Jolisa, what a PERFECT solution! TVNZ could extend his unpaid leave until he's managed to visit every preschool and primary school in the country... and in the meantime they could find someone to front Breakfast with at least a semblance of good manners...

... which brings me to something that I find a puzzle: support for PH's comments on the grounds of 'free speech'. Surely 'free speech' gives us the right to present all sides of an argument - palatable or otherwise? I hate to see that right reduced to the right to be rude and insulting -- which is what this seems to be, to me. I fail to see why TVNZ is in any way 'pushing (any) boundaries' by encouraging obnoxious behaviour.

A beautifully written piece -- thank you so much for that. I totally agree that it deserves a wider audience.

As mother of a child who was always in the bottom percentile on the Plunket graphs (well, actually she slid off the bottom of the page), I can only imagine the distress and anguish of seeing 'Plunket charts' for learning. I was fortunate in that I could actually decide to ignore the 'norms' and do what I felt was right for my daughter. The first step was to remove her from all the medical investigations that, in the end, turned out to be for 'academic interest'.

Removing one's child from the education system isn't so easy, unless you are in a position to homeshool.

A question: How will the standards affect those who do homeschool their children?