Excellent article on the sham of modern psychology and education theory.
Except I believe in digital education. The author’s opinion is wrong on that matter.
Homeschool pings, both lists.
Anyone here surprised? Anyone at all?
Didn’t think so.
Welcome since 12-20-11!
20 years ago when I tried scouting in the traditions of my family it was a disaster. Most of the kids were medicated and most of the parents just wanted a place to drop them for a couple of hours. It made the parents feel good like they were doing something to encourage junior into something wholesome or something I guess. They dang sure didn’t want junior to be challenged or disciplined.
One day, my Son and I were working on some project together and both confided to each other that we didn’t enjoy scouts and that we were enjoying our time together much more without having to put up with a bunch of drugged kids.
From that day we built our shop and worked on old cars and built gadgets. We had boys and girls over all the time in the teen years and into college. They always hung out at the shop. The floor will never be clean from all the oil hemorrhages from motorcycles, trucks, cars and an airplane. It is just covered with many good memories. Some of the kids still stop by, they are grown now and many of them have children. Many of them tell us they will build a shop when the time comes.
He went through a phase, like all kids do, of undirected energy. We found him something to do and gave him a reason to do it. We also only had to get the belt out once at about age 6 when he sassed his Mother. Never happened again. It was hard but necessary. I didn’t rest well for days. We like to think we medicated the ills of childhood and the fears it creates over becoming grown up with love.
My Momma and Poppa made childhood so wonderful it is still painful to have had to leave it. We were punished for what we did wrong and loved all the time. I’m sure sometimes the loving didn’t come easy.
One of the best things my Son ever said to me was that he would never do anything to make the family ashamed of him. He has been true to his word for nearly 30 years now.
The best advice I can give to anyone these days with children is HOME SCHOOL.
Actually, the "brain as machine" model is totally discredited by an avalanche of research on neuroplasticity over the last twenty or thirty years, showing the brain is a flexible, adaptive, self-correcting, responsive organ, that organizes itself, grows and changes to meet new demands, and adapts changes in functioning to changes in the environment in ways no "machine" could.
Spengler is simply wrong, as most uneducated lay people would be, and as the author who wrote the WSJ article is as well.
Current models of brain functioning are far more sophisticated than the author acknowledges, perhaps because he has been in his career comfort zone for years, doing what he has always done, and not kept up. Judicious use of medications as well as other treatments have achieved significant advances in treating problems with brain functioning, including adhd.
As far as computers are concerned, there are programs which don't help anybody, and others that are helping people recover from brain injuries, strokes, disabilities of all sorts by retraining the brain and redrawing the neurological maps of the cortex. If Spengler and the rest want a villain to pick on, they should take a look at ordinary television and its effect on cognitive development.
I was working at out local childrens home a year or so ago. I was down the hall from a staff training session and I heard the topic was medication.
I’m thinking to myself, alright, maybe they’re bringing someone in that’s going to tell them they are going about things the wrong way. No more drugging the kids to control their behavior. Do your jobs and deal with them!
A kid doesn’t want to pay attention, make him want to! No beatings of course, but use ever other available means.
Not a freakin’ chance! I could hear the whole thing. It was all about the latest drug therapy and how to make sure the kids were taking the shit. I tell you I wanted to go back there and knock some heads together sumthin’ fierce!
We spanked our kids. Much cheaper and much more effective...
“Adderall and Ritalin, by the way, can’t be found in any Chinese pharmacy...”
Again, it’s because Asian parents SPANK their brats. Parents only need the drugs if they’re not up to being parents.