A Mercedes Benz SUV overtook me on the freeway this morning and the negative impact of elite private schools was crystalised through my driver’s side window.
This was a black, new GLS and these babies can retail at up to $400,000 if you add the premium bells and whistles. This vehicle appeared, at my brief glance, to have omitted few of the luxury options. It was impressive.
Cranbrook School was the subject a Four Corners report this week.
But beyond the trimming, two factors most sharply drew my attention – the speed the car was travelling and the L-plate prominently positioned on the windscreen.
I had cruise control locked onto the speed limit as the Merc, by my estimate, cruised by at around 115 km/h. I briefly scanned the occupants and noted a young man driving in the distinguished and clearly identifiable uniform of a local school that would be described as the Mornington Peninsula’s most elite.
A suited man sat next to him, absorbed on his phone.
Here before me was the moral of the ABC Four Corners exposé of one of Australia’s highest fee-charging schools, Cranbrook School, in one of the nation’s wealthiest suburbs, playing out on my work commute.
That moral – when your privilege outweighs your responsibilities to others, the rules mean nothing. And when the rules mean nothing to you, we all lose.
For the female teachers featured on Four Corners, whose crime was to attempt to teach hyper-privileged young men who perceive immunity from rules and consequences, the consequences can be devastating.
Just like the potential loss to the community if the inexperienced 17-year-old freeway driver were to make a mistake while being poorly supervised at 115 km/h.
Telling students they’re ‘elite’ fails them, their school and our society
16
0
06.03.2024
A Mercedes Benz SUV overtook me on the freeway this morning and the negative impact of elite private schools was crystalised through my driver’s side window.
This was a black, new GLS and these babies can retail at up to $400,000 if you add the premium bells and whistles. This vehicle appeared, at my brief glance, to have omitted few of the luxury options. It was impressive.
Cranbrook School was the subject a Four Corners........
© The Sydney Morning Herald
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Rami G Khouri
Mort Laitner
Donald Low
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
