how a principal dis his own staff?) But in any case,
should I be treating them differently? In what way? (I do not believe he had not stare once at a handicap person or even a weird-looking person for that matter. I admit I do sometimes stare myself, but I try my hardest not to.)
OMG! Demi Moore has cancer because she's bald!
Point 3: this creates empathy for cancer patients.
This is arrogant almost to the point of being offensive.
(How is this so? I really don't get it) There is no truth whatsoever in the claim that a
haircut (It's not just a haircut, it's shaving ALL of your hair dimwit!) brings you any closer to the pain of those dying or those having to cope with the dying.
The innocence of this argument reminds me a lot of 'luvvie' thespians who claim that they 'got into' the role of a prisoner-of-war by eating lightly for a month. They didn't, and you won't. (*ahem* World Vision holds an annual 30 Hour Famine event internationally, now why do they do that?) If I had two weeks to live and a bald teenage boy came up to me and said that he could feel my pain, I would probably die laughing on the spot. (How much more cynical can you get?! This statement really makes me SICK!)
Point 4: we want to let cancer patients know we care.
I don't believe this. (The only reason I can think of for not believing is because he does not care himself) Those cancer patients with family will not care about how you feel or what you do: they will be focussed on survival and the possibility that they may have to say goodbye forever to their loved ones. Those without family, perhaps dying alone, would love to know you care, but by giving up some of your time to visit them, or take them out for the day, rather than walking past their window with a shiny head. (My dad had passed away more than a year ago because of cancer. I can honestly tell you that support from others be it physically, mentally or emotionally meant A LOT)
Point 5: donation of ponytails to children suffering from hair-loss. Very good sentiment, but
you don't have to shave your head to do this.
(True, but you get more hair and longer hair when you shave) Grow it a bit longer (The minimum length of hair required for donation is 10 inches, and I wouldn't call that a bit since it takes quite some time to grow that much hair), then cut it, and then donate it.
(Next, he'll start on how guys can't donate because they are not suppose to grow long hair -_-'')
Point 6: lots of publicity.
Some of the publicity is needed to explain why Uplands students are walking around with no hair. (HUH? There is no need for publicity to explain why students are bald, it is mainly for awareness, and the school gets some publicity too. Isn't that what he as a principal should want so people will see how the school gives back to society as well instead of just taking?) But then if you still had your hair you wouldn't need the publicity! The rest of the publicity creates awareness but, as I say to Point 2, what actually is the point of this awareness of the side-effect of a medical treatment?
Point 7: you are not ashamed of being bald. No, and why should you be? But you need to do a bit more
"IB learner-profile reflection" (I find this really insulting to the IB and IB-ers) and examine whether you would actually
be proud of the temporary baldness?
(If you are brave enough to shave off all your hair for charity, I think you've earn the right to be a little proud of yourself don't you think? I was certainly not brave enough the last time, nor am I now. Seriously kudos to the only girl who shaved her hair the last time! She should feel extremely proud of herself for collecting the most funds) If you are, then you are probably doing this for the wrong reasons, namely that you would like to feel pious, in which case you are not participating in Community Action Service, but rather in MMM (Me, Me, and Me). (I believe that everyone does charity to feel pious to a certain extent, there will always be a hint of "Me" in whatever we do. It is human nature, you can't deny it, and it doesn't make it wrong. A lot of people do charity work because it gives them a sense of self-actualization and it feels good. Aren't people suppose to feel good about helping others? Who in the world will feel bad when they are doing something good? )
The SMT decision stands for now but if the organisers of this event can give valid and cogent reasons to support their seven original assertions above,
I am prepared to go back to the SMT this week and ask for a reconsideration based on those (new) arguments, and will go along with the majority decision. (yeah right...)
An official response has already been made by a student to the principal. I sincerely hope this event goes through be it held on campus or externally. (Did I mention that he "threatened" students who were going to shave their heads, even if the event is to be held elsewhere with no link to the school?)
I salute those of you who will shave or have shaved your heads for an awesome cause!
As I have mentioned at the beginning of the post, this is a
PERSONAL response and has no relation whatsoever with what is actually going on with the negotiation at the school. I just felt the need to point out how such a principal is currently ruining the school spirit. The school motto is
RESPECT FOR SELF, RESPECT FOR OTHERS, and it is just ironic how disrespectful the principal is towards the plight of others. Another reason I'm taking this to a more personal level despite being an ex-student is because I have lost my dad to cancer. I feel that cancer patients should get all the support they need and the world would be a much better place without horrible people such as the above-mentioned.
UPDATES:
There had been some e-mail correspondence between a student and the principal. This is his final reply on the matter.
Dear student,
Thank you for the clarification. What I said to you as a group of three this week should also have been clear: that this is an issue of the School supporting a specific CAS activity, not of censure of individual freedoms. I said to you very clearly that, as individuals, you can do more or less as you wish and, since there is very little about "hair-codes" in the School rules, you can do what you like with your head as long as you stay within the rules. Good luck on the money raising and, as a goodwill gesture, I have asked the IT Department to donate all monies from the sale of old computers this year, to the scanner cause. It won't be a fortune, perhaps worth three or four "head-equivalents" but it is something.
I do appreciate that, as a group representing students, you have behaved properly over this and, apart from some rumours about what appears on the Web (which, frankly, if true would make me ashamed to be associated with this school), it is some staff who have not respected the authority invested in the SMT and who have, needlessly, bought the School's reputation into question. I can assure you however that the great majority of the hard-working and positive staff at the School do not support their actions.
regards,
I am glad that the students can now proudly hold the event outside of school and raise the necessary funds for
Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital without dire consequences.
YAY! =)
He uses professional Wella products.
