Marking children on their integrity

Clavell Blount has circulated an old suggestion of his to the effect that juvenile crime could be reduced if kids knew that they were being assessed at school not only on their academic achievements but also on their character. Thus on his version of a Character Assessment Form the teacher and the relevant youth organisations would fill in forms about a pupil during the last term in state school, giving marks for integrity; general sportsmanship and interest in games 'without reference to ability'; industriousness ('is the pupil a trier or does he or she give up easily'); punctuality; health; good influence amonst contemporaries; esprit de corps; and whether the pupil would be likely to benefit from further education. Blount suggests that institutions of higher learning set aside special places for high character pupils coming up from the schools, who might not otherwise have secured a place on the basis of their academic records alone.

Adapted from a ten page paper from Clavell Blount, 36 Station Road, Thames Ditton, Surrey KT7 ONS (tel 081 398 2117).

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