"It's humiliating year after year." Constance Hall on the part of her daughter's schooling she loathes.

Australian writer and businesswoman Constance Hall has, once again, bravely spoken a sentiment which many parents silently feel about their kids. But this time, she’s shared a heartbreaking reality for many school children, including her own daughter.

The 35-year-old, who is mother to Billie-Violet, Arlo-Love, twins Rumi and Snow, and Raja, as well as step-kids Zeyke and Sunny with her husband Denim Cooke, posted a photo of her eldest daughter on Instagram on the weekend, with a commentary about school competitions.

The photo shows Billie-Violet drawing a lion sketch at home.

“There is this school in Melbourne that makes all of the kids draw a picture in front of the school,” Hall writes in the caption.

“One by one they have to stand up at assembly and draw a portrait. While the whole school including the parents watch.”

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There is this school in Melbourne that makes all of the kids draw a picture in front of the school. Even the ones who are really bad at art. One by one they have to stand up at assembly and draw a portrait. While the whole school including the parents watch. Some of the kids cry during it because they are so bad. Then they rank the kids from the best in the class, as the winner all the way down to the worsts drawer as the loser. One kid is the worst drawer and he comes last every year but they still make him do it, even though he often cries because his drawings look so ridiculous. Some of the kids are of course amazing drawers and they look forward to it every year, but some of them who have absolutely o creative talents or interest in Art find it humiliating year after year. Just kidding. That school doesn’t exist. I suppose getting a kid who has no interest in art to publicly paint over and over and over again, just to reinforce the fact that he’s crap at art seems…. Odd. As I wiped the tears away from my daughters eyes who didn’t want to go to school yet again for yet another swimming race for her to entertain the school with her lack of skills I said to her, “and this is why you are such a beautiful fit with art. There is no winning and no losing and no pats on the back for at least giving it a shot. Publicly performing isn’t mandatory Everyone is fucking fabulous even if you just splashed a tin of paint all over a wall and rolled around in it while singing along to Queen.” I have nothing against competitive sports.. but I do think we place a little too much public importance on them. Every kid is so different. And while she’s drying her eyes at the thought of another fucking race….. This year her class has skipped music altogether because they only do it every second year at her school ????????‍♀️

A post shared by constanceandtribe (@mrsconstancehall) on Nov 8, 2018 at 1:55am PST

Hall says this process makes some of the children cry, especially as they are also ranked by their deemed talent. As the reader becomes increasingly horrified by Hall’s revelation about the school, she says, “Just kidding”, and explains she’s used the fictional story as an example of how unfair school competitions, such as swimming carnivals, are on kids.

Especially for those who have other strengths, such as in art, like Billie-Violet. Hall continued:

“As I wiped tears away from my daughter’s eyes who didn’t want to go to school yet again for yet another swimming race for her to entertain the school with her lack of skills, I said to her, ‘and this is why you are such a beautiful fit with art’.”

 

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Oh man I did not sleep. ???? Raja was literally up every 20 minutes, crying for boob but he couldn’t drink because he had a blocked nose so he would just continue to try… and cry… ???? And then I smelt that he had shat.. and I motioned to Denzy to get me a nappy.. ???? At that exact point Rumi woke up, walked around down stairs and screamed “mum Peaches has poi’s all over the house!!!!!” ???? Great. It’s gonna be a great day. ???? So I pulled off Raja’s nappy and as suspected there was poo everywhere. 2 days of constipation.. over, he’ll need a change of clothes. ???? And as Denz went to get me the change of clothes Billie-Violet yelled out to me… ???? “Mum!!!! Snow wee’d on the floor. It’s all over her pants!” ???? And Snow screamed “no I didn’t!!” In the usual angry denial that my children bless me with when they have in fact pissed or shat themselves. ???? “I’ll deal with it, gimme a second!” I yelled. ???? Looking at Raja’s bum I lifted his two legs with one hand, and with a nappy wipe in the other started to wipe his bum clean, at that very time I felt a suspicious tightening of his core that I could only relate to pushing…. ???? No… ???? Yes… Oh yes. ???? He pushed out more thick yellow poo then I’ve ever seen a baby do and it went all over yours truly. ???? Here’s the thing.. I sleep naked, so I was cleaning him with my legs crossed on my bed and his shit went all over my tits, my tummy, my pubes and yes… inside me. ???? I looked like someone who had just lost a live game show and had a bucket of shit thrown at them. But it was so much worse because I could feel it slopping around my poor old vag and the first thought that went through my head was THRUSH. Denzy’s never seen me move so fast, I jumped into that shower as he dealt with Raja and I basically douched myself. ???? This was all before 7am. ???? I cannot imagine what other weird and wondrous events this day of running on no sleep at all has install for me. ???? For now. Me and my rotten fanny are hiding in the twins room until Denim has driven everyone to school so I can go to work and fall asleep at my desk. #queening

A post shared by constanceandtribe (@mrsconstancehall) on Oct 17, 2018 at 5:42pm PDT

It’s then that Hall calls out the double standard between sports and the creative arts.

“There is no winning and no losing and no pats on the back for at least giving it a shot,” she notes.

“Everyone is fucking fabulous even if you just splashed a tin of paint all over a all and rolled around in it while singing along to Queen.”

Hall says that whilst she has nothing against competitive sport as such, she feels there’s too much emphasis placed on the public performance of it in schools.

As a final note, Hall concludes the post by observing that her daughter’s school only does music as a subject every second year – an example of what the education department feels is a priority.

The post echoed sentiments which many parents feel, as evidenced by most of the comments.

“Yup, I’m thinking the same thing,” one wrote.

“Bang on! I just want my kids to know what lights their fire, and to love learning. If you take the fear out of learning anything is possible,” said another.

One parent noted, “Schools are killing creativity and forcing kids to fit a one size fits all world when not a single one of us is the same and shouldn’t be expected to be the same.”

The post is another example of Hall’s trademark refreshing honesty. Last month, she posted a photo of herself hiding from her family after a disastrous morning, and earlier this year, she defended herself after being attacked after she was photographed on her phone and drinking a soft drink when she had just given birth.