tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post115089659414054949..comments2024-03-29T04:06:37.402-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: American Schoolchildren Lag the WorldStuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-24378734217297048812013-12-03T19:26:25.721-08:002013-12-03T19:26:25.721-08:00Oh, and another thing: this same friend of mine (w...Oh, and another thing: this same friend of mine (who our entire community knows to be an upstanding, committed, loyal and generous employer) said if he hears a recent college grad talk about "fairness" or "objective criteria for performance evaluation" again, he'd go bezerk. I told him I'd start a countdown on a quick clock...<br /><br />TipAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-21765796537860227282013-12-03T19:19:17.442-08:002013-12-03T19:19:17.442-08:00Shocking. I am shocked. I thought greater self est...Shocking. I am shocked. I thought greater self esteem was correlated with greater achievement.<br /><br />Clearly, the data say otherwise.<br /><br />American parents will do well when they unite in bringing up independent, decent contributors to society rather than trying to protect them from failure and social feedback about their own behavior. Sure, school kids can be cruel sometimes, but real life is a real eye-opener. Best to get started early. <br /><br />I talked today with an employer who says he won't hire young people straight out of college anymore. He said all they care about is vacation days, benefits, guarantees for one-on-one career development attention, and carefully detailed instructions on how to do their job correctly (notice: not training, but fledging). He said he doesn't have the time for this stuff. If he did, why would he hire someone? He'd do it himself! This youth attitude is all about "What are you going to do for me?" while they are simultaneously puzzled by inquiries about initiative, substantive leadership experiences, or contributions to something greater than themselves based on elbow grease rather than setting to hook up. And he added these were kids from impressive universities.<br /><br />Failure is like chicken pox... better to get it as a kid than to have to deal with the deadly, shocking onset as an adult.<br /><br />TipAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-28827955676217578422013-12-03T17:22:27.619-08:002013-12-03T17:22:27.619-08:00Teachers' Unions hardest hit.Teachers' Unions hardest hit.Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-90726221320011256662013-12-03T06:48:29.644-08:002013-12-03T06:48:29.644-08:00When I took Physical Chemistry in college in the e...When I took Physical Chemistry in college in the early 1970's, our professor said that we were good students, but not as good as students he taught just 20 years earlier. He wasn't talking about our class specifically, but our generation versus the earlier generation. He also was at a loss to explain why.<br /><br />I don't know why either. The one big difference between the two generations is TV. <br /><br />TV leaves little to the imagination. You don't have to think about fantasy, you just observe it. I also observed this difference when personal computers first came out. I enjoyed playing text computer games. You had to ask the program questions to frame a picture in your mind of the program's universe. As you played the game and walked around its universe, you had do so with the fantasy universe in your head. There were no pictures on the screen, just text. With modern video games, you no longer have to fantasize about the games universe, because it's right there on the screen. We simply are using our minds less and less as communication technology advances. <br /><br />Machines are doing a lot of our thinking for us.<br /><br />I'm not saying that this is the reason why we're less able students than we use to be, but it's a difference that I've observed over time.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01990269310381826048noreply@blogger.com