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Back in the Stone Age, when journalists used something called a typewriter, I was always pleased when my editors asked me to write about a newly released “report” on education.
I thought it was easy work: All I had to do was pull information from the two-page summary and press release that accompanied the report—and perhaps call some “expert” for a quote.
But now I’m older—and, I hope, a little wiser.
Earlier this week, I came across a British study that purportedly blamed schools for dooming young boys to a lifetime of “crime, drugs, and prison.” Schools, summarized a story in the Tele-graph, were failing to properly educate poor young boys, leaving them to become “misfits and criminals” when they grew up.
My initial reaction was, “Aha! A report that says schools are to blame for society’s woes. That sounds like politically inspired nonsense. Perhaps here’s an opportunity to write about bad research with exaggerated, ideologically based biases.”
A bit of a knee-jerk reaction, I admit. But my impression was reinforced by other media accounts, as well as some of the publicity material produced by the Centre for Policy Studies, the London-based think tank that released the report, Wasted: The Betrayal of White Working Class and Black Caribbean Boys.
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