Self-Esteem = lies of equality!

Taken from Fox News:
<"
The tradition of show-and-tell is slowly disappearing from American school, reports the St. Petersburg Times, partly because teachers want to avoid creating self-esteem problems for children who don’t bring interesting enough items.

The goal of the exercise, to promote self-esteem, "backfires when children try to outdo each other," writes Katherine Snow Smith. "Show and tell" turns into "bring and brag." Mona Schuster, a child development specialist with the Pinellas County schools in Florida, says the intent was to make children feel better about themselves by bringing something from home. But in later years, she says, kids have started bringing in things that are bigger and better and brighter than what their friends brought in.
">

ok, so they kill Show -and- Tell because some kids have better stuff than others!

does anyone else think its odd?

refrain my own opinion, other than the title, and what said.

what are your thoughts on this?

In a way it makes sense....

hmm, i guess it depends on the neighborhood.

but don't you think this will cause serious problems when the reach the real world, where NOTHING is equal?

I dont recall having show and tell, but I do see their point. Kids are materialistic, more so then most people. So they will obvioulsy be attracted to a kid who brings in Santas little helper, then a boy who brings in a horse and says nah, nah (horse noises).

For the sake of children, I feel it should be stopped.

you are wise to refrain from stating your opinion. Politics make enemies quickly, and for no good reason. I hope I can afford private school when my kids are older. that's all I will say.

i live in an average house hold and show and tell seems alright, i remember in elementary i brought in my coin collection :D i had coins from all over the world which my dad gave to me, canada, us, netherlands, turkey, iran, russia, germany, and some other places i forget. back on track i think show and tell is good but as kids keep growing up they shouldnt do it too much, then it starts becoming into a competition

i can see how it may be a problem tho. I mean if your kid has no toys cause your poor and you don't have anything to give him for show n tell, thats just as bad as sending him in with a roach trap...

One time I had to bring something for show and tell the next day, and I forgot about it the whole night before. In the morning before school I remembered right before I was leaving, however, I was in a hurry so I didn't have much time to pick something out. I wound up bringing the cardboard holder for paper towels lol. Hey it didn't bother me at all; it was pretty funny actually.

EDIT: the reason why I brought that instead of finding somethign else real fast is because we had to bring the cardboard holder thingy anyways for a project so I decide to use it as my show and tell object as well.

I honestly believe all schools don't teach enough about surviving in the real world. I believe we should teach RATIONAL thinking. I mean have an entire class time devoted to coping rationally with everyday problems. Teach how to dispute your irrational beliefs (for instance "I can't stand it" or "I am a bad person for this"). The world is not a scary place, only a place with good and bad conditions. The world cannot be changed, but how we think about it and cope with situations can. Conditional self esteem is about as safe as walking on thin ice. If you are always doing great and receiving all the attention then you are feeling good. However no one is always doing well and it is when we are doing poorly that we need rational thinking skills. "Oh I failed this test, and I would have preferred to have done better but it is not the end of the world and I am not a bad person for it". That is rational thinking, and i don't think young people have any way to learn it.

what the hell am I talking about? Anhyways I hope you all agree with me.

fox news is frequently biased in those areas... (like all news channels are). most schools are reasonable about doing things.

Reminds me of an article saying how some schools banned dodge ball because it encourages bullying.

You have a point there Shadow, but I think it extends even farther than that. Sadly, I think schools need to start teaching kids common sense; there seems to be a lack of it. I think that goes along with taking responsiblity for your actions, yet another thing nobody does anymore.

I'm tired, so I'm going to bed now.

ygfperson,

not to be a jerk, but this story doesn't have any room for bias, its just a report(the parts in quotes), thats one thing i like about Fox news the do plain reports, no opinion, as i stated original comments/title are mine.

tough i agree there's no such thing as an unbiased news source.

What im trying to do is provoke discussion and thought, is this a good precedent or bad?, is it the right thing to do?, are we shielding children to much or not enough?, where (if) should the line be drawn?

>Reminds me of an article saying how some schools banned dodge ball because it encourages bullying.

yep. quite a parallel.

I personally don't know what schools should and shouldn't ban. I don't even know if the world can really be changed and 'tweaked' so that it will work better for everyone. In short I don't think people can perfectly co exist with their environment, whether it be how the school's curriculum teaches, or how other people behave. I think common sense (as said by tgm) and coping skills need to be taught, so that we dont' have to change society, but rather we can change ourselves to fit into society.

