Monday 23 June 2008

Didn’t We Do This A Long Time Ago….?

I’m fairly sure I heard ‘Buck up and just get on with it!’ quite a few times when I was growing up, but it seems that attitude is a new concept to some:
Children should be taught how to be mentally tough as well as happy, a leading academic has said.

Mentally robust children are more likely to resist bullying and are not put off when they make mistakes, according to research.

Promoting a tough attitude among pupils can improve their performance in exams, as well as improving behaviour, said Peter Clough, head of psychology at the University of Hull.
Long overdue, no doubt, but we have a long, long way to go before the damage done by the ‘all must have prizes’ concept has been purged from education theory:
The research will pose a threat to 'happiness lessons', which are used in many schools to teach children how to empathise with one another and think positively.

Dr Clough said: "All the positive thinking in the world isn't going to make a third look like a 2:1."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes !

Posh children were told to "buck up" Very revealing.

TT

Old BE said...

My parents taught us from an early age to not expect to be handed stuff on a plate. For example we had to save up our pocket money for the trainers we wanted or wait for Christmas etc.. I think there's a lot to be said for having to "work" for things!

Anonymous said...

"Posh children were told to "buck up" Very revealing."

I must have missed that reference to social class. Care to point it out, Total Twat?

"For example we had to save up our pocket money for the trainers we wanted or wait for Christmas etc"

Outrageous! Nowadays, that would probably be considered tantamount to child abuse..! ;)

And we wonder why there's a credit crisis in this country...