I attended my 20 year High School reunion last night. I approached the door of the Shark’s Football Club at Victoria Point with both excitement and trepidation. What would all of us be like after 20 years?
When I started high school in 1985, there’d been a fight between students almost every lunch-hour. The school had been stretched to the seams with around 2000 kids, and the fights seemed to be a reality we had to deal with, and in my case, avoid. The fights in school kept going for a couple of years and then died out. I found out that there had been a senior Year 11 student making younger kids fight by threatening them; and then placing bets on them to make a buck. (My father was a teacher at the school, so he knew the story.)
A variety of tough-case principals were posted to our school to sort us out with discipline. These men and women cracked down on behavior, uniforms, and students who liked a cigarette or two, in the days before smoke-free workplaces were thought of.
Dress standard and uniforms became the issue of the day; both for the teaching staff and the students. The command from the principal’s administration was that boys’ shirts needed to be tucked in, girls’ skirts needed to be knee height; and the formal uniform must be worn on every day except sports day, when the sports uniform had to be worn. Spot checks were carried out by teachers and non-conformists could be sent along to detention. Students caught loitering and making a nuisance of themselves around town in uniform were made example of, and would be sent to multiple detentions. I vaguely remember some were even expelled from the school.
Cleveland High School was (and is) a public funded school. From the students’ point of view, the school was required to educate students whether they wore the uniform or not. Some students rebelled against the rules, with girls wearing hiked up skirts to upper thigh level (which I appreciated greatly) and boys wearing their shirts hanging out. Socks were pushed down around the ankles. The school’s administration responded and cranked up the discipline further until the students staged a walkout and gathered on the oval; shaking the boundary fence and talking to the press about the unfairness of the uniform policy. I think some sort of truce was made by letting students have a free dress day every few weeks – but we had to pay money for it. I’m not sure what the money was used for, but I paid 20 cents or so to wear light blue trousers and an orange shirt. I’m not sure what I was thinking or how I survived those days - today, I’d pay $20 so I didn’t have to wear light blue trousers or an orange shirt.
Fights, smoking bans and uniforms seem a bit hilarious in comparison to the drug risks, cyber-bullying and physical threatening that are present in some schools today, but these were the issues we grappled with. While we struggled through English, Maths, Physical Education and a foreign language or performing arts, Madonna became a sensation with “Papa don’t Preach” and “Like a Prayer”. Michael Fox rose to stardom as Alex in “Family Ties” and Marty in “Back to the Future”. An Australian Band known as 1927 played “That’s when I think of You” and “Compulsory Hero”. John Farnham made it with “Whispering Jack” and “Age of Reason”. Remember Rick Astley? – better not to perhaps. INXS was top of the charts with “Kick”. Of course, there was Kylie in her Stock Aitken Waterman years. In 1989 (my final year at school), the Beach Boys' “Kokomo” was huge, but has seemed a bit daggy since; while the B52s “Love Shack” still calls lots of people to the dance floor.
With all this in the background, I walked into the reunion last night. And I had the best time. I met business owners, managers, a radiologist, a Colonel in the Army, a soldier who’d fought in East Timor, a solicitor, Mums and Dads, an architect, computer programmers and information technologists, a horse breeder, an editor, a golf coach, an accountant and a naval lawyer. I couldn’t recognise everyone, and nor could everyone recognise me. But I couldn’t help noticing how generous everyone was. Their welcomes and congratulations were so refreshing. My classmates have done all right with their lives and I'm glad.
Thanks to everyone who came along, and to the organisers for such a great night. I will always remember us leaping around to the Black Eyed Peas – “I Gotta Feeling”; and gathering into a circle for “That’s what friends are for”. Keep being awesome and see you for the next one.
When I started high school in 1985, there’d been a fight between students almost every lunch-hour. The school had been stretched to the seams with around 2000 kids, and the fights seemed to be a reality we had to deal with, and in my case, avoid. The fights in school kept going for a couple of years and then died out. I found out that there had been a senior Year 11 student making younger kids fight by threatening them; and then placing bets on them to make a buck. (My father was a teacher at the school, so he knew the story.)
A variety of tough-case principals were posted to our school to sort us out with discipline. These men and women cracked down on behavior, uniforms, and students who liked a cigarette or two, in the days before smoke-free workplaces were thought of.
Dress standard and uniforms became the issue of the day; both for the teaching staff and the students. The command from the principal’s administration was that boys’ shirts needed to be tucked in, girls’ skirts needed to be knee height; and the formal uniform must be worn on every day except sports day, when the sports uniform had to be worn. Spot checks were carried out by teachers and non-conformists could be sent along to detention. Students caught loitering and making a nuisance of themselves around town in uniform were made example of, and would be sent to multiple detentions. I vaguely remember some were even expelled from the school.
Cleveland High School was (and is) a public funded school. From the students’ point of view, the school was required to educate students whether they wore the uniform or not. Some students rebelled against the rules, with girls wearing hiked up skirts to upper thigh level (which I appreciated greatly) and boys wearing their shirts hanging out. Socks were pushed down around the ankles. The school’s administration responded and cranked up the discipline further until the students staged a walkout and gathered on the oval; shaking the boundary fence and talking to the press about the unfairness of the uniform policy. I think some sort of truce was made by letting students have a free dress day every few weeks – but we had to pay money for it. I’m not sure what the money was used for, but I paid 20 cents or so to wear light blue trousers and an orange shirt. I’m not sure what I was thinking or how I survived those days - today, I’d pay $20 so I didn’t have to wear light blue trousers or an orange shirt.
Fights, smoking bans and uniforms seem a bit hilarious in comparison to the drug risks, cyber-bullying and physical threatening that are present in some schools today, but these were the issues we grappled with. While we struggled through English, Maths, Physical Education and a foreign language or performing arts, Madonna became a sensation with “Papa don’t Preach” and “Like a Prayer”. Michael Fox rose to stardom as Alex in “Family Ties” and Marty in “Back to the Future”. An Australian Band known as 1927 played “That’s when I think of You” and “Compulsory Hero”. John Farnham made it with “Whispering Jack” and “Age of Reason”. Remember Rick Astley? – better not to perhaps. INXS was top of the charts with “Kick”. Of course, there was Kylie in her Stock Aitken Waterman years. In 1989 (my final year at school), the Beach Boys' “Kokomo” was huge, but has seemed a bit daggy since; while the B52s “Love Shack” still calls lots of people to the dance floor.
With all this in the background, I walked into the reunion last night. And I had the best time. I met business owners, managers, a radiologist, a Colonel in the Army, a soldier who’d fought in East Timor, a solicitor, Mums and Dads, an architect, computer programmers and information technologists, a horse breeder, an editor, a golf coach, an accountant and a naval lawyer. I couldn’t recognise everyone, and nor could everyone recognise me. But I couldn’t help noticing how generous everyone was. Their welcomes and congratulations were so refreshing. My classmates have done all right with their lives and I'm glad.
Thanks to everyone who came along, and to the organisers for such a great night. I will always remember us leaping around to the Black Eyed Peas – “I Gotta Feeling”; and gathering into a circle for “That’s what friends are for”. Keep being awesome and see you for the next one.
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