Re: pulling out the hair of kids who can't write well

[Sally Marquigny <SALLYM -at- MSMAILHQ -dot- NETIMAGE -dot- COM>]

[Well, I'm back from vacation & gotta put my 2 cents in...]

>I feel that lack of learning in American society can be blamed on the lack
of
>respect in our society for intellectual achievement. The best paid people
in
>this country are athletes--paid for their physical abilities rather than
their
>intellectual abilities. High school students fear being "nerds", parents
want
>their kids to be well-liked and popular, and any solitary activity
(reading,
>writing, studying) is considered suspicious, if not downright weird.

What blew my mind a couple years ago was seeing a kid's game, apparently
some type of trivia game, called "BrainQUEST", who's slogan is, "It's O.K.
to be smart!"  [I have one of the stickers on my bulletin board here at
work...to remind the condescending developers that I pay *good money* for
this blonde hair on my quite capable head!]

Unbelievable that we have to tell our kids that, but I remember it was no
different when I was in school--God forbid I should use the word "whom"
around my friends even though I knew it was correct!  And even as an adult,
I find myself in the predicament of self-censoring my vocabulary to be sure
I don't lose my audience.


Sally Marquigny                    Network Imaging Systems
sallym -at- msmailhq -dot- netimage -dot- com       Herndon, VA

Since when was genius respectable?
 --Elizabeth Barrett Browning