Name: Michael Knicely

Class: fourth year

Gang: Old School

Badge: Green

Mike was born to an old army family. His father, the Major, being frequently
transferred acceded to the wisdom of sending the boy to boarding school
where 'he would benefit from the stability', whilst still experiencing a
barracks lifestyle. Plus the Major would benefit from not having another
body to pack. Well, his Batman would . . .

Sadly Mike didn't benefit, but became sullen and withdrawn with alarming
tendencies towards introspection and periodic escape attempts. His father
initially found the latter quite encouraging, regarding it as a form of
manoeuvres, until it became apparent that the boy was simply no good at it
due to poor constitution. The boy needed toughening up.

The Major needed a firmly disciplined establishment to house the boy, where
escape was more difficult. Thus if he didn't respond to the former by
becoming stronger he would try harder at the latter. Either path would be
character-building and therefore beneficial. Some helpful acquaintance drew
the Major's attention to the LCPS. This resulted in Mike’s immediate transfer
as it strongly appealed to the Major's fondness for gun-carriage discipline.

Mike is not amused by his new situation and hopes that if he behaves he
will, if not get to heaven, at least get out of this hell. He cannot
reconcile that those who do bad have an easy life whilst those who do good
seem to work harder and suffer more. He acknowledges the rightness of
punishment but cannot comprehend why doing the right thing is often so
painful, and most naturally falls in with the Old School outlook, even if
unable to understand the philosophy.

He struggles to find the right thing to do in different contexts - he
believes in the authority of teachers and prefects, likening them to
officers, but also codes of honour such as the 'code of the school yard' (or
parade ground). Thus if instructed to identify some miscreant he will be
torn between obeying orders and snitching on a fellow inmate. When he has to
balance two such demands he usually gets it woefully wrong, and consequently
ends up in the worst of all possible worlds - like here!

ALL LCPS STUDENTS ARE OVER 18 YEARS OF AGE