The 1337 E-mail
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2004 20:41:52 +0100 (BST)
From: CCHD
To: teh kr3w
Subject: Blogs (etc)
I am writing because you are the leading bloggers I know of in the school, and yesterday evening the Headmaster drew my attention to some pages you had created. He did not say they should be blocked - he merely said two looked unsuitable and the other two needed editing. But I was in a hurry at the time (I spent the evening recording a concert in Chelmsford), and could not easily check them so I blocked them prior to investigation today. Today I have spent too much time dealing with Netsky-Z and other matters, but I am unblocking the sites now. While doing so I'll explain my views on the matter. They won't be the same as yours or the Headmaster's, but I hope they are close enough to his so that he allows the sites to remain open. Much will depend on you.
You've all written to me or seen me today, and have agreed that the school can control what you put on the school's site, but you think that you have the right to express yourselves how you wish on external sites. You are right there, but only partly. If you should libel anyone, then we can prosecute you under standard laws. If you post anything defamatory, we can ask the site operators to remove it. They may refuse to do so, after which we can start legal proceedings, though we'd probably be more likely to ask your parents to help. But note that since the famous case of Godfrey versus Demon in 1999 - it's on many sites, e.g.
http://www.cyber-rights.org/reports/demon.htm
there has been a strong tendency for site operators to agree to remove anything when asked (Demon had to pay Godfrey 15,000 pounds, yet I and most commentators think this was a perverse result). If what you write can be linked to Felsted School, and if it presents the school in a bad light, then we have the beginnings of a case. Interestingly, we are unlikely to be able to do much about anything you might publish in a book or newspaper or on radio or television, but (owing partly to the Demon case above) much more chance of getting Internet material removed and authors disconnected. I have already done so in several cases - us webmasters and postmasters all help each other.
However, that's all rather heavy. We're sensible and friendly people, we don't have to think about going to the law. Back to these Blogs.
I have looked at several of them, and have been *very impressed* by some of your writings. Indeed, most of them. You are articulate and you write, in general, very well indeed. As I read it, I wonder if there's any better thing you might do with your spare time, and I reckon writing these Blog essays is so much better than playing computer games, chatting on MSN or any of a dozen other things you might be doing - I conclude it's marvellous, please continue. I wish I had time to read them all.
But there's just one problem (well, two or three). The main one is crudities. Four-letter-words. Sexual innuendos, and I fear not-innuendos as well. Rudeness. Inappropriate and unnecessary use of obscenities (but I suggest below that "appropriate" or "necessary" cases do not exist). And one silly choice of nickname.
Now I know we have a hypocritical society. We all know what's meant when the newspapers print stars. But we pretend not to. It's part of our culture, our society: it's almost a game, we use circumlocutions to be polite about many things where both the speaker and the listener knows exactly what is meant, and know that each other knows, but neither actually says it. All societies have taboo areas, often different. In our society some of these are "four-letter-words". You know what I mean. I know what I mean. So there's no need for me to elucidate, is there?
The major problem I see with some parts of your weblogs is that you have used taboo expressions. You have described events, yourselves, the school and other matters in language that is more sexually or scatologically explicit than is (in my view) desirable. You may wish to shock, to exaggerate, to joke or to show that you are not going to conform to silly restrictions. Or this may just be your natural mode of expression, you don't think about it, you're so used to it, you don't see any issue, your vocabulary stops there.
And that's my point. Vocabulary. The English language is rich in nuances of expression. There's always a dozen ways to describe the same thing, each with slightly different overtones. A craftsman of the language does not need to descend to the language of the gutter (and, yes, I know about James Joyce and others). The many places in your weblogs where you have used such language can all be rephrased - if you are clever, with greater effect - without it. There is a half-clever way of doing so (for example, "sanguinary ordure"), but it's much better to eschew such terminological allusions and write good plain English (this last sentence is not a good example of that ilk).
You can quite easily educate yourselves to get through life with no need for any "rude words" at all. If you do so, you will automatically avoid various embarrassments, and be at no disadvantage thereby. Rather like being a non-smoker. Which is less popular - a smoker in a roomful of non-smokers or a non-smoker in roomful of smokers? Similarly, which stands out more - a habitual swearer in a roomful of non-swearers or a non-swearer in a roomful of swearers? If you are naturally foul-mouthed, then you are more likely to upset than impress people. If you can train yourself to be naturally polite, so that obscenities just don't occur to you, then you can only be at an advantage.
So - would you please control your language in your Internet products? Edit out existing obscenities as much as you can. Continue to write honestly, impressively, freely and intelligently, be proud of what you do. There's no need for perfect typing or spelling, we all know what keyboards are like, but be considerate for your potential readership. Be fair in your criticisms, and err on the side of generosity.
--
Christopher Dawkins, Felsted School, Dunmow, Essex CM6 3JG
01371-822698, mobile 07816 821659 cchd@felsted.essex.sch.uk