Shiplake College’s rendition of Question Time returned last week, Monday 25 September, and for the first instalment of the academic year, it was our Year 12 pupils who gathered in the Lecture Theatre.
The host, Mr Player, had assembled a dream-team super panel to discuss some of the big issues not just in the world, but in the College today. Each panellist had a minute to respond to the questions and there was an opportunity to add and discuss throughout.
On the panel was 'the top G from sociology' Mrs Magee; 'someone who’s smarter, a self-starter, and the leader of camerata' Mrs Rapple Moore; 'everyone’s favourite geography teacher' Miss James; and 'the immaculately dressed and never stressed' Mr Shaw. As always, Mr Player’s panellist introductions are levels above and it’s good to see that they’ve continued this year!
Should the voting age be lowered to 16?
The general consensus amongst the panel was that the voting age should not be lowered to 16. Mr Shaw believes that even up until your early 20s, people are still not mature or wise enough to decide on a political party. With the influence of social media too, it is often challenging to look past misinformation or ‘fake news’. Miss James thinks that more education would be required if the voting age was lowered as currently, there is very little done at schools when it comes to political parties. Mrs Magee, while acknowledging that young people need a say as politics and elections are important for young people and their futures, thinks that young people tend not to vote as they have other priorities and concerns (school, exams, etc). And Mrs Rapple Moore, based on her experiences with Sixth Form pupils, believes that young people change their mind all the time and so questions how a 16-year-old can know what political party to vote for. Going forward, she even questioned if the voting age should perhaps even be raised!
Is it ok to ‘cancel’ people today for things they did in the past that used to be acceptable, even if they’re not now?
Mrs Magee strongly believes that people should be cancelled as issues like that need to be called out and addressed. Today’s society is an inclusive one and there is no place for anything unacceptable. Miss James, while believing that there is no place for unacceptable things in today’s society, thinks that education is a better solution rather than cancelling. Cancellation can have a detrimental effect and there have been cases of people committing suicide because of cancellation and/or online abuse. Mr Shaw thinks that it isn’t very fair to be cancelled for doing something that perhaps was legal at the time. Though he agreed it is a different case if actions in the past were illegal then and still are. Mrs Rapple Moore thinks that discussions are important, and that cancelling people isn’t helpful. The only way minds and attitudes are changed is when there are conversations and dialogues amongst people.
Choose a superpower: mind-reading, super-strength, or invisibility?
Miss James opted for invisibility as it means that she can avoid people she doesn’t want to see. It would also allow her to hear what others are saying about her. Mr Shaw also opted for invisibility saying that everyone’s thoughts are private and that it would be a gross invasion of privacy to mind-read. Mrs Magee went slightly off script, preferring to have the ability to be in two places at one time; while Mrs Rapple Moore doesn’t see the point in super-strength, thinks that mind reading could be useful, but that invisibility could give you a bit of everything.
