That's not cheating, that's teamwork!

Schools are very much in the news this week as we see them reopen; we hear sighs of relief from mums and dads, but I guess the kids are just as relieved to get a bit of space from their parents too.

I imagine most teachers will be grateful to get back into their classrooms; as brilliant as Zoom is, it can’t quite replicate that face-to-face connection.

Thoughts of school have caused me to reflect back; I have to admit, school days weren’t the happiest time in my life. I was bullied from a young age, and it got even worse, having passed the 12 plus and moving on to grammar school. I was always told, “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names will never hurt you.” I think we all now know how wrong this is, and no doubt has been a significant contributory factor to the poor mental health of many people.

It seemed my big ears, my squint, my rather gangly statue, more than my fair share of zits, and that somewhere in my ancestry, someone thought Gordon to be a good Christian name to accompany our surname of Bennett, were all suitable material to make my life a misery! (Yes my full name is Daniel Richard Gordon Bennett!)

Combined with a high energy level and a propensity to react, I seemed to stand out and appeared to be an easy target for my peers. My dad, a kind and gentle fellow, suggested when confronted I retort with, “Your brain must have been in your little toe, which was cut off the day before yesterday” really didn’t help!

Ultimately that unhappiness has played a significant part in making me who I am today. I’ve been told a few times I’m quick witted; I think something I developed as a protection mechanism. And, knowing that teachers really do work hard and give it their all, I can’t but help think our education system is fundamentally flawed, although based on my own personal experiences of 35+ years ago, so of course things could be very different now.

Remember back to exam days, where you’re sat in the hall with rows and columns of desks, spaced apart. Imagine if you turned to your neighbour and asked for help with question 6, and they promptly explained the answer; that would be called cheating. Yet out in the real World, whether you’re in a job or running your own business, turning to ask for help, or supporting your colleague is how the best results are achieved; that’s teamwork!

What about real-World lessons? How many teenagers understand money? As a youngster at primary school I can remember doing domestic science. Shouldn’t there be the equivalent for money, so our youngsters are better prepared for adult life. And I don’t mean money as the banks might want to teach it, surely far better sources like from the books “The Richest Man in Babylon”, and “Rich Dad Poor Dad”.

And finally, I never really understood why it was necessary to study so many subjects. Sure we all need an understanding of Maths and English, beyond that why force teenagers to try to learn something they have no interest in. Now I know there’s plenty of people who love Shakespeare, and I totally respect that, for me it was a complete waste of time; I simply didn’t understand it then and don’t understand it now. My time would have been much better spent on more physics and geography, and maybe even a bit of social history. Likewise, knowing that music is massively popular, it just doesn’t do it for me, probably because I don’t hear it properly. I think I have undiagnosed Auditory Processing Disorder, meaning my nervous system struggles to make sense of what my ears are hearing. Try speaking to me in French (and I was made to study it for 7 years), I simply can’t distinguish one word from another. Imagine if all that time and resource was directed into something I had a passion for, like farming. Likewise, lets encourage our children to put everything into their interests and help them be the best versions of themselves, rather than berating them and cajoling them into doing something they hate. It just makes me think of the old adage “Jack of all trades, master of known”.

Unfortunately the highly academic school I attended lost interest in me when they discovered my dream to be a farmer; grammar school boys should become doctors, solicitors and accountants. I’m just glad I’ve been able to follow my dream. I’m proud to be part of an industry that is down to earth, honest, hard-working, fulfilling and progressive. Much of farming is misunderstood (not just by schools!), it might help if instead of being called farmers we were called "Food Producers" because that's what we do; it provides a massively rewarding (albeit not particularly from a financial perspective) way of life. I’m always happy to talk to anyone thinking about farming and agriculture in its broadest sense. And if you find its your passion, follow through with it! It’s what got me through some tough years both as a youngster and later in life too.

Daniel Bennett; marketer and farmer, but not a grumpy one.