From the Assistant Principal

Responsibility, What’s That?

Inspiration for these articles comes from a wild and wide range of places. The other night I was watching the mid-2000s HBO American prison drama Oz, that fictitious, gritty series that follows life behind the walls of an experimental prison. It’s not as good as I remember it being, but hey, isn’t that like so many of our youthful memories?

What caught my attention, though, was the narrator’s reflection on the old saying: You’ve made your bed, now lie in it.

Like many idioms, this one takes a moment to unpack. On first hearing, you might think: Why would I lie in a bed I’ve just made? Shouldn’t it be: You’ve laid in your bed, now make it? But of course, the real meaning is about responsibility and accepting the consequences of your choices.

Responsibility isn’t something young people naturally grasp - not because they lack intelligence or care, but because it’s a concept that develops over time. None of us, young or old, enjoy being 'in trouble'. It’s uncomfortable to face mistakes, to sit with a feeling of regret, or to make amends.

That’s why, at Newport Lakes, we put a lot of emphasis on restorative practices and conversations to help fix things when someone ‘makes their bed’ (so to speak). These ideas, which began in the Canadian justice system, focus not on punishment, but on understanding harm, taking ownership, and repairing relationships. We believe this is one of the best ways for children to learn responsibility, rather than having it imposed on them.

Through our Health curriculum, we also explicitly teach and guide our students’ understanding of our school values. A little while ago, while teaching a poetry unit to the Year 3/4s (and leaning on my punk roots), we analysed the lyrics of a simple but telling song:

Responsibility, what’s that?

Responsibility, not quite yet.

Responsibility? What's that?

I don't want to think about it; we'd be better off without it.

And isn’t that the honest voice of youth? I’m still young, and I’d like to stay that way…

Our role as teachers, parents, carers, and community is to help young people gradually build that bridge toward responsibility - not by forcing them to ‘lie in their bed’ alone, but by guiding them to see how their actions affect others, and how they can make things right.

We couldn’t do it without you.

Mat Williamson

Assistant Principal (and happy to make the bed… just don’t ask me to fold the fitted sheets)