Who’ve Have Thunk It ?

The BBC(!) has an interesting article on one of the first examples of Liberal social policy:

Q Camp was a utopian experiment which tried to get troubled boys to operate a self-governing community in the middle of the countryside...

Staff and boys lived in the most primitive conditions, in ramshackle wooden huts without windows or sanitation. A Probation Service inspector described the camp as "dirty and dismal" in one report. She said the sleeping huts filled her with "horror" and the beds "looked grimy".

Work was shared, but the youngsters weren't compelled to lift a finger. A camp council of staff and boys imposed what little discipline there was. There was also a school but attendance was voluntary and the school hut was set on fire on several occasions.

It was Mr Barron's belief that the young boys should not be told what to do. Smashed windows remained unfixed and obscenities were left daubed on walls because he believed it was better to leave the jobs until the boys responsible agreed to do them. They rarely did.

But the sting is in the tail:

So was it a failure? The Q Camp probably only got away with it for so long because in the middle of a war, and a manpower shortage, the authorities were glad to find anyone prepared to take on difficult children.

But in its determination to move away from the authoritarian model of the approved schools, it anticipated many of the ideas on residential childcare that became common in later decades.

Many of those involved went on to become senior and influential in their field.

As if we ever doubted it.

It takes more than complete failure to derail Loony Left ideas. That’s why we get reports like this from modern Britain:

A much stricter behaviour code was introduced that bought radical changes, says Mrs Edwards, whose educational background centres on inclusions and special needs.

"It's very much about back to basics and zero tolerance, bringing back rules and clear boundaries, rewards and consequences that are consistently carried out," she says.

Really ? Having structure and standards improves a school ?

Seriously, whatever will the Left think of next ? Does anyone who isn’t a) an educrat, or b) David Cameron ever not think that maintenance of good order was a basic requirement for successful education ?