In which I save the world (or at least ramble on about education n'stuff)

How depressing: according to this article, "Britain has the unenviable reputation for having the worst social mobility of any industrialised nation. What is more, the chances of a British youngster climbing out of hardship are said to be lower today than they were fifty years ago."

Depressing, but not surprising. A bit less than fifty years ago my parents, both from very ordinary working families, were starting at grammar school, from which they went on to Cambridge and professional careers in public service. Many people I know of my parents' generation also went the grammar school route. On the other hand, most (though not all) of my friends from Cambridge went to private schools (though not public schools, in the British sense - their alumni and I tend to quietly loathe each other), and most (though not all) of those who went to state schools went to nice schools in nice areas and came from firmly middle-class families who valued education. I'm not sure how I feel about the grammar school system - I can see that it's not ideal to determine children's fates at age 11, and make most of them feel like failures - but the thing about grammar schools was that they gave poor kids a chance. They created an environment where learning was valued and encouraged, rather than where being clever made you an outcast or a bullying victim.

The "solution" announced by the prime minister, of giving £200 to poor parents whose children take part in health and development programmes doesn't seem to be much of an answer, but I suppose it can't do any harm, especially if the programmes are actually worthwhile. But to me it seems like a sticking plaster for a deeply sick education system and wider culture.

One factor of course is the way Labour have sold out our education system. My parents received full grants to go to university. They simply didn't have to figure debt into their decision about what was best for them.

More importantly, we have a culture in which learning, knowledge and working hard are seen as deeply uncool. Giving a shit is for losers. Being interested is for losers. We want the moon on a stick but we don't want to have to work for it. Meanwhile the school system fails to ignite our sparks of interest in the world around us; most of the time it grinds them out. We finish our educations lazy and uninterested. I don't exclude myself from this assessment: I am by most standards an educational success story, but I'm profoundly lazy and my education failed to create in me any real love of learning. I feel like I was robbed of my own intellectual potential, my own internal resources, and most people are robbed much worse than I was.

So it really, really pisses me off - and saddens me - when Mark Easton, the BBC's home editor, writes: "In researching this issue for the BBC News At Ten tonight I was sent some fascinating graphs (how sad am I?) which show how household income distribution has changed in the UK since 1961."

For crying out loud, you are an adult! You are a top journalist! If you find something beyond football or telly or shopping fascinating, then just say so. You really shouldn't need a smugly self-deprecating little caveat about how uncool you are.

Many of us do this: we are apologetic about any display of intelligence or passion or interest. We reassure our audience that we don't really think knowledge or understanding is worthy of respect. But really, we shouldn't.

I was asking a Mexican friend of mine if they have the same problem in schools here: of lack of discipline, lack of respect for anything, working hard being uncool. He didn't get what I meant at first - probably not then - but once explained what I meant he told me that these things are not really a problem here. He had friends who worked hard at school and friends who didn't, and there were never any problems between them: they respected each other. My own experience with young people here is that they are generally much more pleasant and less sulky. They are relaxed in the company of adults and have more functional relationships with them. When they mention something at school they don't automatically feel the need to roll their eyes or make a comment to show how stupid they think it is. They can be enthusiastic and serious about it. The first time I realised this it was a bit of a shock: I asked about a school event, I did the face-pull-little-joke thing in response to the answer, then realised she was looking at me like I was an idiot. And I really was.

The truth is that hardship is a reality in Mexico. There are no guarantees of keeping your head above water. So you use all the opportunities and talents at your disposal, you work hard, and you're glad to. People understand that the no-one owes them a living, and they have to work for it. The way my Mexican friends enjoy getting down to their work, don't complain, and are grateful for it makes me wondering and ashamed. I will never understand the American stereotype of Mexicans as lazy: whilst I've rarely met a workaholic Mexican - they tend to have a healthy understanding of the work-life balance - I don't think I've ever met a lazy one. So can we recreate this attitude as a society without the spectres of poverty, hunger and misery?

I realise that I sound like some kind of middle-aged reactionary, but I'm not. I don't believe in Draconian discipline, but I do think schools need order and structure so that some work can actually get done, and pupils also need to learn self-discipline - that I have none is one of my biggest regrets. I don't believe anyone should be taught mindless respect or obedience, but children do need to learn a basic respect for each other, their teachers, and for learning, knowledge, and hard work.

Incidentally, I don't think being middle class and well off is better than being anything else, or any kind of reliable route to happiness. The dream of a nice house in the suburbs and a big car and a flatscreen TV does not excite me. Once I thought my education and cleverness at passing exams made me better than other people, but fortunately I'm a bit wiser than that now. But, I think everyone should have access to the education or careers that are right for them.

And I think school should be interesting. It should make you think that the world is an awesome place. It should give you the intellectual resources to use and enjoy your own brain, in your work but also in your pastimes and in your own thoughts. To think and notice and read and joke and play, to be more than a passive consumer of TV - equally if you're a dinnerlady or a neuroscientist. It should develop your talents and put you on the road to a fulfulling and happy life. I don't know how, but let's dream big.

On a related note, a Labour MP endeared himself to me a little the other day, for the first time in some considerable while. How? He called the British "bloody miserable".

In his blog, Tom Harris asked:
"We live longer, eat healthier (if we choose), have better access to forms of entertainment never imagined a generation ago (satellite TV, DVD, computer games), the majority of us have fast access to the worldwide web, which we use to enable even more spending and for entertainment. Crime is down.
"So why is everyone so bloody miserable?"

When forced to defend his comments (and I like that he defended them rather than simply spinelessly apologising for any offence), he said:
"I'm not belittling the genuine problems people are facing. I do think there is a more deep-seated cultural, even possibly spiritual problem that we have in this country where, is it about consumerism, is it about the instant gratification society, are we finding that buying stuff just doesn't make us as happy as we thought?"

Well quite.