Groupthink in the Schools
I normally try to avoid linking to the New York Times, but you've got to read this to believe it -- and even then you'll shake your head in disbelief:
I'll say this again, since "progressives" don't seem to get it: Brave New World is a warning, not a fucking instruction manual.
[I]ncreasingly, some educators and other professionals who work with children are asking a question that might surprise their parents: Should a child really have a best friend?
Most children naturally seek close friends. In a survey of nearly 3,000 Americans ages 8 to 24 conducted last year by Harris Interactive, 94 percent said they had at least one close friend. But the classic best-friend bond — the two special pals who share secrets and exploits, who gravitate to each other on the playground and who head out the door together every day after school — signals potential trouble for school officials intent on discouraging anything that hints of exclusivity, in part because of concerns about cliques and bullying.
“I think it is kids’ preference to pair up and have that one best friend. As adults — teachers and counselors — we try to encourage them not to do that,” said Christine Laycob, director of counseling at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School in St. Louis. “We try to talk to kids and work with them to get them to have big groups of friends and not be so possessive about friends.”
“Parents sometimes say Johnny needs that one special friend,” she continued. “We say he doesn’t need a best friend.”
I'll say this again, since "progressives" don't seem to get it: Brave New World is a warning, not a fucking instruction manual.
posted by Jar(egg)head at 10:16
3 Comments:
The premise is asinine. Having one or two best friends is natural and does not mean the children are not friends with anyone else. There are children and adults who become fixated on a single person and become a "Stalker". But that's a mental problem that needs to be addressed on an individual basis. The statement "Most children naturally seek close friends." says it quite well I think. Fighting what comes natural is like fighting the market, it will never work, or only in small amounts at best.
Growing up I had a best friends and favorite groups of friends to hang out with. It changed from time to time but thats natural as well. I realize the "It's only natural" excuse can be over used but in this case it fits perfect.
Clearly, you are using the now defunct "traditional" perspective of social interaction, where people are allowed to make choices that determine the outcome of their own individual lives. This archaic, selfish mode of thought has been replaced by the more socially progressive ideology that recognizes the overriding importance of the collective group. We know this method is superior, because many college professors agree that it is, and college professors must be more intelligent or they could not earned their esteemed credentials. Also, Spock said that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few", and his logic is far superior to that of normal humans like us.
If you disagree by attempting to assert that the group is made up of individuals and what is good for the individual must also be good for the group, then you are simply clinging to a narrow-minded, destructive ideology that places the individual of higher importance than the group, and you should be required to attend group counseling and indoctrination to purge these selfish tendencies. After all, how could you possibly know what is better for you than someone who has dedicated their life to studying these matters? Never mind that they have never actually met you or produced anything that benefits you or anyone you know. Such considerations are merely empty materialism perpetuated by greedy capitalists who have no motivation other than increasing their personal fortunes at the expense of the collective group. It is a common misconception that their offering of goods and services for people to purchase voluntarily improves the overall quality of life for the group in general, and any factual information which seems to prove this link is simply false propaganda. This assertion is counter-productive to the recognition that people should be told how to act because they are obviously too ignorant to determine what is best for the collective group.
Resistance is futile. Please report to the nearest government institution for assimil.. er.. sensitivity training.
Neee!!!!
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