I am a junior in high school and I am just starting to learn these skills. I have a lot to learn, and I still feel like a child.

shad i felt the same way as a junior, now as a senior i realized junior year aint nothing lol.

Senior is scary ina way.

let's stop blaming the schools for this. it's the parents who should be teaching their children about all this. the schools should encourage responsible behavior, but not actively.

Quote:

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not to be a jerk, but this story doesn't have any room for bias, its just a report(the parts in quotes), thats one thing i like about Fox news the do plain reports, no opinion, as i stated original comments/title are mine.

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the writing of the story doesn't matter. it's the fact that this story doesn't represent what's really going on with the schools. the story's sources, while mostly unbiased and truthful, can't possibly convey the whole story.

my point is that news shows in general pick a topic which people might get upset at (no matter how insignificant) and give it the importance of a supreme court ruling. many schools around the country don't share this attitude, but they aren't represented in the story. who's to say how many schools do this?

please tell me this isn't biased: "ok, so they kill Show -and- Tell because some kids have better stuff than others!" Show and tell is not dead, and isn't going to die soon! one school != all american schools.

I agree with everything you just said, esp the part about how news shows choose topics people will get upset with. And look it generated this thread on the board!

ygf, you completely miss the point.

>it's the fact that this story doesn't represent what's really going on with the schools.

it doesn't claim to nor does it have to, what other schools are doing is irrelevant to the story, this is not a research paper!

>
my point is that news shows in general pick a topic which people might get upset at (no matter how insignificant) and give it the importance of a supreme court ruling
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of course, what do you expect them to do? talk about what flavor of bubble gum the kids chew in school?

What is the media for?

>many schools around the country don't share this attitude, but they aren't represented in the story.

because they aren't part of the story! this is meant to PROVOKE THOUGHT and BRING ATTENTION TO THE SUBJECT, nothing more.
it is not a study on what nation wide school policy on Show-and-Tell is.

>who's to say how many schools do this?

its irrelevant!

>
"ok, so they kill Show -and- Tell because some kids have better stuff than others!" Show and tell is not dead, and isn't going to die soon! one school != all american schools.
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I never implied it meant all schools!! your blowing it out of preportion! plus it is irrelevant to the topic of discussion! which is, is this a good or bad, right or wrong? should other schools follow suit or not?


anyway... back to the topic

i thought the original idea behind show and tell was to help kids learn about each other and or about things and the like?

maybe wether it turns out to be a contest or not depends on the way its presented to the students!

from personal experience:
{
In one class it was never a contest for me or the class. you didn't have to bring anything! nobody cared! sure between a few it was but nobody else payed any attention.

In another class who ever brought the best item won a little prize!
}
end personal experience:

if the teacher introduces and treats it like a contest won't the kids see it as one? if he does not, wont that sentiment will be limited?

what im asking is, is it the kids or the teacher that makes it a contest?

Both...human nature? Everything is turned into a contest, little is truly fair, show and tell is just a starting point in my opinion. Everyone wants to do the best. Can't argue with that.

I don't think taking out show and tell is good or bad, I don't really think it will change a damn thing.

Show and tell being just about making the kid feel better is news to me. As a kid, I remember show and tell being all about bringing in the newest, coolest, most interesting, unique thing you could and having some story that made everyone think wow. Of course, if you couldn't top the baseball autographed by a whole Major League baseball team, you felt a little ackward. Competition is everywhere, even in children. Next thing you know, they'll be forbidding dodgeball--oh, wait, they already are. Kids will always try to segregate themselves into groups (cliques) that show animosity towards eachother. Maybe getting children to be more considerate of eachother, despite their differences, would be a better ideal than making everything as bland as possible.

Much crueler than "Show-and-Tell" is having two "captains" pick teams.

The short, fat kid is always picked last, isn't he? Over and over, again. Or, outside of a school environment, isn't picked at all.

Just as bad? Dancing. The boys who were picked early on got to choose the girl that they would dance with - the prettiest girl, or the prettiest girl that was left.

Of course, the last boy picked got "stuck" with the "ugly" girl.

The thought of it now could bring tears to your eyes.

My God in Heaven, what were they thinking?

-Skipper