The 2025 Chronicle

development and assessment refinement. Our educators take immense pride in their work and continually seek to en hance their expertise. In 2025: • Mr Ian Crawford continued to serve as leader of KwaZu lu-Natal’s CAT cluster. • Ms Aimee Nell was elected to serve as the 2026 leader of KwaZulu-Natal’s IT cluster. • Both Mr Simphiwe Xulu and Ms Aimee Nell were selected to mark the 2025 National Senior Certificate IEB examina tions in their respective subjects. • Mr Dominic Gruijters continued his three-year term as the KwaZulu-Natal IEB National Subject Forum Representa tive for Information Technology. These leadership roles ensure that our staff remain at the forefront of curriculum advancements and pedagogical best practices. The year’s successes, from the introduction of micro:bits in the junior curriculum to individual medals on the national stage, reflect the Computer Studies Department’s commitment to nurturing both curiosity and excellence. As we look to 2026, we remain focused on equipping our pupils with the technical skills, ethical grounding and creative confidence they will need to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital world. We are grateful to the boys, their parents and our colleagues across the school for their continued support of the department’s work. of nastiness that is ever more difficult to ignore”. Just scroll down any post featuring a female complaining about her treat ment at the hands of men or highlighting the cause of femi nism. It won’t be too far down before abusive, sexist, comments start appearing. Syed cites the example of Emma Raducanu, who, after being targeted by stalkers recently, was treated not with understand ing but with bile. Instead of sympathy she was condemned for “attention seeking” and “exaggerating”, including in the com ments on newspaper websites. That background noise crystallises in remarks that boys make. Teachers in boys schools, and teachers of boys in co-ed schools, who engage boys in these issues talk about increasingly misog ynistic attitudes reappearing. “Rape statistics are inaccurate because women make false claims about sexual abuse” is one. “Feminism is a form of abuse against men” is another. I know where it comes from: it’s straight from the manosphere, a sec tion of cyberspace dealing with all things masculine. It’s home to pick-up artists, men’s rights activists, and incels all spewing slightly different ideas but with one thing in common: an an ti-feminist agenda bolstered by a belief in male superiority. For the young the ideas in the manosphere are pervasive, per suasive and perilous. If your boy is spending time here (and he will have spent some) he is rapidly being infected with this thinking. Even chatrooms used in online gaming aren’t safe and

• APPLICATIONS OLYMPIAD: Chad Abrahams, Trent Buck ley, Lloyd Evennett, Daniel French, Graeme Higginson, Raif Jinnah, Zhengfei Li, Khashane Maenetje, Ashton McCor mick, Danniel Nel, Roelof Rossouw, Joshua van Niekerk. • PROGRAMMING OLYMPIAD: Stefano Benassi, Mark Conway, Daniel French, Justin Higginson, Ofentse Mdaki, Ashton McCormick, Roelof Rossouw, Rhys Watson. A special commendation must be given to Danniel Nel, who ex celled in the Applications Olympiad. After topping the Michael house entries in the second round, Danniel was invited to the national final round in Gauteng from 30 June to 2 July, where he won a bronze medal at the IITPSA Awards ceremony. Equally outstanding was Roelof Rossouw’s performance in the Programming Olympiad. More than 900 students from high schools across South Africa participated in the preliminary rounds, with 39 Michaelhouse boys taking part in round one, and 17 earning certificates. Fourteen of our boys progressed to the second round, and Roelof was invited to the final round in Pretoria from 29 September to 1 October. Roelof represented Michaelhouse at the finals with aplomb and won a bronze med al, a second successive national medal following his runner-up finish in 2024. It is a remarkable achievement that speaks to his dedication and skill. The teaching staff of the Computer Studies Department re mained deeply engaged in professional development through out the year, with a strong focus on collaborative curriculum If you haven’t watched the Netflix series Adolescence , you need to. Especially if you have a child and, even more so, if that child is male. Not only was it gripping TV, it also spot lighted disturbing aspects of teen culture that all involved in raising boys should note. MISOGYNY IS ON THE RISE The fact that misogyny is increasing will not be a surprise to many. From the proliferation of online porn to the constantly respawning hydra of Andrew Tate videos and the ever-growing need to socialise through media, the conditions are ripe for this toxic bloom. Such factors are contributing to increasing levels of domestic abuse. In the UK this affects 2.3 million people (by people, I mean mostly women). In South Africa, where nearly 40% of women experience physical and sexual violence in their lifetime, and femicide rates are among the highest globally, the situation is dire. A BACKGROUND HUM OF NASTINESS But it’s so much more than these statistics. There is, as Mat thew Syed puts it in The Times newspaper, “a background hum Written by Mr Tim Jarvis, Senior Master Pastoral Care

PASTORAL CARE AND COUNSELLING

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