I don't think we should simply be teaching children to "say no." We need to be teaching children to think for themselves. To think about the consequences of their actions, and to make good choices based on information they have learned.
On Dec 13, 2007 8:09 PM, Bill IVEY <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi! > > I guess this is more of a "social literacy" question... > > I've been musing the past few days about an article by Laura Sessions > Stepp (who wrote the excellent book on young adolescents, "Our Last Best > Shot") that appeared in the Washington Post and was entitled "Why adults > can't say 'no'." You can find it at: > http://tinyurl.com/23h2to > > Part of what Ms. Stepp seems to be saying is that, while as parents and > teachers we want kids to develop the strength of character to say "no" to > obviously poor influences, like peers encouraging substance abuse for > example, we don't so much want them to say "no" to us. Kids learn, then, > that saying "no" is a highly risky proposition, even though it is > undeniably the healthy thing to say in the right circumstances, and as a > result perhaps "no" doesn't get said as often as it should, even into > adult life. > > So actually, I have two questions. > > First, how good are you all at saying "no" and what makes it possible to > do so when you do so? > > Second, how do our schools handle the notion of teaching kids how and when > to say "no" - if we do at all? For that matter, should we even be teaching > kids how and when to say "no"? > > Just a few musings on a snowy Thursday evening... > > Take care, > Bill Ivey > Stoneleigh-Burnham School > > > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > -- - Heather "The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet live on. Still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men's hearts of the hearts of men centuries dead." --Clarence Day "While the rhetoric is highly effective, remarkably little good evidence exists that there's any educational substance behind the accountability and testing movement." —Peter Sacks, Standardized Minds "When our children fail competency tests the schools lose funding. When our missiles fail tests, we increase funding. " —Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
