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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jbe who wrote (3115)	7/4/1999 12:34:00 PM
From: Herc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4710

Your parents weren't, by any chance, anarchists? I was unaware of this movement until I read an obituary in the N.Y. Times. Sounds like you had some progressive parents. I went to the public schools in the poorest state in the country, Mississippi, but in a wealthier community and got an excellent non-Manumit education.

To: jbe who wrote (3115)	7/4/1999 7:35:00 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 4710

Progressive education certainly plays its part. But the real culprit, sorry to say it, is TV. I know TV is often blamed as a scapegoat, but it is more than a scapegoat; it is a cause. Not because of the common objection of violence, which is a concern, but for three prinicpal reasons. 1) Time spent in front of a TV is time not spent in creative activities--reading, play, etc. Every hour spent in front of the TV is an hour that used to be spent in ways that usually developed either intellectual or problem solving skills (reading, doing jigsaw puzzles, whatever) or interacting with people, learning how to learn from others and work with others (or get socially rejected by them). 2) Time spent in watching TV is passive, not active. There is no interaction, no need to respond, no need (or even time) to think about what is happening. It runs off like rain off of hardpack. 3) Kids who spend time in front of a TV become acclimated to very rapid impressions, to constantly new and changing impressions with no need or time for reflection, to sound bite thinking. They are never asked to think about a single topic or issue or point for more than about 30 seconds--it is flash and move on. For these reasons (among others) kids who come to school having spent a substantial amount of time in front of a TV lack the basic skills of learning -- the ability to focus, to concentrate, to think, to reflect, to memorize. They want everything NOW, they want it fast paced, they want it hopped up, colorful, and with no need to interact with other people. They lack the basic ability to learn in a school setting. Some people say schools should change to accommodate them. As a former teacher, I say nuts. Learning is hard, learning demands discipline, and if we don't start developing those skills in and before kindergarten, many of our children will never become successful learners. In my teaching, and talking with my wife about her teaching, it is very easy to identify children who spend a lot of time on front of a TV and those who don't.