Published in the June 22 – July 5, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Mike Brusa
Mike Brusa
I recently was in a class that was reading George Orwell’s 1984. This novel has been read in high schools for a long time. I read the story when I was in high school myself. Christopher Hitchens wrote a book titled “Why Orwell Still Matters.” I still think that he does, but I am not sure anyone else does. I was so engaged by that day’s topic I decided to read the book again. I agree with Hitchens. Orwell still matters, even if most people don’t recognize it.
The book portrays a dystopian world that is the creation of government force and a subtle manipulation of language. The plot had individuals writing and rewriting news stories to fit the propaganda of the government while others were busy creating a new language called new speak that was used in writing news stories.
The intent of new speak was to narrow the ability of expressing anything outside of the conventional wisdom of what was acceptable to the government, a government that was constantly opting for new methods to monitor and manipulate the thoughts and behavior of individuals. People lived in a world constantly observed and overheard by monitors on the street and in their homes. Language loomed large in that manipulation.
I recently noticed a subtle, but obvious manipulation of language using what I consider new speak in the Morgan Hill Life. I am sure that the author really had no idea. It was a small article in praise of a community service officer, Jeff Brandon. I know that the praise is well deserved and well intended. Community resource officer programs have been around for a long time. I remember that early in my career the school district where I worked implemented a program in the early ’90s in conjunction with the local community. It was a successful program. First and foremost a success because of the people involved in the program and their desire to help students.
My concern with the article is that it ascribes the success of the program to an idea called Restorative Justice. This is the new speak. Several years ago this term crept into the language involved in schools. It became part of the language required for grants doled out by the state and federal government. It is the money that caused people to buy into the false notion.
What is the false notion? It is that resource officer programs and administrators only have one method to use with students, punishment. It is the false notion that the school and local law enforcement are not capable of helping students without the wisdom coming from the central government. It is a false notion that the success of the program comes from a “new” concept, Restorative Justice. It is even capitalized.
Being involved with schools for more than 30 years these notions are completely wrong. I know of no administrator that has not used “restorative justice” when dealing with students. I know of no community resource officer program that sees punishment as the only means of dealing with students. I see the biggest false notion as the idea of politicians and bureaucrats not directly involved with students having any clue how to solve problems for students. It is also a false notion that “Restorative Justice” is new or that it requires a special program. That is a notion of politicians trying to make themselves relevant.
Yes, let us praise and award Jeff Brandon because of his work and because of who he is. Community resource officers are a special breed that combine a love for children with good law enforcement principles. Let us also honor the administrators and teachers that work with resource officers every day in the ongoing process to help students. Let us advocate for more of these programs and the individuals involved to be in all schools to continue the successful strategies that existed long before the new speak, grant-oriented phrase “Restorative Justice.”
Mike Brusa graduated from SJSU with a BA in political science and MA in leadership. He retired after 27 years in education. He is married, has five children and lives in Morgan Hill.
