Jonathan Freedland suggests that the British are more accepting of surveillance because, in contrast with the US, we see agents of government not as our servants but as people with assumed authority over us (The spooks will keep spying on us: we clearly don’t care, 7 November). I suspect the reverse is true – we assume public servants are just that, whereas the Americans are inclined to believe their government and its agents are a conspiracy against them.
Steve Loveman
Sheffield
• I don’t know if the “university walk” will have the desired effect on pupils at St George the Martyr primary school (Walk, don’t run – school’s request for orderly pupils divides parents, 6 November) but, after 38 years in schools, as opposed to the 25 years in universities cited by Professor Michael Reiss, what I do know is that children respond infinitely better to a positive instruction to “do” something rather any number of negative commands, such as those Professor Reiss suggested. “Don’t run, don’t bump, don’t make too much noise” will not work as well as “do walk carefully”.
Jan Lloyd
Retired headteacher, Milton Keynes
• We are used to missing captions in the Grauniad, but please, please enlighten us as to what “Caption goes here and don’t forget to twiddle your triang” meant under the illustration to David Shariatmadari’s column (7 November).
Valerie Cottle
Douglas, Isle of Man
• I don’t care what tedious phrases people use (Letters, 7 November), as long as when I die no one says I’ve passed away.
Richard Wiseman
London
• The annoying two-word terms have been amusing, but it’s time for another topic henceforth (not “going forward”).
Alan Evans
Bristol
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
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