An open letterto Karl Stefanovic

Pleasedonotoffer'humour'asan excuse

I

BY SANAM SHARMA

Dear Karl, The apologyyou offeredon air recently in response toyouruneducated tidicule of the'Indian community' ahead of the IndiavAustraliaCricketWorld Cup semi-final, is even more insultingthan your otiginal comments. Anapologyhas to be heart-felt,genuine,andLtn-conditional. Andfrankly,yours issimplyunacceptable.

\Vhat you offeredwasa mere justification. Tousemore'Australian' termsforyour benefit,you just tickeda box, mate (perhaps under duress fromyouremployer).

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Wehelpyouachievea betterlife and pursueyourdreams

Youwant tl1e Indian communityto acceptyour "uglymtecings" as mere banter comtesyyour "wayward,misguided sense of humour"?Well, there is another term thatbestdescribesa

If we everlosework or faced a redundancy,wewentaroundlooking for otl1erwork.Ai1ywork.Perhapsa fewextra shiftsata 7-11.Wenot aculture of "entitlements" bestowedupon you. wayward,misguidedsense of humour- insanity. And you can only be cmed of insanityif youseek help. Andforyoursake I hope youare on to it. line up in Centrelink queues. We takepridein earningan honestday's living. And workingfor it. Wecakeptidein tl1e fact chatwecontributeback co thenationthataccepted uswith open arms and offeredwonderfulnew opportunities.

Asyou'veprobably guessedbyoow, l affiliate myself to theAustralian Indian community. I am sure thatbynowyou would have been duly educated about the various achievements of the Indian communitywithin Australia. SoI will not delve into that.1 am going toendeavour to educate youa bit more on beinga migrant.

I, andquiteanumber of my friends within tl1is lndiaa community,arrived

However, our begimungs were pretty humble.And yes, for me and most of my fel1owmigrantfriends, it involved doingodd jobs to get starredin a new land. \Y/edrovetaxis. Some of usworkedingas stations (7-11s included) Otherscleaned dishes, labouredin factories, drove trucks, couriervans, and so on.

Butwe allworked.

Andworkeddamn hard. Andalwayswitha smile. No jobwasbigor small.

Everythingwas an opportunity. And today when we look back at those dayswecall them "character building"-a term not easy to affiliate with easilywhen you growup in

''societalstereotypes anddistinctions and not co promote them or sellthem as being 'fum1y'.Pleasedo not offer humour, banter, or anyother'casual' occurrenceasan excuse. The hurtandinsult mustbe judged from the perception of theperson or communityfacingthat 'fLmnybanter'.The 'idiot' dishing it out is not the benchmark.

Andyes,wecan takea joke.And banter aswell. But there isalways afine linewith thesed1ings. It'sok tonudge tl1acfine line occasionally.Bur, in your case,you breached that line not onlywith your comments but alsoyour apology.You sit in thatstudiowitha responsibilitytoqueU inAustraliaas rnigrants. Aslawful, skilled migrants.Weowemost of whatwe have todayto tl1iswonderfulcountrycalled Australia.And let me tel1 you,wenever take anyof it forgranted.

If youfeel thisletter is a bit of an over-reaction, then good foryou, because your remarks mademe feel livid. I tl1ought of not reactingcoyour slurs but you knowanotl1ergood thingthatlivinginAustralia has taught me-onemust standupand speak for things that one feels are not right.

Soir would have been pretty"unAustralian" of me tonotvoicemyconcerns. Regards, Sanam

Schoolsmusthelp thegrowthofresilienceandhumility, notjustinstudentsbutalsoin teachersandparents

0ne of the besr lessons students can learn at schoolis to understand the issue and nature of entitlement.Thereare of coursevery basic entitlements for students thatshould characterise every classroom: respect from theteacher,safetyfrombullying, a stimulatingenvironment,and a sense of purpose, validation and order. These aspectsof entitlement areenrirelyappropriate, though sometimes absent. A teachercanrespecttheseaspecrs of entitlementbypreparingfor lessons,becomingan expert on their subject matter,developing ongoingskills inpedagogy,and through learning to believe in thestudentstheyreach.Most classroomscelebrate th.is formof entitlement asanextensionof tl1e humanright to an education.

However,thereare aspects to entitlement as practiced in schoolsthatcan create arrogance, reduceresilience,encourage selfishness and engender a false sense of security.These aspects of entitlement areevidenced in the approach some teachers can have to tl1e classroom and meir students, and that some parents can have witl1 respect to schools.

Negative aspects of entitlement can be seenwhen lazy teachers 'outsource' learningto students. This cantake the form of endless lessons based aroundthe'read and summarise' approach. Negative entitlement can also be seenwhen a reacherhas asense of ownership overa particularclassroom space even though another reacher may need tl1e space. This sense of entitlement is particularly selfish when theroom in question is needed for a student whocannot climbthestairs due to recent surger)'- but is not givenup.

Entitlement can come across work and whoare only available outside of classfor veryrestricted times. namre of work and the nature of a 'professional' person. in a subtlemanner.Forexample, teachers whohavea practiceof failing coclean a whiteboard in a roomthey have just used, or who fail coensure a classroom isleft tidy, appear to beparticularly selfcenrred and lacking in a\vareness of otl1ers. Here the sense of entitlementextends co a sense of space. Moreover, there are teachers who will notreplyto emails, take weeksto mark smdent

Noclong ago l was on a lunch break at an interstate conference whenI wasmarking work sent bya smdent via email during theholidays. A senioreducator chidedme and said that I was setting avery poor example. She added that teacherswho ran extra classes in the holidays for students were trndermining theprofession becauseteachers deserved holidays. Thenextday a majornewspaper carried a story celebratingateacherwho was runningholiday classes at school for herYear 12 students, prior co majorexams. I showed tl1e article to the critic who shook herhead and said, "That teacher is placing herself indanger for being called a paedophile."Sadly,this critic was ina senior position within an educational institution.

Theselfish sense of entitlement asrecountedhere andpracticed by some teachersprovidesa negative role-modelfor students about the egativeentitlementcan also taketl1eformof unreasonable expectations. lt can be seen when a parentdouble parks in front of cheschool,placing me cluldren of otherfamilies in danger. It can also comewhen there is a demand for attention butno commensurate understanding when limitedresourcescannot fulfill everydemand immediately. A misplaced sense of entitlementis alsoevidentin tl1e atcicude of some smdents. This can be seen when they seem unableto adapt tocircumstances mat arisequite often and are predictable,suchasa failure in technology. Itis alsoevident whenmey are hastyto complain whenexpectationsare not met, cannotworkif there is no air conditioningor are reluctant to workwith others, share ideas, time orspace.Theseindicate a lack of resilienceand alack of humility. Resilience and humility are character traits that an education shouldinstil, foster andgrow.

Parentssometimes can also do mings, or bringan attitude thatbrings outtheworst, from a skewedsense of entitlement. Here I amdistinguishingbetween all responsiblepiuentswantingwhat is bestfor theirchild andmore broadly for aU children,whilst understandingthe limitations of resources,time,and energ)'.

From tl1e perspective of parents, the worseaspects of entitlementareevidenced by a sense mat their cluld must be in a particttlar team,competition or class. le can also be seen when a parentcannot bear theirchild beingdropped from an extension classorextracurricttlaractivicy, even thoughthe child doesnot meritbeingthere and anomer child is moredeserving.

A sense of entitlement thatis misplaced, arrogantly asswned ornot tempered byempatl1y, patience and kindness,orthat is poorly rolemodelled b)'teachers andparents, is Likely to undermine what a trueeducation can provide.