Maybe I’m just a snotty National Merit Finalist but I think this is stupid:
WHAT?! Are you kidding me? Making a mistake is frightening children? A red mark on a paper is not supposed to make you feel comfortable it’s supposed to call out that you messed up, or mis-spelled. Now putting comments in one color and error in another I can get behind. But this is just nuts. In the United States, we are more concerned with kids feeling good about themselves, regardless of their achievements. Esteem is built through achievement and accomplishment – and through learning how to fail gracefully and try again.
I used to seethe at criticism. I hated that I could be wrong or make mistakes or mis-spell. I’m much better now – I swear!
That’s like when they call welfare programs entitlements… I’m totally behind social programs but to sanitize it with the word entitlement – which connotes that they deserve something simply because they’re down and out – instead of to assist them in getting up and out – is just a semantic nuttiness.
Non-American friends have commented on this before – the idea that you can always get another chance in the United States. That mediocrity is rewarded. In other countries kids kill eachother to get an education.
Related story:
Two Benedict College science professors have been fired after they refused to assign grades that rewarded students
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