One story I worked on during the Autumn of 1981 focused on “The Teachers,” a commune-school group in Wales with an office in London. Although I didn’t end up writing about that group then, I did interview some of their principals in London. My story would have focused specifically on a young child who had been put out into the wilderness alone at night by the group, for some minor misdeed or another. Mine would have been a good story, had I chosen to formally write it up and have it published.
In Autumn 1981, Britain was a sometimes tidy, if equally somewhat unsettled place,. Not everyone was pleased with the Thatcher government, but Mrs. Thatcher had powerful friends not only in Britain, but also in Washington. President Reagan thought very highly of her, and even though he was thought of as something of a ‘cowboy’ by many in the British media, the British media didn’t control all of Britain, try though many of them might to do so.
One day, I read a story in either the Guardian or the Independent, talking about a group with a commune-school in Wales, called ‘The Teachers.’ That group represented a kind of Spartan upbringing for youngsters, and they ‘d just made headlines, when they’d put out a very young boy into the countryside alone at night, as a punishment for some minor misdeed or another.
Well, the story said that the reporter had tried to contact The Teachers more directly, but had been turned away. I thought maybe I’d have better luck.
I found a phone number for the group, and called their London office. They were interested in my reporting about them, but would start by allowing me to interview some of their principals in that London office. We arranged a time, and I went there for our interview.
When I arrived, the small group was eating their supper, I believe, consisting of lamb and other humble Welsh fare. I may have partaken of a small amount, though I can’t recall that for sure.
After they’d finished eating, I asked them some questions. I asked how they ran their commune-school, how old the children were there, and why and how they applied the Spartan discipline they did.
They were very eloquent, and spoke of how society had become soft on misdeeds; how they had gone back to the land to try to establish a more natural connection with life; how they believed in training children as if they were to be adults responsible for their actions. It all sounded fine, except I kept wondering, great, so do everything but allow young children (the one in question, aged 11 or 12) to be tossed into the wilderness alone at night. Wasn’t that a bit extreme?
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