Falconer is the first non-Jewish headmaster of King David’s High School in Linksfield, as well as the author of Notes from a Headmaster’s Desk. He was introduced by renowned clinical psychologist Dorianne Cara Weil, a parent at King David’s who encouraged Falconer to write the book after years of reading his insightful, wise and humorous newsletters. Weil, who has also commented extensively on the Oscar Pistorius trial, said parents needed to foster self-awareness in their children and an ability to recognise feelings as, in her opinion, it was a lack of emotional literacy which led to Oscar Pistorius’ actions.
“We need to teach children how to stop the internal conversation which is the most stressful dialogue they have,” she said. “You can understand your kids feelings, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept their behaviour.” Falconer started his talk with a call to action, for parents to lobby for better education and to support schools that are making an effort. With his perfect comic timing combined with years of experience, both as an educator and a parent, Falconer captivated the audience with his interesting insights into the minds of teenagers. One of the main topics of discussion was the impact of social media on school life and the teenage mind. Falconer said bullying has tended to move away from school grounds these days and into cyber space. He urged parents to inform themselves as much as possible about different social media apps and to communicate with their children in a non-threatening way about the dangers of misusing social media. “No school can truthfully say they don’t have bullying, smoking or drinking going on,” he said. “It’s what teenagers do, but it is our job as educators and parents to contain these things.”
