大象传媒

From Rae Duke, Religion and Ethics teacher and broadcaster.

What with it being the last week of term, I鈥檝e been thinking about how different things have been since kids hung up their PE with Joe trainers and headed back to desks and bustling break times in September. Fellow teachers and I, and our students, have adapted to some big changes that鈥檝e now become pretty habitual: desk sanitizing, gaping windows, year group bubbling鈥� but what鈥檚 most stark is the fact we鈥檝e now gone paper free.听

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Consider for a moment perhaps your own nostalgia for a handed down textbook from a girl in the year above, neat underlining or mindless doodling in a favourite subject鈥檚 exercise-book, a teacher鈥檚 red pen ticks - or, for some of us - crosses in maths. All of this has now gone - in it鈥檚 place, laptops and software.听

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Whilst many dream of a paperless office, or house 鈥� others, and I鈥檓 in this camp, cling to the visceral comfort of the turning of pages, folding down of corners and packed bookshelves. Reading a weekend paper on a tablet is a line this Luddite is reluctant to cross!听

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But the appeal of the hard copy is clear; it鈥檚 compact, contactable and, crucially for now, personal 鈥� not being dished around.听

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As we move to a paperless age, I wanted to pay tribute to the stuff. No paper? No love letters landing on the doormat.听听No heart-felt thank you notes鈥� Art too was changed by paper. When it became affordable in the 15th听century, artists, for the first time, could sketch and experiment which really brushed up the quality and realism of their work. A stunning sketch of the resurrection even has Michelangelo鈥檚 shopping-list next to it: anchovies (Nigella听will听be pleased) and fennel soup should you be wondering!听

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Paper encourages the virtue of making mistakes and of exposing such revealing scribbles and foibles.听

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There鈥檚 a biblical proverb that says: 鈥渨hoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and renounces them will find mercy.鈥�

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So whilst I enjoy some of the benefits of a paper-free work life (still not giving up those printed Sunday supplements鈥�) I鈥檇 like to thank paper for the non-uniformed, non-spell-checked, non-polished platform it鈥檚 given us and for the many gifts past and present.