Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Everybody Wins


Growing up in Bay City we used to have pizza parties, ice cream parties, etc. for those that excelled in their grades. Besides the ass whoopin that I'd get at home, the parties made me strive to do better. I wanted to be there with all of my friends stuffing my face too. We were rewarded for doing well, much like a promotion or raise in adult life.

Some schools are straying away from this in a "not fair" attitude. In the "everyone gets a participation ribbon" world we live in now, we cannot leave anyone out. We reward for showing up.

A Connecticut middle school is now one of the schools that has decided to cancel their "Honors Night" so as to not offend those that have not achieved the grades. Archie R. Cole Middle School pulled the plug on the event because, "Members of the school community have long expressed concerns related to the exclusive nature of highlighting the hard work of the school's best and brightest." (East Greenwich Patch Newspaper)

The school will now "celebrate the individual and collective success of all students and their effort, progress and excellence." In other words, everyone will get a ribbon for being here, no matter how hard they try.

How do you feel about the everyone gets a participation ribbon attitude? Which idea do you believe is healthier for kids? 



**Update**
The school has decided to still do "Honors Night" after many negative comments.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Silly School Bans


This morning Dave and I got on the subject about Silly things banned in schools. I remember when I was a kid Slap Bracelets were the coolest. So, of course, they were banned really fast. Why? Well, because the metal in the bracelet could slit your wrist and you could die! What a thing to tell children about their new, cool accessory. 


If anyone has an old slap bracelet they would like me to take off their hands, I'd totally rock it and risk the horror of my wrist getting hurt.

Another stupid thing I had to deal with as a child was at some point, they told us that if we had a backpack we had to have a clear one. Thank goodness that one only lasted one year. 


Madison High School, in San Antonio, just implemented the Transparent Backpack rule last week.


In 2006, 
Officials in at least two schools in Colorado and a school district in California have banned students from bringing in flags in an effort to calm emotions surrounding the debate over the country's immigration policies.

Earlier this week, kids that wore American flag shirts on Cinco De Mayo, were made to turn their shirts inside out. 



Due to childhood obesity, many schools have banned Bake Sales to limit students sugar intake.






Last year, a story hit the news that schools in New York were banning balls in their school to help keep their students safe. 

Which is the same reason some schools have banned tag. Students get rowdy while at recess and can injure one another while playing tag.



Add Dodgeball to the list. A school in New Hampshire banned Dodgeball and any other "human target" sports. The school pointed out out that not all students are able to participate equally, since some of the players who require more physical activity are typically eliminated first. Targeting of "weaker" students was also cited as a concern.



Have a best friend? Nope. Some British schools are banning students from having "Best Friends." They are doing it because they want to save the child the pain of splitting up from their best friend.




Dictionaries were banned in Southern California schools in 2010 because a Parent was outraged when her child was reading the definition of "oral sex." Apparently the dictionary isn't supposed to define everything for her child. That's what google is for. 





In 2008, Scottish schools banned Father's Day cards so they wouldn't offend any students without Fathers.




The hand holding ban is in effect in many schools across the globe. Obviously hand holding leads to sex, and do not have sex, or you will get pregnant and die. 



Hugs. Again, just like hand holding, leads to sex. 





Red ink! Teachers use red ink to fix mistakes on your papers. Too bad hundreds of schools have banned the use of red ink because the color upsets the students.




Like the slap bracelets of my time, Silly Bandz have been banned in many states across the US. The only reasoning for this is that they are found distracting.





I'll end from one more from my generation. Pogs! I remember playing pogs on the playground waiting to line up. Eventually these were too put on the school ban list because they were found harmful. Gotta watch out when you're playing with that slammer. You might pop a pog in the air and poke an eye out.