Dumbing Down the Information

I thought this was a very interesting article.
Yep, life'll burst that self-esteem bubble
The article discusses the way students are treated by their teachers. It describes how students are treated with kit gloves and never exposed to real constructive criticism. The idea was that in the 70's and 80's the main theme was self-esteem. The concept was that a happy child that holds themselves in high regard will learn better and be more successful. I believe this is true but the article goes on to say that without some real-world experiences this type of behavior modification is on-sided. These children are now grown up and in the work place and having a terrible time dealing with any criticism.

This is perhaps just another example of how education must be balanced. It takes me back to my previous comments on how we need more comprehensive high schools. We have become too departmentalized and specialized. A parent has to decide at age 5 if their child is going to be a doctor so that they can get them into the correct magnet track or academy school. Children need time to experiment and discover their hidden sometimes buried talents and life-long callings. I think it is rediculous to think that parents, teachers or students have the ability to look at a young child and determine what their profession will or should be.

There is no doubt that self-esteem is growing. Our society has done a great job of building up our children to be bright self-assured adults but at what expense. Jean Twenge from San Diego State University believes students today have an inflated sense of self. She goes on to say, "when you correct writing, they'll say, 'It's just your opinion,' which is infuriating. Bad grammar and spelling and sentences being wrong is not my opinion, it's just bad writing." It isn't wrong for students to be confident but it is important to have the ability to accept that can improve and need to be open to constructive criticism.