|
Editor-in-Chief
of
|
Musings, meanderings, wonderings and wanderings about unschooling, natural parenting, green living and more by writer, author and editor Wendy Priesnitz. Archives - September, 2008 We Are All Born Artists – September 29, 2008 What Would Happen if Schools Taught Kids to Think –
September 29, 2008 “The tide of mediocrity flows into the classroom from the
ocean that is the society at large, and if many of our public schools resemble
penal institutions, the students herded into overcrowded classrooms where they
major in the art of boredom and the science of diminished expectations, how
better to accustom them to the design specs of a society geared to the blind and
insatiable consumption of mediocrity in all its political declensions and
commercial conjugations—cf. the Bush Administration’s geopolitical theory at
work in Iraq, innovative money managers collapsing the country’s banks,
corporate executives paid $20 million a year for performing the miracle of an
$18 billion write-down.” Two New Books Available for Pre-Publication Ordering
– September 23, 2008
Projected publication date for both books is December 1, 2008 and we have a terrific
pre-publication order special on right now: Order before December 1 and we will
pay the shipping (a $10 to $14 savings!). You will find links to more information and to order them both
here.
Happy World Car-Free Day – September 22, 2008Every year on this day, people around the world walk, bike and take public
transit while leaving their cars at home. World Car-Free Day is a great
educational and awareness tool, but we need to find ways to allow people to get
rid of their cars permanently. There are lots of good ideas on the
website.
Change Needs to be on the Menu – September 18, 2008 So I wonder, why isn’t the safety of our food supply at
the top of the political agenda these days? After all, we’re in the middle of
election campaigns in both the U.S. and Canada, as well as a national listeriosis outbreak in
Canada, for which the death toll is still rising. Oh, and then there was that
bisphenol A research, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical
Association, suggesting the chemical found in plastic food containers could
cause heart disease and diabetes (despite the FDA’s recent assertion that it
is safe for humans). Also this week, an editorial in the Canadian Medical
Association Journal – not a particularly radical bunch – claims
Canada’s listeriosis problem is the “worst in the world” and slams Prime
Minister Harper’s government for undermining public health safeguards by
allowing the food industry to inspect itself. But the only time I’ve noticed
the safety of our food supply surface in this election campaign is in a bunch of
tasteless listeriosis jokes by the Agriculture Minister, for which he’s had to
apologize but not (yet) resign. Food safety isn’t a new issue. In fact, it’s a growing
one. So why aren’t people clamoring to have this issue put at the top of the
election issue menu? Why are the politicians and political parties not being
confronted with it by voters? Toronto Star columnist James Travers today
politely suggests that the problem is “democratic dissonance” – group failure to
apply the available information to a logical conclusion.
What’s the Point of Staying in School? September 14, 2008 Nevertheless, the Education Minister Dave Hancock told the
Calgary Chamber of Commerce that, “It’s not a good idea for business to
entice people away from school.” But
Heather Douglas, the president and CEO of the chamber, said there is an urgent
need to have young people working. She also pointed out that work tends to
mature kids and that they can take that maturity back to school if they want to
continue their education after being in the real world for awhile, later to
become “very effective in the workforce.” Sounds like
the business community is light years ahead of the school folks in understanding
how the world works. We need to support young people to “rise out” of school
when appropriate (i.e. when they don’t want to be there), instead of
disparaging and punishing them for “dropping out” of school (or, worse,
trying to coerce them to stay). High school, with its regimentation, insulting
rules, prepackaged and sometimes out-of-date curriculum, and irrelevant tests is
boring and pointless for many young people. Functioning as an adult is just what
some (most?) teens need. Getting a job is the bait that their keepers use to
bribe them to stay in school. But if they can get a good-paying job without
school, what’s the point?
Not My Grandmother’s Sack-like Hemp Dress – September 11,
2008 “I think we all remember the days of brown organic underwear and sack-like hemp dresses. The underwear looked like it had been marinated in Grandma’s herbal tea, the scratchy dresses fit like a circus tent and came in three muddy colors. Being a hippie chick definitely meant compromising style for the cause. Well, organic clothing and environmentally friendly fashion has come along way since the 1960s. Now everyone from Bono to Natalie Portman to Stella McCartney are offering hip organic clothing or stylish vegan fashions….” This is a
direct quote from the promo I received this week regarding a new green website
(yet another!). I won’t say which one, because you don’t want to go there, do
you? But what is this about? That I am too old to be part of the young “hippie
chick” demographic that they’re trying to reach? (Then why are they emailing
me?) Or am I a person who will
compromise “style for the cause”? Are they insinuating that my 20-year-old self
wasn’t both stylish and eco-aware in 1970? Or that style isn’t rooted in its
own era? Was I that arrogant when I was their age? Have I ever written such
condescending advertising copy? Do these people not understand how dumb this
rhetoric is? Oh, maybe there are people who fall for it…which makes me feel
very old indeed. Back to Fear and Anxiety – September 1, 2008 I’m appalled that anybody would suggest that a bunch of fancy
page layouts, backgrounds, fonts and text colors – at a cost of just $9.99 –
could alleviate children’s fear and anxiety. Yes, this is just somebody trying
to sell a product. But it’s indicative of the callousness with which our
society treats kids. And of a profound misunderstanding or misuse of the word
“fear.” Yes, many children fear school. And ten dollar software isn’t
going to help. Try giving them enough respect to allow them to ditch the
coercive warehouse and learn on their own. Return
to current weblog copyright © Wendy Priesnitz 2008 |
Topics & Passions life learning / unschooling
~ Monthly Archives ~
What I'm
Reading
The Upside of Down:
Catastrophe, Creativity and the Renewal of Civilization by Thomas
Homer-Dixon (Vintage, 2007) ~ What I'm Listening To
Zydeco by various artists (Putumayo, 1999) ~
Fav Bookmarks
Daughter Blog
~ Fav Quotes
Art, Writing, Creativity
|
Blog Updates
