Who Mucked Up "Muck Up Day"?

Muck up day song (Photo credit: Jetekus)

by Jane Caro, Lecturer, School of Communication Arts at University of Western Sydney, The Conversation: http://theconversation.edu.au

“Most schools used to call it Muck Up Day, but we saw that as being something negative.”

So said year 12 co-ordinator Annette Hall of Presbyterian Ladies' College - one of many schools who have changed the name given to end of year festivities for graduating students to “Celebration Day”.

Negative? Muck Up Day? What school did you go to, Annette Hall? What kind of young person were you?

I remember looking forward to Muck Up Day from the moment I entered Year 7 (then called 1st form). Far from being negative, it was a major incentive keeping kids at school (now called with typical modern-day pomposity, student retention).

After 13 years of the frantically increasing pressure that now characterises what passes for our education system (if only passes were all that were required) is it any surprise some students might actually feel like mucking up? But all the control-freaks like Ms Hall will allow is an appropriately decorous “celebration”.

Personally, I suspect the exam bound (and shackled) Presbyterian ladies would probably benefit from an anarchic blow out more than most.

Every time I look at school age kids today - from the poor little 5 year old mite in the uniform of an expensive boys private school whose backpack was so heavy he couldn’t actually lift it off the ground to the weary kids, trombone under arm, trudging home late from one of their myriad of after school activities - the more grateful I am that I went to school in the laid back 70s.

To read further, go to: http://theconversation.edu.au/who-mucked-up-muck-up-day-10280?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+26+October+2012&utm_content=Latest+from+The+Conversation+for+26+October+2012+CID_1777a3b0dc136161148b4d2847473650&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=Who%20mucked%20up%20Muck%20Up%20Day