Not really a rant 'cause I'm still on holiday but

[primroseburrows]

I got a popup ad this morning that had a picture of an ickle bitty kid holding a blue ribbon and smiling proudly. The blurb next to it read, "My kid's five and got straight A's! Find out how!"

My immediate reaction: What the heck's a five-year-old doing getting any kind of grade at all? Kids nowadays are being pushed into competitive academics, too soon, too young, because their parents are Driven. Start 'em early, get them on a Pee-Wee league team and let them watch as their parents make idiots out of themselves. Make sure they live in the Right Neighbourhood with the Right People. Buy Educational Software to make sure that three-year-old gets the edge, computerwise, over the kid down the street. Agonise over making sure they get into the Finest Preschool or they won't get into Brown or MIT.

*sigh*


The fine print at the bottom of the popup read, "This program sponsored by Wal-Mart".

*headdesk*

Comments

[patchfire.livejournal.com]

I wish those parents would talk to actual people who went to MIT or Brown or Harvard. Because the people I know that went there didn't have pushy parents at all. If anything, esp. in Sara's case, her mother was the opposite of pushy. Oh, she was supportive, sure, and she expected her daughters (Kathleen's the one we tried to go visit, remember?) to do their best, but if they tried and didn't get the grade they wanted - she was still proud. And her girls are happy where they are, it was their choice. Yes, I'd like to send those parents to talk to Mommy Barron. (Yes, most of my group of friends called her that. And, yes, she was the only mother given a moniker of that sort. *G*)

As far as Wal-Mart, apparently they started some kind of PAC... my mom found an article in the paper on it and is going to show it to my grandmother & great-aunt. They will stop going there if they see how much money Wal-Mart spends on Republicans. Whatever it takes, whatever it takes. (My grandmother who has a gay co-worker. She was a little weirded out at first, but now she's all right with it. Pretty quick for a woman over 65, I say. Isn't it weird how some older people are more tolerant than some younger people?)

[peacey.livejournal.com]

Can you imagine what today's parents would think of how I acted until I was around 10? Up until I hit my preteen age, the greatest pleasures in the world to me were digging around in a sandbox and splashing thru puddles on our country road after a rain, the muddier the better. Many would've probably thought me "mentally challenged". How sad that so many kids are denied these and other kid joys! (Incidently, I still love doing these things!)

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Yep. Kids are being cheated out of their childhood. It's sad, really.

[jessindistress.livejournal.com]

*nods* D00d, I am in total agreement.

Most of us turned out okay, and I don't think most of us were pushed like that. I plan on letting Lew develop at his own pace- if he shows an interest in, say, computers, fine, we'll work with that, but pushing him into it... *dies*

Have you seen Parenthood? Every time I do I just feel horrible for the Rick-Moranis-family.

I mean, if you're the kid getting pushed, I'm sure it's no fun, and if you're partnered to someone doing that, it must suck... but... if you're doing it to your child... *sighs* I dunno, but there seem to be bigtime issues there. *sighs*

Anyway, some early childhood thing I was reading actually discussed findings that kids learn heaps through playing and doing totally 'non educational' things anyway. As a kid, the things I loved doing probably were educational- catching insects and finding out about them, reading, playing with the family pets, making stuff and writing- I didn't need some specialised programme to do any of that. *rolls eyes*

~Jess

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

This is where mr_t00by has gone to school since Kindergarten. There are no grades; they have written evaluations every quarter. Emphasis is on the whole kid, not just what's between the ears. He loves it. *sigh* It's his last year, though. Next year--High School!

[closet-geek.livejournal.com]

Eugh. I totally agree. The only thing five year olds should be doing is making mud pies and daring four year olds to eat them.

[stormwynd.livejournal.com]

As a high school teacher, all I can say is:

Amen.