Reasonableness

I looked at a bunch of young kids in their 13-16. I know the number because they were in secondary school uniform. There were about 5 guys and 3 girls. I saw one of the guy and thought he must be a nerd. Hey how do I know? This nerd was dressed in a short which is pulled up to mid waist with shirt tugged straight into the short. There is another girl with shirt hanging loose outside the skirt, with tanned skin and swift hair. If I were to guess, the school results of the guy must be one of the top, with the girl likely to be mid-point.

In school, we were often taught to be neat and tidy. That means you have to dress according to the rules and regulation. You can be neat in Nike sneakers and rapper jeans, but not pass the school dress codes. You may have beautiful flowing hair and nicely painted nails, but not neat by the school's standard. So neat or not neat is actually obedient or not obedient. One is neat because one is obedient. The scholars often are those who follow rules with discipline and consistency. They are also good at dressing by the book, and thus we can see the nerdy look common among scholars. But is that reasonable?

I felt that many amongst the smart as few sense of beauty. I saw the beautiful people marching in the shopping malls were often those not faring so well at school. They were cockcroaches in school, but the flowers on the streets. Nerds are the other way round, neat in school but thorns in the streets. Beauty is not something that can be easily described and no books can define them. But we know when something is beautiful. They were pleasing to the sight. Young men and women tried to beautify themselves, which I see as a process of learning the social requirements of an adult. However, the school suppresses these learning of the common sense. Alas, we arise the nerds as the new breed of individuals in the society. Highly trained and learned, little common sense and social understanding.

I say, go and let our kids play. Be there for them when they are hurt. Do not suppress their ingenuity.