A point of etiquette

[alt_sinistra]

Our students on the YPL camping trip are, of course, delighted with the new private communication function in the journals, but it has raised a point of etiquette.

Although it is possible to leave a private comment in someone else's entry, I'd encourage students to remember that simply because something is possible does not mean it is polite. In other words, the student whose entry it is may feel excluded or upset that others are talking behind their back about something they said - just like whispering in the corner of a room might make someone feel excluded or laughed at. It would be much more polite to withdraw slightly (in this case, one can easily make a new separate entry.)

Since one of the purposes of the YPL is to help students build social skills and connections that will continue to serve them in their adult lives, I suspect we'll be revisiting this question during the coming school year, once we have all had the chance to experiment more with this new great gift from our Lord Protector (and made manifest by the dedicated work of the Ministry staff involved.)

Mr Selwyn - my very great thanks for your work on this, and your willingness to engage with students who have questions about how the process works. I hope you don't feel I've overstepped in mentioning a matter of social grace that our students - especially our younger students - may not know how to handle well yet.

Finally, for the parents of our rising second years: the camping trip is thus far going quite smoothly, and I'm sure you'll be hearing from your children in the near future: there will be some quiet time this afternoon that will allow for notes in the journals, as well as other times throughout the week.

Comments

[alt_penelope]

Thank you again, Professor. I hope Mr Selwyn doesn't think you're overstepping, either, but it really was getting out of hand. An isolated incident or two, I'm sure I could have managed it on my own, or with Pyle. But when Zimmerman and Stevens both came to me a third time between last night and lunch....

Well. I'm glad you were willing to make this a little more official.

[alt_sinistra]

You're quite welcome, Miss Clearwater. I do think it's helped - but do let me know if you hear of further difficulties, and we can sort them out as needed. You were quite right to bring the problem to my attention promptly as with anything that becomes a repeated concern with the same students.

[alt_lana]

Thank you, Professor.

My sister isn't giving you any trouble, is she? I saw that she was making rather liberal use of the new privacy spell.

If Honoria does not behave to standard, she should be sent home. It's beyond time she learns self-discipline.

[alt_sinistra]

Honoria has been behaving quite well. While she - like almost everyone else on the trip - has been making use of the privacy spell, she's been doing so quite appropriately. (And honestly, it's easier than people doing their best from tent to tent late at night as happened last year.)

Now that we've pointed out the etiquette issues - and the first major burst of playing with the new features has died down - I think we'll have an excellent time. And as you know, while there's some relaxation time built in, we keep quite a heavy schedule of activities.