There is nothing wrong with an un-stress badge. RE:The Daily Show guest

[redqueen]

This woman had some good points. Academically I agree that we shouldn't coddle students. Her bitching about red ink was misplaced. What difference does it matter what color the ink is, as long as the students are graded... idiot.

However, when she got to the point of defending dodgeball... she lost me. When she mocked the 'un-stress' badge the Girl Scouts have, she proved herself to be a complete quack.

Stress is not healthy. It causes problems. Many problems. Mocking things you don't agree with may be fun and good fodder for comedy TeeVee, but she really shouldn't be passing herself off as a serious critic of culture if she's so shallow she doesn't see the merit in teaching children how to manage stress.

/rant

[Tux]

1. Difference

Between managing stress and preventing children from having stress.

With creationism entering school boards left and right, we have more important issues at hand rather than the color of ink for grading.

[redqueen]

4. I agree there are more important issues.

However I disagree with your assessment that the Girl Scout badge was intended to prevent stress. They taught foot massages and such, clearly ways to de-stress.

[K-W]

7. Exactly, this women is inventing problems.

Nobody understands the importance of teaching coping skills and improving resiliance more than educators. Who cares if some schools try some ideas that seem silly. There is no crisis of wimpie teaching in America. There is a crisis of our educational system becoming a tool for indoctrination, there is also a crisis of underfunded undersupported schools.

[FreedomAngel82]

17. Yep

You can't be too soft on kids. What about the real world? I remember getting red marks on my paper. It made me want to work harder so I wouldn't have to get those marks and make myself care about my grades I got and not be a failure at something. What schools need is to be funded more and the teachers and actually learn and not just for passing a test. School, from just reading about everything, appears to have changed a lot since I graduated in 2001.

[Inland]

2. Are Girl Scout badges too weighty and serious for "anti-stress"?

Reminds me of the rightwingers who bring up college english departments' leftism. If you have to go to that far to that small a place to find something, it aint important.

[redqueen]

6. Well said. She's clearly a nutcase. n/t

[FreedomAngel82]

18. Goodness

I loved Girl Scouts. I learned a lot about different subjects and ineracting with other people my age and older. It was a great experience.

[K-W]

3. All she did was employ a strawman argument.

Pretending that educators are just stupid sappy ninnies who are obsessed only with self esteem yet do not understand it.

Complete garbage. Its liberal baiting is what it is. Its an attempt to discredit good and scientific approaches to education by inventing boogeymen who run around turning our children into wimps.

[redqueen]

8. I was glad Jon asked about how commonplace it was...

pretty much calling her on her cherrypicking of incidents to criticize.

Bullying is a much more widespread and serious issue, why didn't she write a book about that?

[K-W]

12. She probably thinks bullies improve charecter.

Some adults seem to want to ensure that we never produce a generation more mentally stable than them.

[redqueen]

14. I've actually heard that sentiment from parents.

I'd be surprised to hear it from someone as educated as she, but considering her apparent love of dodgeball, one does wonder.

[trotsky]

5. The way physical education classes were run in MY school,

CLEARLY damaged many kids' self-esteem. You only realize this when you are one of those kids (like I was).

Think about the rest of the school experience - if you are a good student, you get along fine. If you struggle, there are tutors, there are special programs, ALL designed to help you and not single you out as a dummy. Unlike gym class, where you are put in the spotlight if you aren't as good as everyone else.

Dodgeball was one of the worst. We called it "Bombardment". And the biggest, meanest bullies got to let out their aggression legally, in front of the teachers. It sucked.

[redqueen]

10. Self-esteem is not important... in fact it may be bad.

Or so this quack would have everyone believe.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Yep

I was sorta-bullied but finally I told the person to leave me a lone and stud up to them and they backed off. I do think bullying is more of a problem.

[Solly Mack]

9. Would have made cookie season a lot easier :)

Didn't have that badge when I was a Girl Scout.

[redqueen]

11. heh... We can all do with knowing how to handle stress, IMO.

With all the road rage and acid-reflux and people being just generally nasty with each other, you'd think professionals would recognize the importance of learning to handle stress better!

[Solly Mack]

13. I agree! I meant it...cookie time in my old troop was fierce. No joke

and that was just from my family who thought I should want to sell the most cookies...(they did most of the selling since I didn't really care how many I sold)

[FreedomAngel82]

21. I agree

I think it's important to know how to handle stress. So many people don't and it's not good emotionally.

[Fenris]

15. I'm sure you'll find her views on feminism quite enlightening....

:eyes:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684849577/qid=1114797151/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-8249831-9220645?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[redqueen]

16. Wow... she's really off her nut.

While I agree that what's happening with boys in classrooms needs further attention... blaming it on feminism is loony crackpotism at its finest.

[K-W]

19. The one place the Daily Show consistantly fails to be hard hitting.

Jon lets guests, especially authors spout all kinds of nonsense.

This woman's views are such that she should have been in a taped interview with one of the corresspondants. Her ideas are comical in thier badness.