Where is balance? -- Re: Academic priorities
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From: jmfbahciv on 5 May 2005 04:51 In article <1388.984T1245T5754490(a)kltpzyxm.invalid>, "Charlie Gibbs" <cgibbs(a)kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote: >In article <l4-dnSlZ2LV7MOvfRVn-3g(a)rogers.com>, >plinnane3REMOVE(a)NOSPAMyahoo.com (rpl) writes: > >> Kevin G. Rhoads wrote: >> >>> I think it is much worse than that. Public schools these days >>> are not just failing to help solve the problem, they are active >>> contributing to it. (One example: "zero tolerance") >> >> zero tolerance of what? bringing fully automatic weapons onto school >> grounds ? > >Dammit, let's take our language back. "Zero tolerance" is one >of those phrases made up by people who are trying to look tough >while remaining Politically Correct. Let's call it what it is - >intolerance - and then acknowledge that intolerance isn't automatically >a Bad Thing. Maybe then we stand a chance of getting rid of truly >harmful intolerance, while refusing to tolerate things which really >are bad. Or, as the saying goes, "You should have an open mind - >but not so open that your brains fall out." > >Assigning different labels to the same thing is another example of >the bullshit that kids quickly see through. The War On (some) Drugs >is another example. > >And politicians wonder why they get less respect than Rodney >Dangerfield... > <clap, clap> I talked about this with Mom last night. I apparently lied when I told the story about my nephew. It wasn't a butter knife but a screwdriver which he had put into his pocket after fixing the lawn mower and then went to school. By all means, let us teach kids not to fix anything. /BAH Subtract a hundred and four for e-mail.
From: Kevin G. Rhoads on 5 May 2005 07:01 >Around here, 12 is the legal age to handle a firearm. When I was 12 and >a few weeks I was dragged along to the rifle range to get some respect for >guns. After a few rounds with a Krag-Jorgensen I had plenty respect all right. Forty-five revolver, otherwise same idea. Dang, that was circa 4 decades ago.
From: Kevin G. Rhoads on 5 May 2005 07:12 >>Dammit, let's take our language back. > ><clap, clap> I talked about this with Mom last night. I >apparently lied when I told the story about my nephew. It >wasn't a butter knife but a screwdriver which he had >put into his pocket <Taking back the language> that was an error not a lie, then. "lies" are intentional deceptions, your words do not indicate intent to deceive, "errors" are unintentional ...
From: Andrew Swallow on 5 May 2005 08:27 jmfbahciv(a)aol.com wrote: [snip] > > > <clap, clap> I talked about this with Mom last night. I > apparently lied when I told the story about my nephew. It > wasn't a butter knife but a screwdriver which he had > put into his pocket after fixing the lawn mower and then > went to school. By all means, let us teach kids not to > fix anything. Screwdrivers are a different matter. The woodwork room should be equipped with screwdrivers and the children made to return them at the end of the lesson. So there is no honest reason for children to be carrying one during the day. Bad reasons include using sharpened screwdrivers as weapons and sabotaging school desks. Andrew Swallow
From: rpl on 5 May 2005 08:38
Andrew Swallow wrote: > jmfbahciv(a)aol.com wrote: > [snip] > >> >> >> <clap, clap> I talked about this with Mom last night. I apparently >> lied when I told the story about my nephew. It >> wasn't a butter knife but a screwdriver which he had >> put into his pocket after fixing the lawn mower and then >> went to school. By all means, let us teach kids not to >> fix anything. > > > Screwdrivers are a different matter. The woodwork room should be > equipped with screwdrivers and the children made to return them at the > end of the lesson. So there is no honest reason for children to be > carrying one during the day. Bad reasons include using sharpened > screwdrivers as weapons and sabotaging school desks. who needs a screwdriver when you've got those otherwise-useless compass things. rpl > Andrew Swallow |