[GoGoReggieXPowars]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...9-1m4pens.html

Pacific Rim Elementary teacher Melanie Irvine doesn't use red pens to mark her third-graders' work. "Purple is a more approachable color," she said.
When term papers get graded this school year, many students who turn in sloppy work won't be seeing red.

An increasingly popular grading theory insists red ink is stressful and demoralizes students, while purple, the preferred color, has a more calming effect.

"I never use red to grade papers because it stands out like, 'Oh, here's what you did wrong.' " said Melanie Irvine, a third-grade teacher at Pacific Rim Elementary in Carlsbad. "Purple is a more approachable color."

What complete and utter twaddle.

[ManOfSteal]

I can't wait to see some purple stop-lights and stop signs...I'll drive more calm!

[Millennium]

"I never use red to grade papers because it stands out like, 'Oh, here's what you did wrong.' " said Melanie Irvine, a third-grade teacher at Pacific Rim Elementary in Carlsbad.

Isn't that the point of grading papers: show students what they did wrong so that they can correct the problem next time?

The cult of self-esteem has been going too far in education for decades now, but now we're getting to the point where there's not even a pretense of education in our schools anymore. If our students are leaving school illiterate and innumerate but feeling great about themselves, then what is the point of going in the first place?

[dreilly1]

Of course red ink is stressful and demoralizing. Learning is, too.

If a kid can't take a page full of red ink every now and then, he has bigger problems than his grade....

[effgee]

I love it!

Melanie Irvine should make sure that she not only use purple ink for grading papers but also that each of her students wear a protective helmet when she hands out the graded papers to them - better safe than sorry.

pussified, indeed.

[dreilly1]

Originally posted by effgee:
pussified, indeed.

I think "pussified" should be the MacNN word of the day.

[typoon]

While this story is an old one it's still a relevant story. You've gotta love the Political correctness that is going on these days. We are trying not to offend anyone yet we are pussifying the country.

[GoGoReggieXPowars]

Truth be told, I did like seeing a big red "A" at the top of my papers.

[d.fine]

Originally posted by manofsteal:
I can't wait to see some purple stop-lights and stop signs...I'll drive more calm!

But will you stop for purple instead of red ?

[ManOfSteal]

Originally posted by d.fine:
But will you stop for purple instead of red ?

Depends on the shade of purple...

[d.fine]

Originally posted by manofsteal:
Depends on the shade of purple...

Haha, how about Deep Purple ?

[ManOfSteal]

Originally posted by d.fine:
Haha, how about Deep Purple ?

Yes; however, I won't stop at night as Dark Purple in the dark doesn't mix well...

[Millennium]

Originally posted by typoon:
While this story is an old one it's still a relevant story. You've gotta love the Political correctness that is going on these days. We are trying not to offend anyone yet we are pussifying the country.

I think it's more that we've forgotten what the pursuit of happiness is. The term never actually appears in the Constitution (though there's a good reason for that, which I'll explain below), but it has long been held by Americans to be one of our most basic rights because of its appearance in the Declaration of Independence.

What is "the pursuit of happiness?" The term was actually coined by John Locke, and has a very specific meaning. In particular, it refers to the idea that humans naturally seek pleasure and flee pain. It figures prominently in Locke's flavor of Christianity -of which many of the Framers were devotees- because Locke believed that since humans were created by God with this instinctive behavior, it must be inherently good from a moral standpoint. This was what the Framers referred to in their statement about unalienable rights. It is also why the phrase never appears in the Constitution: as a religious term, including it would have violated the principle of the separation of Church and State. In this way the Framers hoped to prevent even their own faith from gaining any kind of official power. However, they ran their government according to the principle, and to this day many Constitutional scholars use the Declaration of Independence -and therefore this principle- as a guide to interpreting the Constitution itself.

But let us examine these two things more closely: seeking pleasure and fleeing pain. It is these things which we are said to have a right to do. What is not listed are finding pleasure and escaping pain; the right to attempt does not equal a right to succeed (though if you do succeed, no one may try to nullify that success, because that would violate your attempts). You can seek all the pleasure you want, but there can be no guarantee of finding it; likewise you can flee pain all you want but there can be no guarantee of successful escape.

Most people don't understand this anymore. They believe there is an inborn right not to the pursuit of happiness, but happiness itself. The cult of self-esteem is little more than an outgrowth of this.

[Millennium]

From the article:

"This is a kinder, more gentler education system," Paper Mate spokesman Michael Finn said. "And the connotation of red is that it is not as constructive as purple."

I'm not sure I could have said it any better myself.

[Demonhood]

funk that

[Powaqqatsi]

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally posted by Millennium:
Isn't that the point of grading papers: show students what they did wrong so that they can correct the problem next time?

The cult of self-esteem has been going too far in education for decades now, but now we're getting to the point where there's not even a pretense of education in our schools anymore. If our students are leaving school illiterate and innumerate but feeling great about themselves, then what is the point of going in the first place?

