tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post6495309308583504955..comments2024-03-21T05:30:03.220-04:00Comments on Science teacher: Up, up, and awaydoylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12901661320505882735noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-21536421348379897822009-10-25T18:12:53.966-04:002009-10-25T18:12:53.966-04:00Dear John,
Thanks for the words, and the wisdom. ...Dear John,<br /><br />Thanks for the words, and the wisdom. Just a heads up for everyone else--John continues his discussion on <a href="http://jtspencer.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">blog.</a><br /><br /><br />Dear Paul,<br /><br />Perhaps, but having grown up in an environment of daring but loving parents, and without knowing more about the situation, I'm leery to label it parental abuse. <br /><br />To be fair, I'd be willing apply the "parental abuse" label to parents who expose their children to real risks without any gain. Still, we used to swim out too far, climb too high, and get stitched up far more than many of the other neighborhood children.<br /><br />If you're going to extend the label, though, I'd extend it to the other extreme as well, the folks who create unnecessary and irrational fear in their children. (That our economy is driven by fear does not preclude parental responsibility.)<br /><br />Heck, I think anyone who let's their children watch television before the age of 6 is negligent.<br /><br />I may fall in the bad parent category. When my son was about 6, I sent him flying down a hill on a sled--he hit a bump, went airborne, then landed on his head. He lay still, face-first in the snow, for several seconds.<br /><br />A mother berated me for not immediately taking him to the doctor. I didn't bother to explain to her that I was a pediatrician (she wouldn't have believed it anyway), but I did give him a quick neuro check, and I may have even given him another push down the hill.<br /><br />My kids are both daring, intelligent, interesting adults now, though neither will be fabulously wealthy (or if that happens, it will be by sheer accident). I bust with pride every time I think of them, as I do just about every waking hour.doylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12901661320505882735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-3954140471142837722009-10-25T17:44:35.299-04:002009-10-25T17:44:35.299-04:00As for another teachable moment I would suggest th...As for another teachable moment I would suggest that there is parental abuse here. I pity the son who has to grow up in this environment where he is made a victim thanks to the whims of some pretty immature parents or father. How many students do we teach where the environment at home is a personal hell for the children?Paul Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01836602667355512504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-20673368558050432992009-10-25T09:05:44.255-04:002009-10-25T09:05:44.255-04:00I actually thought about using this story in my co...I actually thought about using this story in my computer class in conjunction with a warning in Fahrenheit 451 about the greatest commodity in an amusement-based culture being fame and about the media hype and manipulation based upon fear. I can see the story fitting well with either Fahrenheit 451 or Brave New World. I don't think I'll use it, though, at least not this year.<br /><br />Postman warned about the disappearance of childhood in a media-based world, where there is no distinction between adulthood and childhood. I keep thinking that, in this story, the adults (from the news anchors to the family to the audience) acted the most childish.<br /><br />We can criticize the characters, because we don't know them. But it's the narrarator who really fucked this one up and it's the audience who bought into it too quickly. <br /><br />Incidentally, I called it. When it happened, all these teachers were talking about it and I said, "It's doubtful that a six year old pulled it off. It's most likely a hoax." <br /><br />I realize that sounds arrogant, but it's not meant to be. The folks around me in charge of educating our youth should have been just as critical.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.com