Leadership’s Future: Give Kids a Chance
by Miki SaxonYou know the old saying, ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t'; for kids it’s more like ‘damned when they do and damned when others don’t’.
Kids stand less chance of developing into strong, balanced, ethical adults now than in past decades; not just in the US, but globally—they are heading for mediocrity.
If you think I’m being overly pessimistic consider the following.
In yet another nod to the protection of fledgling self-esteem, an Ottawa children’s soccer league has introduced a rule that says any team that wins a game by more than five points will lose by default. …
“The new rule, suggested by “involved parents,” is a temporary measure that will be replaced by a pre-season skill assessment to make fair teams.” (Hat tip to Elliot Ross for leading me to this article.)
Great lesson to teach our future leaders—don’t excel, don’t try too hard, don’t strive too much, don’t field a winning team and, whatever you do, don’t follow in the footsteps of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Magic Johnson, Dr. Jonas Salk or any of those who surpassed their peers by a wide margin.
Helicopter parents are nothing new, but their actions are getting more outlandish. And whoever said that life is fair?
Meanwhile, here in the land No Child Left Behind, the pressures have gotten so great that some teachers and administrators have turned to a repellent solution.
Experts who consult with school systems estimated that 1 percent to 3 percent of teachers — thousands annually — cross the line between accepted ways of boosting scores, like using old tests to prep students, and actual cheating.
Cheating ranges from accessing current tests and using the questions in test prep classes to tampering with tests by correcting incorrect answers.
Cheating seems to be a fact of life these days and not just the US; when you add the pressure of funding and paychecks people have been known to make rotten decisions.
People rant on about what teachers are paid, but, in fact, they make far less than your average teen babysitter.
The average teacher’s salary (nation-wide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days = $277.77/per day/30 students=$9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour.
Keep in mind that the 6.5 hours doesn’t count meetings, preparation, study, admin or any of the other things teachers have to do.
And that $1.42 is to educate, not babysit, them.
Try hiring a neighbor kid for that and you’ll get laughed off the block
Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thost/170369652/
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June 24th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
[...] Last Thursday I wrote about a school where teams lost the game if they scored too much and said, “Great lesson to teach our future leaders—don’t excel, don’t try too hard, don’t strive too much, don’t field a winning team and, whatever you do, don’t follow in the footsteps of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Magic Johnson, Dr. Jonas Salk or any of those who surpassed their peers by a wide margin.” [...]