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THE PRESIDENT OF the Union of Students of Ireland, John Logue, has defended the student turnout at last weekend’s Children’s Referendum.
He hit back at remarks made by Fine Gael TD, Alan Farrell, in which the Deputy asserted that the USI did not appear to have “done anything” on the Children’s Rights Referendum.
Logue said that the USI “did in fact take a stance on the referendum” as it called for a Yes vote, and that in the lead up to the referendum it worked closely with the Campaign for Children to promote the need for a ‘Yes’ vote.
In fact, we have been promoting the referendum since July when a representative of the Campaign for Children was invited to speak to incoming Students’ Unions from across the country at USI’s Students’ Union Training event about the importance of student participation in the referendum.
He said that the USI worked with Spunout.ie and Students’ Unions to organise voter registration drives on college campuses and “communicated the need for a ‘Yes’ vote to students on the ground via our member Students’ Unions”.
The USI appeared on national and local radio stations and released a joint press release with the Campaign for Children, added Logue. They also participated in a photo call with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD.
Logue said that “aside from the factors which deterred all other sectors of society from voting” he could point to one “glaringly obvious” reason for the low student turnout:
Thousands of students were unable to return home to vote owing to the fact that they are awaiting their first maintenance grant payment and could not cover the fare.
The referendum had an overall turnout of 33.5 per cent. The fact it was on a Saturday was thought to benefit students. Deputy Farrell said that one of the primary reasons he had pitched a bill earlier this year on moving voting for elections and referenda to Saturdays was because students had been calling for it.
Though there is no official data outlining how many students did vote, Deputy Farrell said last week that there had been a lack of public comment from the USI and this disappointed him.
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I could say the alphabet backwards when I was 19
there was no support for me in school, i was reading at a 14 year old level and doing calculus by the time i was 7, i was reading dinosaurs latin names at 3,there were no resources in the 70′s and early 80′s when i went to school so i had to endure mind numbing boredom for 6-7 hours a day for 11 years, there was nothing the teachers could do, it put me off academia for ever, i just couldnt wait to get out of there
How about a case of a gifted young person whose financially challenged parents were repeatedly told their child had a “great future ahead” – which was interpreted by the parents as a great big dollar sign. The child was then told when they grew up they could “help” Mammy and Daddy which of course was correctly interpreted by the said child, who went off on a self destructive collision course to sabotage their own future as best possible, eventually culminating in a 6 month disappearance at the age of 28 leaving plenty of unpaid debts. A cautionary tale, but a lesson that parents should not have their child’s future framed in terms of how much their potential earnings are.
i should also mention my own laziness there and not put all the blame on others…
I could do my 7 times tables in 6.9 seconds when I was eight, now it takes me 6.9 days………
It would have been better to talk to the kids themselves than an educator who just speaks for them, no?
Of course any child’s talents should be supported but it is better to let children follow their passions. In terms of education problems (as being a genius isn’t a ‘problem’ per se), I’d be more worried about falling standards in schools and about kids who go to uni and can’t spell properly, can’t formulate an argument and will only do something if it is “on the exam”… because that’s how they’ve been conditioned by the Leaving Cert. Doling out A’s and B’s just seems to enhance ‘entitlement’ culture that flourished during the Celtic Tiger debacle…
Try being a gifted kid growing up in a working class Catholic family, educated at a Catholic state school where any deviation from the norm made you a potential delinquent or a target for bullying. There are gifted alcoholics propping up bars in towns and villages all over this country, those who managed to avoid being labelled and institutionalised as many gifted adults were and still are I suspect.
there probably are gifted alcoholics propping up bars everywhere…..but they have no one to blame but themselves….
“So, here, they can make friends and talk about whatever they want – comics, girls, cars, sports, whatever – just like any other group of kids.”
Girls?
How very inclusive of all bright kids.
CTYI doesn’t accomplish a lot of its stated aims. Back in my day, a lot of the people who went there were hippie-stoner types. At least they had more then enough brain cells to murder with weed fumes…
Could easily be confused with Asperger Syndrome based on the behaviours these gifted children exhibit.
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