Cursive writing revisited

It has been a while since I originally posted my observations concerning the time spent in elementary school learning to write in cursive, and I have to say, regardless of what Mr. Anonymous fifth grade teacher had to say, I still don't see the point. Yes, I understand the reasoning... it teaches fine muscle motor skills, or some such thing as that. There could be a million reasons for teaching it, but is that what really happens? Not in my experience.

As I've said in the past, I am a guardian for two, now, ninth grade kids. They have never actually learned to write in cursive, although they spent a lot of time in class learning to write in cursive. They were told that whatever work they turned in was supposed to be written in cursive, but that was never enforced by the teachers. These kids only complained about how their hands whenever they had to do school work, because they believed, and rightfully so (in school), that complaining would end up meaning less work for them. It really had nothing to do with how hard it was to write in cursive, or how much they actually had written. I've heard similar complaints about headaches... anything that requires thought gives kids a headache, apparently. In the end, all the pain simply vanishes when the work is done, or when the teacher says they've worked hard enough for today.

So, yeah, in my most humble opinion, I believe that kids these days are playing their teachers. I don't know how that will turn out later in life... perhaps they will have learned the skills to play all of the people in positions of authority... but, perhaps not. I just think it's foolish to not acknowledge that that is what is really happening in schools now. It really is a case of the inmates running the asylum.

Headlines

The headline reads: "Study finds no link between brain tumors, cell phones," but that's not what the story says, exactly. Reading a little further, the story appears to be saying "Study finds no link between a particular type of brain tumor and cell phone use." The story goes even further then to say that this particular type of tumor may take decades to develop, and there aren't many people who have used cell phones for decades. So, in the end, what the headline REALLY should say is "Study finds nothing conclusive."

Here's a link, in case you're interested.

I think I've Got It!

For the last four years, I've been told countless times by HR people that I wouldn't fit in very well in their organization, or at least not as well as someone else. It has taken as many years for me to understand exactly what that means.

You see, I actually believe that I am unique, and that given the opportunity, I can make real and positive changes wherever I work. Sadly, though, nobody wants that. Change is bad. It makes us uncomfortable because suddenly, we don't really know what to expect tomorrow, and we would much rather know that tomorrow is going to bring the same mediocre outcomes and yesterday. But we know that we need to strive for improvement, so we convince ourselves that we are making real changes by calling things by different names, but nothing is fundamentally different; and therefore, it's comfortable.

It's sad, really. It means that we are so afraid of failure that there is no real innovation taking place, even as it appears there is, since everything is called by a new name, or changed the packaging, or made some other cosmetic alteration to the same thing. I guess these days, we do judge a book by its cover.

A fundamental difference

As a parent-figure, I try to limit the time that my kids spend doing things that I see as being a waste of time. I try to get them to do things that require effort, either mental or physical, and that will eventually give them a feeling of accomplishment, if they put some effort into it. For that reason, I limit the amount of time they can spend watching TV or playing video games, because there is really little value in either. Unfortunately, they believe there is some fundamental difference between things that I don't see. A couple of examples: Watching television versus watching YouTube videos, and playing video games on the computer versus playing video games on the Wii. And then, somehow, watching someone else play video games doesn't count as either. I say watching someone else play video games counts as both watching television and playing video games. I don't know, I guess I'm just struggling here with trying to instill in these kids a desire to excel in something worthwhile, so that they don't grow up, suddenly become an adult, and don't have the time or energy to do the things that they wish they had done when they had the time and energy.

ooops

I just realized that a while ago, I posted a quote that said something to the effect that it is only the ignorant who despise education. I figured I should clarify something here: it isn't education that I despise, it is the public education system. I think in the past I neglected to use the word system, and will likely do so in the future, since really doesn't add meaning, except to those who disagree but have no genuinely sound basis for their disagreement, so they nitpick at every word. I still believe that it is only the ignorant who despise education.

Testing

Testing, Testing. Is this thing still working?