IT APPALS me how Fife Council seems to be oblivious to the fact that our children aren’t disposable commodities. I feel, along with many parents at Kings Road Primary, that our P7 kids are the unfortunate victims of a case of bad planning and poor time management, which frankly is unacceptable. We are talking about young human beings who should be on course to better their future. Our children are not statistics, nor are they mere numbers who can be shoved from pillar to post.

It makes my blood boil to think that, despite the uncertainties ahead, Kings Road Primary P7 were invited last Tuesday (12th) to take part in a transitional programme to ease their integration into high school life.

At a time when what they need most is stability, we are carelessly hitting at their fears of what lies ahead instead.

On Tuesday evening, we, parents, witnessed the crushing effects this limbo game is beginning to cause.

On the night, our children were sold the high school dream in all its glory. It was slick, it was sexy! I, for one, wanted to enrol, go back to high school. I wanted to join clubs, I wanted to feel part of what seems to be a flourishing, inspiring and nurturing high school life. I was on a high with excitement.

But you know what? When I asked my daughter which classes she was looking forward to, which clubs she’d probably join, her reply hit me like a ton of bricks. "None. Nothing mummy. What’s the point, we might not even go to that school …".

Crash! The high school dream crushed before it even began. 

Don’t children have enough social pressures to contend with? My daughter suffers from anxiety. What was meant to be the start of a great journey last Tuesday turned into a nightmare.

How am I to watch this happen to her without reacting? Is this morally acceptable?

Isn’t it time to find alternative medium-term solutions that do not risk creating long-lasting damage?

B Duncan,
Parent of a P7 child,
Kings Road Primary, Rosyth