jeffreymark

NEW PERSONALITY TEST

Take the Starbucks personality test here. Warning: the test gave me a poor personality assessment every time I took it-told me I was lazy, snooty, and boring. (hat tip: Professors R Squared)

MR ROGERS SCREWED US ALL UP

Can you imagine telling a medical student he passed his meds simply because he's special? How about allowing my 8 year to pilot my next commercial flight because he too is special. According to Jeff Zaslow of the W$J adults focus so much on their children they forget to act like adults thus spoiling the kids:

Fred Rogers, the late TV icon, told several generations of children that they were "special" just for being whoever they were. He meant well, and he was a sterling role model in many ways. But what often got lost in his self-esteem-building patter was the idea that being special comes from working hard and having high expectations for yourself. Now Mr. Rogers, like Dr. Spock before him, has been targeted for re-evaluation. And he's not the only one. As educators and researchers struggle to define the new parameters of parenting, circa 2007, some are revisiting the language of child ego-boosting. What are the downsides of telling kids they're special? Is it a mistake to have children call us by our first names? When we focus all conversations on our children's lives, are we denying them the insights found when adults talk about adult things?

Since all of you readers are so special I provided a free link to the rest of the story.