Oh, I should point out that I totally agree that groundless praise is an inefficient motivator and ends up undercutting drive and achievement, by the way. Like everything, there's a balance. But, see, since education schools aren't STUPID, they didn't need her to write a book to tell them that.

In my elemetary school, PE had, on a weekly basis, dodgeball AND square dancing. It was very effective torture for all involved. The PE teacher was amean ass bitch too. She would yell at me for bringing in a note excusing me because I had a piece of glass in my foot and was waiting for surgery to be scheduled.

Bitch. She's still working in the district. Mom says she's mellowed some but is still a bitch who has no business dealing with kids.

cries over losing DX's sooper seekrit internet love

But, really, I don't know what dodgeball was like in its original incarnation, and I'm perfectly happy to give original dodgeball a pass -- but by the mid to late 70s dodgeball was a way for popular kids to fuck with unpopular ones with the teacher's permission.

At my school, it usually played out as such: Round One, the smallest and weakest kids get nailed with balls thrown so hard the kids are sometimes driven to their knees. Round Two: The popular kids make soft little baby tosses at their friends, who frequently jump right into the path of the ball to get tagged out on purpose so they can go stand by their friends and toss the ball across the circle to each other.

An exciting variation was the one where getting nailed was a sign of popularity, so the game started out with all the shiny kids nailing their best friends immediately and then spending the next 15 minutes tossing the ball back and forth while the goats in the middle just stand there invisibly.

And all the time, the teacher looking on.

Some of Sommers earlier work, like the thing about boys, has some merit. But I think she makes the mistake of going to the opposite extreme of whatever stance she's criticizing at the time.

Well, a lot of schools are eliminating recess. And who ever played tag in gym? So there you go.

This is the most ridiculous philosophy. Our kids are getting fatter and more sedentary, and we're treating how many for ADD and ADHD, but let's stop sending them outside to blow off some steam for 20 minutes a day.

I too laughed and cried at the CNN talking heads and gay marriage. I think Jon may have been chastened enough by that story to go after Hoff Sommers.

I'm not sure how tag could be eliminated from public schools. In gym class, sure, but at recess? It's ridiculously impractical.

Yes, exactly, this is what I said. I also said that the rule whereby you eliminate tag because, presumably, it ostracizes some children would have to be applied to ALL sports-- any game where kids lose, or can be less competent than other children, or can trip or be pushed. Bob thought that expecting this kind of consistency would be ridiculous.

This is cool:

On the 22nd of December 2004, Kyle Van Horn taped a disposable camera to a piece of black foamcore and inscribed upon it the following message: "ATTENTION POSTAL WORKERS! Please help us with our project. As this camera travels across the country we want photos of all whom it encounters. Please take a photo before you pass it along. Thank you!"

He then bordered it with attention-getting red tape and dropped it off at a post office in Baltimore, MD. A week later, it arrived at my home in Portland, OR with all 27 exposures taken. What follows in the extended entry is all 24 pictures that came out, in the order they were taken (3 of the 27 were blank.) Some have had minor levels adjustments for the sake of visibility, but they have not been color-corrected or cropped in any significant way.

But, really, I don't know what dodgeball was like in its original incarnation, and I'm perfectly happy to give original dodgeball a pass -- but by the mid to late 70s dodgeball was a way for popular kids to fuck with unpopular ones with the teacher's permission.

DX, I think JZ just called you old.

let's stop sending them outside to blow off some steam for 20 minutes a day.

Running around getting exercise is no way to meet No Child Left Behind standards. Therefore it's counterproductive.

stupid extremists on everything.

This is where I come out.

I can see the argument for eliminating dodgeball. The whole point of the game is to throw the ball at other kids. An awful lot of potential for injuries there. Especially since kids can be pretty sadistic.

Also, shouldn't one purpose of gym class be to encourage kids to be physically active? A diet of nothing but "one winner many losers" games is only going to discourage those who aren't natural athletes. Even a steady diet of two-team games, where half the class is going to be on the winning team on any given day, is better.

But it's also appropriate to make physical activity fun. And it helps to have a certain amount of no-particular-winner activities.

The self-esteem movement doesn't deserve the scorn it's often given. In the gym class context, I think it's appropriate to give a few words of praise to the uncoordinated kid who shows improvement, even if the kid is still well behind everyone else. Trophy for everyone? Not necessarily. Praise improvement? Definitely.

I'm probably the most extremely-to-the-right buffista in terms of the abortion issue, and even I'm horrified hearing about what people are doing to that poor girl. Quite apart from the moral judgements and psychological trauma issues, aren't there grave health risks to both mother and child when the mother is that young? I'd think a 13 year-old would be too physically immature to safely carry a baby to full term.