Alex Update

Via ERT

Alex Meschisvili has been missing since February. Five children confessed to killing him. Some of them have now retracted their statements. Their lawyers said that they were coerced by police. His body has not been found in the place the children said they had buried him. There is much speculation that at least one adult could have been involved in moving his body somewhere else. The DNA evidence from the first site has proved inconclusive. Alex’s mother continues to believe he is alive. I hope this is true, but it seems so unlikely. If he is alive, why did the boys say they killed him? There are so many questions still and so few answers.
Testimonies from witnesses are slowly being revealed including one woman who testified that she saw

the five boys dragging around a trolley on the streets of Veria

and another who said

she saw four of the five boys running in the streets panicked and with blood on their clothes

I wonder why no-one stopped to ask them what they were doing. Remember, this is a small town where people know each other. and the alleged murder took place near the main square. If my son came home with blood on his clothes, I would want to know what the hell happened.
It seems to me that there are underlying problems that need to be addressed. Schools seem to take very little responsibility for the emotional and psychological welfare of the children in their care. I do not blame the teachers entirely. They have precious little time to get through the curriculum, let alone anything else. Parents are under terrible pressure just to keep up with the workload that their kids have to wade through. They spend vast amounts of money on after school education just to keep up, which means many children are out of their home from morning till night. Studying.

I have been told on more than one occasion that it is up to me to make sure my child doesn’t fail. Not the school. Me. It’s got to the point where I spend all my time making sure my kid does his homework (typically three or four hours a day) rather than being able to spend time on the more important aspects of being a parent. Like bringing up a socially aware and responsible person. Providing outlets for that creative energy. Tending to his emotional and psychological needs.

I don’t care what grades my son gets for learning the dates of ancient wars or the names of the bones in his body, if he doesn’t know how to behave as a decent citizen. If he cannot form his own opinions about the world around him and the issues that affect us all. If he cannot use his own judgment and has to follow the crowd. If he and his friends cannot find support at school if they are being bullied.

I hear on the grapevine that this situation is about to get a whole lot worse. From September the curriculum is changing. This will mean more homework, more subjects added from a younger age, more testing, more pressure.

Is this really the way we want to go? Six year olds with so much expected of them that they are put off school for life, instead of experiencing it as an exciting new adventure. A new world opening up for them. Ten year olds with so much homework that they have no time to have fun to relax, to play. Yes, I believe ten year olds should still be playing not studying. There is plenty of time for facts and fractions, for dates and essays. Education does not begin and end with them. Childhood should not end at six. I fear for our children’s futures. They might have their heads full of information but will they be emotionally developed enough to form strong relationships. What will their personal values amount to if so much significance is put on grades at such a young age. How will their self-esteem be damaged if they are “failing” at school.

My son is bright, intelligent, able to engage in discussions, has opinions about what is going on around him. Yet, he is borderline “failing” according to his grades and his teacher who has warned me to keep up the pressure on him to finish his extremely dull homework and his parrot fashion learning. She always gives a wry smile when she tells me about his progress. She never fails to tell me how wonderful he is and how much she loves him. But she knows and I know, we are getting our values wrong here.

This has turned into a bit of a rant here, but it does relate to Alex. If we as parents, teachers and communities are moving further away from our children’s emotional/psychological well-being, where are we going to end up? With more social inept children? With more emotionally damaged children?; With more dead children?

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