Had a couple topics come across my radar screen that I need to address…
First, saw the news story that hit the wire that in certain school districts teachers are being discouraged from using red ink. Apparently, red ink carries so many negative connotations that teachers are being recommended to use softer, happier colors like blue or magenta. And of course the all-powerful Bic corporation is developing new colors as we speak to meet this growing need.
Ok, is it me or does this just sound weird and possibly wrong? I mean, I don’t want to go back to the days where you got the two by four to the back of the head for messing up your multiplication tables but is the solution to the education crisis the color of pen that is being used? We need to encourage students and show them learning can be fun but do we have to hold their hands the entire time? Sometimes you make mistakes. I’ve gotten papers back where it looked like the teacher’s pen exploded on my page and I survived (thanks Mrs. Tierney, who taught me to never write a report on Slaughterhouse Five again since it is impossible to keep verb tenses straight). I’m all for reducing stress but let’s not make our way to Lake Wobegone where all the students are above average.
In other disturbing news, the Cookie Monster is going to be eating healthier on Sesame Street. This actually made CNN, which might be disturbing, and I read it at work, which is probably even more frightening. But it appears that the Cookie Monster is going to be eating fewer cookies and there will be more talk about health and nutrition and that cookies are a Sometimes food and not an Always food. I’m really bummed about this. I mean, he’s the Cookie Monster. Eating cookies is his joie de vivre. Heck, it’s his entire reason for existence. Talk about someone who finally found a job that he loves and has it taken away from him. I don’t know what we will end up teaching kids, that they should eat healthier and not grow up to be obese or that life is cruel and unfair and you never get to just sit around and enjoy simple pleasures like eating cookies without knowing in the back of your mind that this could possibly kill you.
And in other disturbing food news, have you seen these new Burger King commercials? I’m not even talking about the Hootie one, which has enough bizarre sexual imagery embedded in it to fill someone’s masters thesis. I’m talking about the waking up with the king commercials, where you wake up by being confronted by some guy in a really freaky King outfit handing you a croissanwich. It’s like your typical fast food commercial crossed with some bizarre East German art film where you continually expect to find that the entire movie has just been this lengthy allegory on hell. If you woke up and found a guy on your lawn in a King costume I doubt that you would be accepting food from him. You’d be calling the cops if you didn’t decide to take the law into your own hands first.
Oh well, at least the weekend is nearly here. Enjoy the weekend everyone, I’m sure I’ll have a few more stories and rants to share next week.
2 comments:
cookies are more than Cookie Monster's joie de vivre they are his raison d'etre. so apparently it is wrong for Cookie Monster to be a glutton, but its OK for Bert and Ernie to be openly gay.
here's a thought: if parents are so worried that kids are so influenced by what they see on TV then maybe parents shouldn't rely on using the TV as a babysitter in the first place.
teachers being discouraged from using red ink ... next I picture the scene from The Simpsons where Bart went to remedial school and they played musical chairs with enough chairs for everyone.
how soft are kids these days??? its bad enough that grades aren't publicly disclosed. OK, so some kids will fail a test here or there -- why make them feel good about that? they shuyld have it made obvious to them that whatever kind of effort they put in just was not good enough.
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