On page 112 of Black Swan Green, the principal Nixon of Jason's school speaks about Tom Yew's death, suggesting that "you will note who initiates violence, who conducts the violence, and who must pay the price of violence...I also hope you will consider what is truly precious in your own lives, and what is merely...flimflam...grandstanding...froth...posturing...egotism." Jason says that he is "not sure if even the teachers were sure what Mr. Nixon meant", but I think that from what Jason has been telling us, we might be able to guess.
Jason's life, for the first few chapters, seems characterized by many status games. There are rules about the way to address others based on relative social positions, and artificial postures to make people seem cooler. The way that Jason masks his true personality when Hugo visits characterizes this--Hugo offers Jason a chance to improve his social standing by being seen with a person of high status.
The behaviors the principal mentions might easily refer to these dynamics. I think that the principal is trying to say that instead of playing these games, people need to respect one another and stop judging them for unimportant details of their life, like Jason's stammer. If people were more empathetic, wars might not get fought--this passage represents a turning point in the chapter, after which Jason no longer regards the Falkland War as just another game, between the UK and Argentina. The principal may have been only disparaging thd joke contests about Argentinians in the newspapers, but his point is just as important when applied to the students.
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