July 21, 2005

“PC” Goes Global.

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jim @ 5:40 pm

A group of British teachers has proposed the following:

The word “fail” should be banned from use in British classrooms and replaced with the phrase “deferred success” to avoid demoralizing pupils… .

I suppose, then, we should say that the terrorist attacks in London today that didn’t produce the death and destruction of those of last week were not “failures,” but rather “deferred successes”.

Excuse my while I hurl.

5 Comments »

  1. Curiously, the Brits don’t have a history of “alternative nurturing”. In fact, corporal punishment has long been heralded in British schools as the only effective means of dealing with naughty children. Although jargon such as “deferred success” is transparent and probably more patronizing than the simple “fail”, it’s meant with good will. However, to simple observers, it is cause for vomiting.

    Comment by Jack — July 21, 2005 @ 7:55 pm

  2. Color me “simple.”

    Comment by Jim - Parkway Rest Stop — July 21, 2005 @ 8:22 pm

  3. It’s almost comical in it’s results. Let’s step back and look at society today with the political correctness, zero tolerance, and over the top safety measures we have implemented on our children.

    Are they better off, or do they appear to be a bunch of coddled – spoiled brats? There is no drive to succeed. No need, we’ll just push them along and tell them it’s ok, they did well enough.

    Hmmm, wonder why today’s youth is lazy, can’t add/subtract without a calculator… Need I go on?

    Comment by Larry Morin — July 21, 2005 @ 8:33 pm

  4. Being a teacher, I would quit on the spot if the district made me tell a parent that their child had “deferred success.” It is a bullshit phrase. There have already been studies done on schools that practice the self-esteem curriculum, and they’ve showed that making a kid feel okay about being mediocre doesn’t inspire excellence.

    During my parent-teacher conferences, you can often hear me say, “Your child is lazy, s/he doesn’t do any work, and there is no way I will allow promotion to the next grade. You need to do something about this.” This freaks a lot of parents out and has earned me a reputation for being mean. And two years ago, a parent nearly decked me on the schoolyard because I told her that her daughter couldn’t spell.

    But you know what? I refuse to be afraid of the parents or the kids because I will not allow mediocrity in my classroom.

    Comment by marydell — July 22, 2005 @ 11:45 am

  5. Well, with this logic …

    I’ll just start calling myself a “deferred millionaire.”

    When do I start getting what’s mine?

    No no, scratch that. I meant to say “billionaire.” I guess that was just a “deferred saying the right thing” … or something.

    Anyways, just when you think the world can’t get any crazier they pull some BS like this.

    Comment by Ozarks Nick — July 23, 2005 @ 8:42 am

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