I'm not so important after all.

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And the loser is...

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{ 11:15, 2008-Feb-21 } { Posted by libertine }

When I first started reading this, I thought it was about the same problem that my son's science fairs always had. It wasn't -- yours is a different problem, though no less of one.

Back in the late 80s through the 90s when my son attended school, the science fairs were a joke for one big reason. What sucked about them bigtime then was that most kids' projects were done by their PARENTS for them, in the hopes of winning first prize. Very few were done by the kids themselves and very few kids had actually learned anything, as their parents had shunted them aside to make the perfect project for them.

As for me, I'd rather see a science fair actually done by the kids, however makeshift or primitive they looked. I thought the entire point of these fairs was that the kids learned something?

I made my son do his projects himself, knowing full well he had no chance in hell of ever winning the prize. But he damned sure learned something about science doing these projects, which mad him the winner in my book.

Hmm, I was strapped for something to write about today on my blog -- I think I'll turn this comment into a post.

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{ 11:48, 2008-Feb-21 } { Posted by DeeJay }

Agreed!

When my oldest son started playing T-ball I was stunned to find out they never kept score in games. I started to keep a tally while I watched, and at the end of a game I'd either congratulate my kid for a great win or tell him they played a good game in spite of losing.

Other parents became furious with me for doing this. They didn't want the kids to know it was a "win" or a "loss"; they just wanted the kids to enjoy playing.

What the fuck? The kids weren't stupid. They see games being played all over the place and they have to learn that there are winners and losers. Learning to lose graciously and with dignity is a skill that we are obligated to teach our kids.

I hate this whole idea of wanting to pander to every kid's ego and avoid anything that might hurt their feelings. I am a teacher and it drives me NUTS!

...

{ 01:24, 2008-Feb-21 } { Posted by jeremy }

I think the irony of this educational philosophy is that it is (I would think) driven by a desire to protect these kids from the disappointment of discovering that they might find themselves less effective in study than someone else; quite apart from the fact that it turns them into narcissistic praise junkies there is the very real problem that they go out into the real world and just get floored by the reality that life isn't like that. It does them no favours to have to learn to cope with disappointment after they've left school.

Correct, Jeremy.

{ 01:28, 2008-Feb-21 } { Posted by sortingitout }

That's why I fully believe that this is not an accident or just the work of misguided people. It's called "Outcome Based Education." If you're not familiar, look it up, it's horrifying.

In short, it's where end goal is determined, then they teach your kids how to reach that end. It's not teaching them how to think, it's indoctrination.

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{ 03:06, 2008-Feb-21 } { Posted by Aielman }

/applaud.

Couldn't agree more.

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{ 06:39, 2008-Feb-21 } { Posted by thebigp }

The message I get from this is "You're special. Just like everyone else."

We are raising a nation of C students. That's all we're doing. No one will strive to excel because there's nothing to be gained from giving an above average effort or doing above average work.

That's why China's going to dominate us for years to come.

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{ 10:12, 2008-Feb-22 } { Posted by ben }

I have always had issues with sheltering kids and having everyone be the winner. It is irresponsible and unnecessary to coddle kids, they can handle reality if we allow them to. They need to know they can't win every time. They are being taught that they can settle for mediocrity and If they never have to make an effort they will never succeed outside of that system, it will be too hard and they will give up. It infuriates me that instead of preparing kids for the world we protect them from it and pander to them (and too often their parents) instead.

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{ 06:57, 2008-Feb-23 } { Posted by littleMissConfused }

Kids should get to loose once in a while too....you learn a lot when you loose. It's sucks, but you can learn a lot from it.