Potpourri

[fayanora]

Potpourri

How kids in England are smeared in the press. About children's human rights.

One laptop per child... in Afghanistan?

Periodic table of cupcakes, complete with recipes.

Teenager's science fair project may solve the plastic decomposition problem once and for all.

Hey, Ilinois has the right idea! They declared Pluto a planet! YAY

Comments

[the_vulture]

I was reading the comments from the first article you presented, How kids in England are smeared in the press and couldn't help but reflect on my experiences teaching in England.

Two general themes seemed to run through the comments, the first being a discussion of the idea that thuggery amongst British youth is worse than most other nations because of a lack of any serious consequence for poor behaviour or even proper parenting, whilst the second revolved around the ethical ramifications of corporal punishment (spanking).

Unfortunately, these discussions tended to be really simplified and only touched superficially on some of the major issues that affect British youth.

I'll start with 'spanking'. This is based on a really simple behavioural concept: if an organism is repeatedly exposed to adverse stimulus (punishment) when it performs a particular behaviour, it will 'learn' not to perform that behaviour. In fact, even the alternative parenting programs that view spanking as barbaric and abusive still use this very principle;

[fayanora]

I believe in moderation. "Spare the rod spoil the child" for sure, but overuse the rod and the effects can be even worse. Myself, I was only spanked if I did something truly bad. Though I'm not sure if my turning out alright was due to how I was raised or due to my temperment; my parents tried the same things they did with me, for my younger sister Tara, but it never worked. I was always the quiet child, even from birth, and Tara has always been the one with a cry like a bansidhe (banshee) and not afraid to use it. Mom eventually gave up trying to get her to learn to behave, for the most part, and only fights over big things now; they still have a lot of fights, though.

[the_vulture]

Even the best kid is going to try and push boundaries sooner or later, but, you're right, individual temperament does play a huge factor.

I'm not so sure which is worse: enduring physical abuse or becoming completely unable to interact with society in a positive, meaningful fashion. In my case, I underwent years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of my so-called peers, but this did not prevent me from successfully pursuing a career as an educator, whereas a violent criminal record would have axed any such opportunity. Something to think about, no?

[fayanora]

Indeed.