It looks like "credentialing" has moved down the educational system into elementary schools.

Now kids can go on to middle/junior-high school feeling oh-so-GOOD about themselves. It just reinforces the delusion of equality and will make it that much harder when these kids get out into the real world . . . after living at home for a decade, post-graduation, of course.

[effgee]

Originally posted by dcmacdaddy:
... It just reinforces the delusion of equality and will make it that much harder when these kids get out into the real world ...

What Mrs. Irvine's entirely misguided attempt at shielding kids from the truth will actually reinforce is a false sense of empowerment - as in "I don't give any false answers - I never do anything wrong". But what do you expect anyway ...

• People don't suck suck anymore at what they do - they just show "room for improvement"
• There's no more stupid people - nowadays they're "minimally acceptable".
• All the fat folks have disappeared from the face of the planet - we now have the "gravitationally challenged"; all right, they're called "obese" but at least it doesn't have that harsh ring to it.
• Nobody sells used cars anymore - everybody wants me to buy a "pre-owned vehicle".
• We no longer kill folks in other countries - "precision and/or surgical airstrikes enable us to effectively depopulate the area", sometimes we simply "neutralize" them.
• Poor people? Gone - there's only the "economically disadvantaged who populate sub-standard housing in urban areas".

Anyone else recognize an emerging pattern here? People are afraid of reality and seem convinced that if they simply rename/relabel inconvenient conditions, the conditions themselves will change.

According to Mrs. Irvine, if we highlight an error in a kids' test using purple instead of red, it won't look as wrong. Anything to make sure that the poor children don't get upset by the fact that they're not infallible. Bullshite. The whole lot of it.

[effgee]

(edited: double-post. apologies.)

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by effgee:
(edited: double-post. apologies.)

You'll get some purple ink on your post for that one.

[MaxPower2k3]

Many teachers aren't allowed to call those fuzzy wire things "pipe cleaners" anymore because it promotes smoking.

[DeathToWindows]

The whole bloody ****ing reason you correct papers in red is to highlight the mistakes made - hell, if I'm editing a paper, I use red so I can see my own corrections!

Cult of self-esteem + perpetual political correctness = a nation where nothing is said that is ever of any substance for fear of hurting someone or causing offense.


ARRGH!

[ReggieX]

effgee, some of my favourite Carlin quotes right there

[scottiB]

Coincidentally, I'm a proofer at an ad agency, and our marks are in purple (the account people use red).

When I taught and tutored, I used red for the simple reason that it's easier to read my marks (both good and bad)--my penmanship notwithstanding.

The fear of red marks (or being corrected in general) can be allayed if the teacher uses the same pen to write as many supportive comments as negative.

[boardsurfer]

the trend seems to be toward a less-judgmental shade.

less judgmental??! what the hell?

[MilkmanDan]

Read the book "The Language Police" about how our schools are being turned into a battle ground for PC language. Good book, and scary.

[storer]

Originally posted by dreilly1:
Learning is, too.

[effgee]

Originally posted by ReggieX:
effgee, some of my favourite Carlin quotes right there

Heh - Carlin's the best For those not too familiar with his comedy, this entire "PC crap - fear of reality" thingie is one of his pet peeves ("major fscking psychotic hatreds", as he calls it) and he's collected dozens of examples - it's a riot.

Coming from Germany (the country of very direct speech), Carlin was literally one of the first examples of "popular culture" I ever saw when I first moved to the US, which, of course, made that part of the "culture shock" all the more evident - and funny. Weird/sad thing is, that these days you see real-life examples that exceed his comedic examples from a decade ago by light-years - and that the people coming up with this crap actually believe they're making the world a better place.

I'm not handicapped - I'm "differently abled".

[alphasubzero949]

When I taught a college-level laboratory course as a TA, I was hounded on by my supervising professor for correcting lab notebooks in red ink because students nowadays equate red with "aggressiveness" and "anger."

[Gee4orce]

Man, this sort of PC **** gets me so mad I see - um - purple.

[storer]

Originally posted by Gee4orce:
Man, this sort of PC **** gets me so mad I see - um - purple.

OMG, SAME!

[starman]

Someone's been watching too much Barney.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by MaxPower2k3:
Many teachers aren't allowed to call those fuzzy wire things "pipe cleaners" anymore because it promotes smoking.

So what do they call it then ?

As if it was cool for teenagers to smoke a pipe

-t

[phoenixboy70]

Originally posted by Millennium:
You can seek all the pleasure you want, but there can be no guarantee of finding it; likewise you can flee pain all you want but there can be no guarantee of successful escape.

ahhh, the eternal dangling carrot in front of the face.

you can look, but you can't touch, you can believe a lie, but don't blame the liars...it's your fault for believing the lies.

i personally have had enough of the cult of "lies" and "pre-fabricated dreams". there were very few hours during my school years where i was actually awake, - too bored to even notice the red marker highlighting my every test.

it took me years to wake up.

how i long for the days where you could call a "nigger" a nigger (actually the "standard" terminology at a certain point in history).

