Why do leftists think telling a failing child he is "special" increases his self esteem?

Question

Help me out here. Little Johnny can't read. Little Johnny fails the reading test. Instead of letting Little Johnny know that he is failing and forcing / helping him to do the necessary work to succeed, Little Johnny is told he is "special" and didn't really fail. How does this translate to self-esteem, exactly?

Answer 1

This country is going down the drain w/ all this political correctness BS...makes me sick.

Answer 2

Same with schools forbidding tag because someone has to be "it."  It is ridiculous and nothing more than political correctness nonsense gone completely out of control.  If the kid can't read, work with him.  Don't hold his hand and tell him how wonderful he is.  All that's going to do is increase his/her anger when they discover their high school education qualifies them for a job at a fast food restaurant but not at the cash register because they can't operate the thing or correctly count change.

Answer 3

Sometimes Johnny has physical issues that prohibit him from learning to read like dyslexia.  I have tutored reading many times and some children have very real, very difficult-to-overcome problems learning to read that have nothing to do with the amount of effort they are putting out.  The idea that they are simply "not working hard enough" is just as much a crock of nonsense as the idea that building self-esteem alone is the answer.

Every child has a unique learning style with unique strengths and weaknesses that the really good teachers know how to deal with to get the best out of their students.  Grades are only one way to evaluate kids progress.

I don't know where you got the idea that teachers today tell the kids they are "special" and "didn't really fail".  They do try to find reasons for the kids who are having difficulties and help the kids to over come the obstacles that stop them from progressing.

Volunteer in an elementary school for a while and find out how they really help children to progress.  Maybe you can become part of the answer instead of passing judgment on a subject you seem to have little experience with.

Answer 4

I don't send my kids to school to learn self esteem. I send them to learn to read, write and arithmatic. Teaching any thing else is my job as a parent.

Answer 5

i agree, instead of placing them in special classes , spend more time with them help the child step up and realize that this (an education) is something that they should want and will need to have any kind of a life.

Answer 6

It's a mind over matter thing.  If a child believes he can succeed, he will succeed.  It seems to work with athletes.  Also, if you show someone you believe in them, they are more likely to believe in themselves.  Negativity has an adverse mental and physical effect on the body.

Answer 7

It doesn't. It's actually become more of a generational thing, where corporations hiring people to make their employees feel 'special' so they keep their moral up. The latest generation just needs a heap of praise and feedback apparently. That's probably not a good thing, but isn't the end of the world either.

On the other hand, programs like no child left behind have been abysmal failures, abstinence only programs don't work, and Christian Conservatives are busy trying to remove evolution from the classroom, and based off the ignorance of the American public they are succeeding. In comparison, I don't see that much functional illiteracy around me, maybe I'm wrong, but it seems we are at least teaching kids to read.

Answer 8

Leftists lie to Little Johnny until he is pushed through the institutionalized public schools.  Then, when Little Johnny has to get more education, get a job, and take care of himself, Little Johnny realizes just how much he is NOT special and how he has been lied to by leftist hypocrites his whole life.

Good thing for me, my parents did not raise me the way the public schools raised Little Johnny.  Life is tough and no one will give you anything.  Start teaching kids what they need to succeed.  Self-esteem doesn't mean a thing when you are a kid.  (Let me make myself clear, I am not encouraging verbal or physical abuse.  I am just saying stop telling them they are special when they s***w up.  Teach the kid before he becomes a criminal in ten years.)

Answer 9

OK. let me understand.  Are you objecting to fostering self esteem in troubled kids?    If so, then you are part of the problem, not the solution.

Very young children do not understand these concepts, but they know when they have been made to feel bad by the adults around them.  You can't get improved behavior and improved results from kids made to feel worthless.

Older kids get the message more directly.  Even still faulting them for our failures to educate, and their parents' failures to take an interest in their own children is just about as wrong an approach as you can take.

No, it's not all about self esteem.  And we will always have wacky no-losers and no-winners games that we can roll our eyes at because they help no one.  But mis-applied attempts to foster self esteem are a tiny problem compared to treating children like dirt.

Answer 10

Rightists can be very much in denial as well, but approach it in a different way.  Bottom line, both kids are prevented from benefitting from Special Ed, or just extra help after school.

Answer 11

you are right, they should tell him that he is going to grow up to be a Republican.

Answer 12

........."My Child Is A Winner At ____________ School!"........

Which seems to be attempting to convince the parents as well as anyone else that see's these stickers plastered on cars, that there are no losers.

There are hundreds of thousands of these bumper stickers stuck on bumpers across the nation.

Poor kids. What a rude awakening they will have someday so that the "feel good" Libs can, well, feel good today!

Answer 13

you are making too simple a thing out of this

some kids have developmental problems and need special help learning

left or right has nothing to do with the problem

Answer 14

Come on Murphy - You already know why! lmao

Answer 15

We Democrats obtain our political strength from problems, real or imagined, within the nation.

The greater the problem, the greater our opportunity to seize additional power over the individual.

When we create a problem for society, we can then solve the problem.   More power for the government; less for the citizen.

Do you think we will ever give up political power?

Answer 16

You're right. We should be saying "Bad Johnny! That's a bad r****d! Go back to your cage!" This will encourage him to be less stupid, no?