warrrreagl

I believe it was W. H. Auden who said (in reference to B. F. Skinner's work), "Of course Behavior Modification works. Give me any child and an electric cattle prod and I'll prove it."

My last year of teaching in the public schools was 1994, so I left before the last nauseating wave of change swept through. I clearly remember the dichotomy between the kindergarten teachers and the rest of the elementary teachers in handling kid-on-kid violence. Example: 1st through 6th grade teacher - "If Jamal hit you, then we'll send him to the principal." Kindergarten teacher - "If Jamal hit you, then hit him back."

I'll bet a lot of us older folks were raised along the lines of kindergarten thinking, and I always thought it worked. The latest waves of educational reform swept away that last vestige of common sense, however, and now teachers are trained to pass any problem down the line to someone else.

My most effective discipline technique as a teacher was the reality that all problems were handled in MY room immediately. We dealt with it right there without the principal and without parents and with concrete consequences. And it always, always worked. I never encountered a situation that we couldn't handle, and the kids KNEW that. Teachers don't get that option anymore.

Since kids are born as professional button-pushers, they quickly learn that all of education is a big bluff anyway - nobody has any real teeth anymore. And they learn that very early.

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Living is easy with eyes closed.