[HPforGrownups] Re: Riddle's popularity/Dumbledore and evil (was re: Dicu...

[Jenett]

No: HPFGUIDX 37666

On Wed, 10 Apr 2002 Edblanning at aol.com wrote:

> I am also intrigued by the way so many people seem to think that academic 
> excellence is a requirement for being Head Boy. Evidently one must be able 
> enough that the extra duties will not compromise academic studies, but I am 
> under the impression that, at least here in the UK, it is personal qualities, 
> including responsibility, leadership skills and the ability to work well both 
> with staff and fellow students which are the most important factors. <stands 
> by for deluge of experiences of rotten Head Boys/ Girls who displayed none of 
> the above>

This is an excellent point. Just as a datapoint from a US boarding 
school...

We didn't have a head boy and head girl in the same sense (we had a 
student body president, but they did the same sorts of things that student 
body presidents in public schools do - dealt with student government 
meetings and decisions and such). They didn't have any duties when it came 
to housing and student life, though.

The people who did have the role closest to what we see prefects do (given 
current canon information) were what were called proctors. (I was one my 
senior year in high school). We were responsible for assisting the house 
counsellors with signin to the dorms at night, planning dorm events, 
making sure that the dorm was running fairly smoothly, and making sure no 
one died of alcohol poisoning (a serious concern when I was there, as 
binge drinking was a way some students chose to deal with stress.)

I don't completely recall the selection process (this was nearly 10 years 
ago now) but I think the basic procedure was that we were told who to 
express interest to if we were interested, and then there was a short 
application and interview, mostly to see if we were aware of what was 
going on and our duties. But because we were generally applying to proctor 
in the dorm we were already living in, the house counsellors already knew 
us pretty well to start with, and knew what we were like. 

I'm sure there was some checking of grades (mine were high-average for the 
school, I was averaging a very high B+/low A- equivalent) and asking 
teachers and other people who'd worked with us about it, but in general, 
it was a very low-key process.

We were told very firmly that there were some character choices that would 
mean we would have to give up being a proctor (and move out of our dorm, 
if that happened, as it was a formal policy that you could not continue to 
reside in a dorm where you'd been proctor if you were removed from that 
position or resigned). 

In my dorm, the other proctor was caught at a party where she had been 
drinking, and was removed from being a proctor and moved out, all in the 
space of about a week. (she didn't argue: she knew the consequences if 
she'd gotten caught.)

-Jenett