At Channing, we recently discussed how social norms are changing and how people do or do not do things that would have been considered entirely unacceptable a few years ago. 

Surprisingly, our conversation started with dog mess!

The streets of London were littered with dog mess until a law was passed in 1996 making it a requirement for all dog owners to pick up after their dogs. But you may have noticed that our streets are not as clean as they used to be, and dog owners are not always as rigorous about picking up behind their pooches any more. 

It’s a small thing but it matters. 

This is the basis of the Broken Window Theory, posited in 1982 by social scientists James Wilson and George Kelling and building on earlier work by Stanford University psychologist Philip Zimbardo.

This is best summarised as “One unrepaired broken window is a signal that no one cares, and so breaking more windows costs nothing.” 

There are little things we do every day that matter and are part of our social contract as a community. 

Ham & High: Lindsey Hughes has been looking at the Broken Window TheoryLindsey Hughes has been looking at the Broken Window Theory (Image: Channing School)

The social contract is an idea that philosophers have considered over thousands of years, from Socrates to Jean-Jacques Rousseau to John Locke.

The theory suggests that there are universal, or unwritten, laws, as well as written rules, which govern how humans behave harmoniously together in society.

We give up some of our rights to freedom of action and expression in order to be part of an organised and beneficial whole. 

Under these circumstances, then, we cannot underestimate the importance of character. Alongside knowledge and skills in subjects like maths, history, science and art, it has always been the purpose of school to instil character in our children.

However it’s entirely possible and, I would argue, necessary, to teach it explicitly rather than by chance or osmosis. Here at Channing the Junior School team has embedded character education with our eight Channing Characters.

They are on posters and stickers all over school, referred to repeatedly in lessons, feature in Forest School and on the Conabor tree in every classroom, and now even in our own storybooks. 

In the senior school, one of the ways we can gauge how well our ethos is embedded is by how often different phrases or mottos are used by the girls in their videos, talks and presentations.

I am struck by how frequently the ideas of being 10% Braver, the Unitarian ethos of Open Minds, Loving Hearts and Helping Hands and, of course, Girls Enjoying Success make an appearance. 

Channing has both a written and unwritten social contract.

It requires all of us to play our part in upholding it, because when we stop acting for the greater good in our individual lives then society as a whole can only be the worse for it.

  • Lindsey Hughes is headmistress of Channing School, Highgate.