[turtle777]

Originally posted by phoenixboy70:
how i long for the days where you could call a "nigger" a nigger (actually the "standard" terminology at a certain point in history).

I remember that in Munich, they used to call a mix-drink of beer and coke "Neger". I don't know how popular this still is.

-t

[Zimphire]

Politically Correct dumbing down of society.

These liberal do gooders have good intentions, they are just brain dead.

[Ω]

For those who would like a reality check, it is just a colour

As long as the message is put across, who fukken cares.

As just so you know, I mark in pencil - so I guess this makes me a commie pinko liberal

Now where did I put my Foreign Agent Badge......

[phoenixboy70]

Originally posted by turtle777:
I remember that in Munich, they used to call a mix-drink of beer and coke "Neger". I don't know how popular this still is.

heh, that's funny. i heard someone call it that for the first time last year when i was visiting a friend in munich. :-)

it made me chuckle, because it reminded me how stupid people actually are (were).

[acadian]

Dont worry, the sensitivity police will soon be all over the colour purple as well with athiests claiming it's too "papal".

[GoGoReggieXPowars]

Originally posted by alphasubzero949:
When I taught a college-level laboratory course as a TA, I was hounded on by my supervising professor for correcting lab notebooks in red ink because students nowadays equate red with "aggressiveness" and "anger."

Did you punch him and tell him to back off?

[turtle777]

Originally posted by acadian:
Dont worry, the sensitivity police will soon be all over the colour purple as well with athiests claiming it's too "papal".

*lawl*

-t

[capuchin]

Originally posted by GoGoReggieXPowars:
Truth be told, I did like seeing a big red "A" at the top of my papers.

ADULTERER!!!!

[Buck_W]

Originally posted by DeathToWindows:
The whole bloody ****ing reason you correct papers in red is to highlight the mistakes made - hell, if I'm editing a paper, I use red so I can see my own corrections!

Cult of self-esteem + perpetual political correctness = a nation where nothing is said that is ever of any substance for fear of hurting someone or causing offense.


ARRGH!

[turtle777]

Originally posted by GoGoReggieXPowars:
Truth be told, I did like seeing a big red "A" at the top of my papers.

Originally posted by capuchin:
ADULTERER!!!!

A**hole ?

-t

[Millennium]

Originally posted by phoenixboy70:
ahhh, the eternal dangling carrot in front of the face.

you can look, but you can't touch,

Hardly. You can look and touch, but no one will bring the carrot to you: you must take it for yourself. The only guarantee is that no one will take the carrot away before it's in your hands.

you can believe a lie, but don't blame the liars...it's your fault for believing the lies.

I'm not sure I understand this. What is the lie? Who are the liars?

i personally have had enough of the cult of "lies" and "pre-fabricated dreams". there were very few hours during my school years where i was actually awake, - too bored to even notice the red marker highlighting my every test.

it took me years to wake up.

Are you part of the solution, then, or part of the problem? Is your experience comparable to those of most? These are honest questions, because you've been awfully vague here. But if you were too bored to even notice the red marks, then clearly you were never in the group of terminally-insecure people that this measure appears to target.

how i long for the days where you could call a "nigger" a nigger (actually the "standard" terminology at a certain point in history).

Back before people started using it as an insult, yes, it was the standard term. Look, for example, at the works of Mark Twain. Then some people started using it as an insult, and as a result the word became verboten for many years. Now it's mutated into a double-standard, with whether or not it's OK to say being determined entirely by the speaker's race.

[Millennium]

Originally posted by MaxPower2k3:
Many teachers aren't allowed to call those fuzzy wire things "pipe cleaners" anymore because it promotes smoking.

So what do they call them now?

[Millennium]

Originally posted by _?_:
For those who would like a reality check, it is just a colour

As long as the message is put across, who fukken cares.

The color wouldn't matter so much, but the whole point of this shift to purple is to obscure the message, not to get it across. We've spoiled our kids to the point where they can't even handle the idea of getting a question wrong, and so we have to try and downplay that when that's the entire point.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by Millennium:
So what do they call them now?

Asked the same before. Apparently, nobody knows.
Maybe it's just teh thing

-t

[IonCable]

I thought purple was now the color of homosexuality? It was the color of Royality but wasn't there a hole thing about the Purple teletubby being a Homosexual Character?

My sister-in-law just got a job. She's a Merchendise Distribution and Control Specialist, er I mean Sales Clerk. Before that she was a Nutritional Product Counselor, er waitress.

I just love DoubleSpeak.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by IonCable:

My sister-in-law just got a job. She's a Merchendise Distribution and Control Specialist, er I mean Sales Clerk. Before that she was a Nutritional Product Counselor, er waitress.

janitor = housekeeping specialist

-t