I love The Common Room. I'm like some creepy hanger-on, who just can't get enough. Shame on me.
Here's another gem. I think it describes a lot of our societal ills that are getting worse perfectly. I know it explains a few relatives I know... :P
We Have A Self Esteem Problem
Friday, April 24, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Ugh, I hated that self-esteem crap. It was pretty big when I was in school, and all the kids made fun of it - to the point of bringing a well-meaning teacher to tears once (how I wish we'd handled that by complaining to her in private after class instead!). It's so weird to me that kids now buy in to it . . . are these just outliers?
ReplyDeleteI wish I remembered the source of the study showing that these self-esteem techniques actually lower self-esteem, since kids know they didn't actually earn the rewards and start to believe that they don't deserve real praise or respect, or believe that trying doesn't make a difference.
However, I am a little concerned that our society is swinging too far the other way, and starting to demand too much, too young precisely as a reaction to the self-esteem nonsense in this next generation. There's this whole competitive effort to eke a few extra IQ points from each child - that's no good either.
It sure depends on goals of a kid's community. I would recommend highly reading the Little House books, because those kids were expected to do a LOT! And they sure turned out better than the vast majority of kids lately, I think. It probably helps to be out in the dirt a bit, too!
ReplyDelete