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Trish
SFN Addict
USA
2102 Posts |
 Posted - 01/06/2002 : 17:39:56 [Permalink]
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quote:
Since no one has brought up the obvious reply to this I guess I have to. As a woman I find some battery powered vibrating dinguses to be very beneficial to certain muscles in my body.
Sorry had to go there.
And here I am wondering how I missed that connection.
There is no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. It underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've known. Sagan |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 01/06/2002 : 21:44:54 [Permalink]
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quote:
It isn't a problem with the bogeyman of "The School". It comes back to the parents. When you become a parent, you have taken responsibility for a life, and you must do right by that life, that person. The magnitude of that is not thought of by many who leap into the sack, as Trish has pointed out elsewhere.
And as such, you have a duty to give that person what it needs to lead a successful life.
So, if "the school" isn't cutting it, it's the parents fault for putting up with "the school" and/or not finding a better school, or taking things into their own hands.
My children, one of whom is a moderator on these boards, are getting it at home and at school. Yes, some public schools actually do teach this stuff.
However, when the parents haven't been taught to think critically how can we expect them to teach critical thinking to their children? The cycle can only be broken by teaching, for example, the scientific method in science classrooms. Teaching kids how skepticism serves that method and how the same use of critical thinking could be used for evaluating claims outside of the classroom and in their daily lives, can be done. I know it can be done. I've seen it. Sadly, this is not usually the case...
If the parents haven't been taught how to evaluate claims, where then are the children going to learn to it?
The Evil Skeptic
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous. |
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Snake
SFN Addict
USA
2511 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2002 : 02:22:50 [Permalink]
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quote:
So, if "the school" isn't cutting it, it's the parents fault for putting up with "the school" and/or not finding a better school, or taking things into their own hands.
Excellent Badger. Kil is just too liberal to think people can do things on their own. As long as the 'state' keeps helping out, no one is going to try to help themselves.
I was almost at that point(going to home school my boy) when at various times saw that the schools weren't doing the best to educate my son. I fought every step of the way to make sure he was in the best classes and even got elected to the Learn Council (in Los Angeles that's a partnership between the schools, the parents, and the community that is a board of representatives), so I could 'keep an eye out' for what was really going on in the school. Kind of a step higher then just talking to the childs' teacher.
So of course I agree with you Badger, people want to talk and complain or throw money at a problem but not as many will get involved.
quote:
But back to your main point, yes, there is a severe lack of critical thinking in the general population. I don't think it's new, though. After all, isn't there a sucker born every minute?
And that's why we have the Darwin Awards!!!
Rap Crap is to music what Paint by Numbers is to art. |
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Snake
SFN Addict
USA
2511 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2002 : 02:36:02 [Permalink]
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quote:
If the parents haven't been taught how to evaluate claims, where then are the children going to learn to it?
The Evil Skeptic
One would think that if someone orders a device that doesn't work, by the off chance they can't see or don't know it's bogas and aren't intelligent enough to find out 1st, one would think, they would be more cautious the next time. Learning from life expierences is important too. Sheesh, I quite high school, don't have any kind of degree and I wouldn't order something off the TV.
While education is important, there are also other factors.
Rap Crap is to music what Paint by Numbers is to art. |
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Badger
Skeptic Friend
Canada
257 Posts |
Posted - 01/07/2002 : 11:48:32 [Permalink]
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Kil, I'm glad you're keeping on top of what your kids are learning. And that's kind of my point.
And it's up to people like you and I to demand these things from schools and school boards because we know how important it is.
They still have to do what the majority wants, of course, as schooling is so interwoven with politics, but that doesn't mean I can't rail against idiocy wherever I see it. And I'll finish this thought on the thread that pertains to railing against idiocy.
Public schools here in Canada are not much better than in the States, I'd say. The curriculum....well, I am active in my kids education as the tripe they teach in school will only give them the skills to compete on tv gameshows. Simple stuff like spelling and grammar, geography, and mathematical principles aren't covered, or aren't enforced. So I go through stuff like that with them. Geography? Play the game Risk with your kids, and discuss the countries while attacking eachother on the board. Math? Any game that uses money is a good start for addition and subtraction, and get 'em to help with shopping for multiplication and division. Spelling and grammar I do just by checking their work. And we talk about just stuff like why is the sky blue kind of topics, and I tell 'em why and how it was found out, to the best of my ability.
And when we come across meatheads with their pop culture crap, I don't hesitate to express my opinion and the reasons for it.
So even though the public system sucks, if you care about your kids you'll make up for it at home.
Just because we're hypnotized, that don't mean we can't dance. - Tonio K. |
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