Are We Going Overboard with Correctness?
When I was in elementary school we did not get a day off for Columbus' birthday.
Our teachers read us stories about Columbus and his journey that gave him the distinction of discovering America. It was only years later that students were allowed this day as a holiday. Some school systems still do not recognize it as a holiday.
My husband and I were sitting in a café in a hotel in Durham last February and the local news was on the television. There was an item from the Asheville City council. The day before they had passed a regulation to change the name of Columbus Day to "Indigenous Day."
why are we so afraid of hurting someone's feelings, or giving someone an award they worked hard to attain? Why is there no winner in children's sports? Is it because everyone deserves a prize? Would Johnny's emotional growth be stunted if he did not make the honor society and his friend did? There was an article in the paper after graduation in a high school in North Carolina concerning not allowing honor club members to wear the club logo on their graduation gowns. Another school system was considering doing away with honor clubs. I wonder if the administrators making these unthinkable decisions did not work hard enough to qualify for these honors. Are we to make the classroom one where everyone is the same mediocre student with no goals or new ideas? Competition should be encouraged. Striving for the best one can do is what made this country the one people are willing to do whatever will get them within its borders.
Most people over thirty-five have figured out that life is "no bed of roses" but it is better the more we strive to do our best. I believe that social media tends to make us paranoid about so many things. And we encourage this by baring our lives with fluff that isn't important. I don't really care what you ate for dinner unless you are planning to send me a fabulous new recipe.
You won't be around to make your child's decisions and protect him from this big cruel world forever. Give him some tools to ensure a stable lifestyle. Encourage him to be around positive people. Give him a thirst for learning by reading to him even before his is born. Give him opportunities in place of things. Give him respect and he will learn to respect you and others.
And please don't buy into the philosophy of changing the name of "National Ice Cream Day" to "Frozen Cream, Sugar, and Fat Day!
why are we so afraid of hurting someone's feelings, or giving someone an award they worked hard to attain? Why is there no winner in children's sports? Is it because everyone deserves a prize? Would Johnny's emotional growth be stunted if he did not make the honor society and his friend did? There was an article in the paper after graduation in a high school in North Carolina concerning not allowing honor club members to wear the club logo on their graduation gowns. Another school system was considering doing away with honor clubs. I wonder if the administrators making these unthinkable decisions did not work hard enough to qualify for these honors. Are we to make the classroom one where everyone is the same mediocre student with no goals or new ideas? Competition should be encouraged. Striving for the best one can do is what made this country the one people are willing to do whatever will get them within its borders.
Most people over thirty-five have figured out that life is "no bed of roses" but it is better the more we strive to do our best. I believe that social media tends to make us paranoid about so many things. And we encourage this by baring our lives with fluff that isn't important. I don't really care what you ate for dinner unless you are planning to send me a fabulous new recipe.
You won't be around to make your child's decisions and protect him from this big cruel world forever. Give him some tools to ensure a stable lifestyle. Encourage him to be around positive people. Give him a thirst for learning by reading to him even before his is born. Give him opportunities in place of things. Give him respect and he will learn to respect you and others.
And please don't buy into the philosophy of changing the name of "National Ice Cream Day" to "Frozen Cream, Sugar, and Fat Day!
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