Mary Asked: "Are schools becoming too sensitive?"
This was a question arrived at after Mary responded to the question concerning the use of red pens. I agree with Mary's contention that it is ridiculous to forbid teachers to correct with red ink.
However, I do not think that schools are becoming too sensitive. It is not a matter of degree and it is not a matter of quantity of sensitivity. Schools are being too sensitive about the wrong issues and not sensitive enough about the right ones. Schools are sensitive about anything that will garner press. So if bullying is in the news one particular week, they will care about bullying for a while. And, of course, they are always hypersensitive about standardized test performance.
Red Pens have psychological import? Do we think changing to blue will not then cause blue to have similar issues? These are superficial, largely irrelevant issues that should not be focused upon. We have failing students, crumbling schools, too few teachers, too few textbooks...but don't worry...we'll be correcting papers in blue now.
Question: How can the primacy of education be returned to the educational system?
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