Peter McVerry s.j.
-a summary of his address

Bodies in the River.

Peter Mc Verry opened with an arresting image somewhat reminiscent of the Catcher in the Rye, of bodies floating down a river, of the instinct to jump in and save them, to give them the kiss of life, and the thought of going upstream to see what was causing the casualties. He suggested that the young people being lost in Irish education were like bodies in a river, a river perhaps of disaffection and disadvantage. While somebody on the bank had to pull the bodies out and save them it was necessary also to go upstream to see what was causing the damage. To journey upstream in Irish education was, he argued, to see the clear need for radical reform.

A Great Education System?

While some people were describing the Irish Education system as the best in Europe, a closer look revealed that 4000 young people left school each year with no qualifications, 8000 more with only the junior Certificate. Recent reports had shown that too many young people were functionally illiterate. A system that was over-competitive at one end was failing at the other end to ensure that every young person left school at least being able to read and write appropriately. What would a tribunal of inquiry say about such a 'great system'of education? Surely questions would have to be asked..

On listening to prophets

School dropouts were to our society, Peter suggested, somewhat like the prophets were to the Old Testament world: they were telling us that something was radically wrong with our system and that it was a message we did not want to hear. Not just something wrong but, he believed, the most unjust system in our society. 'Because of the fundamental role that the educational system plays in determining a young person's life-chances, your place in society, the opportunities that will be available to you, your future lifestyle and the quality of your life.' For Peter McVerry a just society meant every child having the same opportunity and that patently was not the case in Ireland.

Our attitude towards difficult young people

He went on to talk about the young people who are in the hostels he is involved with. He talked of the fundamental attitudes needed in dealing with these young people; of not seeing them as brats no matter how difficult they are but of seeing how their fundamental needs had not been met either in their family, community or peer groups; and, how they were acting out as a consequence. These young people are victims rather than the causes of their own problems, he said, and what they needed was support and help. 'They are lacking in self esteem and see themselves as failures, and sometimes it is as much as we can do for them to make them feel that they are not such bad people after all.'

A just education system

Two things especially were needed if our education system were not to reinforce the inequalities which were already in our society. The system had to be:

a) Socially integrated (fee paying schools were symbols of the resistance those who were currently benefiting from the education system would offer to any fundamental change in the system which would give disadvantaged children a better opportunity.)

b) Comprehensive: balancing the curriculum and using new forms of assessment (modular programmes, credits etc) would give the disadvantaged a more level playing field.

On dealing with young people who are in trouble now

Anybody who wanted to make education better for disaffected and disadvantaged children had to be a member of what Peter humourously referred to as the ERA, the Educational Reform Association. But while we are waiting for reforms to be carried out we still have to deal with the problem kids who knock on our doors at 2 o'clock in the morning saying that they have left home. There is no point in telling them that you have been lobbying the Minister and that in five year's time things will be great.

Respect, dignity, hope and an open door

'Giving a person some sense of their self respect and their dignity is the core of what we are trying to do,' he said. 'if we don't do that, we can feed them, clothe them, look after them, but we are wasting our time'We also have to communicate to them that they can succeed. 'if we don't believe they can do it, there is not a hope in hell of their believing they can do it.'

You have to like the young people, he said; 'it's the personal relationship that changes them.' You also have to have consistency and a consistent approach by all staff which can be very difficult to achieve. A particular effort has to be made to resist the option of throwing people out and you have to have a policy which reflects that determination. We might all like a quieter life and it is all too easy to resort to the argument that its for the sake of the other kids. If a young person has to leave, as is sometimes the case, it is important to keep the door open, to say that if circumstances change you are welcome to come back. He concluded by saying that we must look at the long term future of these young people and the fruits of work that may not become apparent in their lives for years to come.

There was a wonderful response to Peter McVerry's talk and as people applauded loudly and sincerely one's impressions of the man leaving the hall were a cross between that same Holden Caulfield of Catcher in the Rye and those old testament prophets to whom he referred. I asked one woman coming out of Callan Hall what she thought and she said that Peter McVerry had put the pep back into her step.