Monday, October 6, 2008

How to remove spines nonsurgically

According to this story from the Telegraph, one school in England has decided to do away with spelling tests because they are too 'distressing' for the children.
Whitminster Endowed Church of England Primary School, near Stroud, has decided not to give pupils lists of words to learn by rote as homework.

Headmistress Debbie Marklove said there was a risk that children would feel a "sense of failure" if, having learned the words at home, they were unable to spell them at school the next day.

She wrote to all parents of the 105 children aged between four and 11 at the school to tell them about the change.

"You will notice that the children will not be given spelling lists to learn over the week and then be tested in class," she wrote.

"We have taken the decision to stop spellings as homework as it is felt that although children may learn them perfectly at home they are often unable to use them in their daily written work.

"Also many children find this activity unnecessarily distressing.
As far as I know, no one has revealed this to be a joke.

I don't even really get frustrated by stories like this anymore – it's just the way of things. Europe is farther down the abyss, but with the continued pussification of America, we're not far behind. Sometimes I think we may as well just throw up the white flag to the terrorists or whoever else wants to dominate us.

Everyone gets a trophy, no one comes in first, and failure is not allowed – because that would hurt feelings. Instead of raising a generation of tough-minded, self-reliant warriors who have learned from hard work (and occasional failure), we're raising soft losers who will need more time on the psychiatrist's couch and happy pills when they learn that life is tough and you actually have to put forth effort to succeed.

Right now, the West is losing itself, and no one seems to care.

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