Having arrived the night before and still being a bit
tired, we went to the hosting school, the Business
Academy Bexley, that morning and were introduced to the participants of the
other countries. We came from very different parts of Europe, as there were
delegates from Spain, Poland, Germany, and of course England.
We started getting to know
each other better by taking part in a little football tournament, even though
it was mostly the boys that played, while many of the girls took advantage of
the opportunity to chat.
Afterwards, we attended an art lesson, were we talked a little about
manners. It was surprising to discuss the subject of manners in an art class,
but the teacher explained the connection between good manners and time: When
you are in hurry you tend to take less time for good manners, which is why in a
world that gets faster and faster there is a challenge for all of us to keep up
polite and considerate behaviour.
However, even more interesting that day was our tour
through the school, because what we had not realized until then was that all
students (or at least the lower grades) had to wear school uniforms.
They prevent people from bullying others on account of
their clothes, e.g.in case some pupils might wear less prestigious jeans or
shirts than others.
PersonalIy, I think there
still is a risk of discrimination, for example because of other distinguishing features
like hairstyles or grades. However - wearing school uniforms might at least
help with this aspect - it is better to do a little than nothing at all. They
contribute to the exercising of good manners if nobody has to fear being harassed
just because they can’t afford to buy more expensive brands of clothes.
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