The News Thread

[Dak]

https://www.theatlantic.com/educati...t-have-to-speak-in-front-of-the-class/570061/

For many middle- and high-school students, giving an in-class presentation was a rite of passage. Teachers would call up students, one by one, to present their work in front of the class and, though it was often nerve-racking, many people claim it helped turn them into more confident public speakers.

“Coming from somebody with severe anxiety, having somebody force me to do a public presentation was the best idea to happen in my life,” one woman recently tweeted. According to a recent survey by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, oral communication is one of the most sought-after skills in the workplace, with over 90 percent of hiring managers saying it’s important. Some educators also credit in-class presentations with building essential leadership skills and increasing students’ confidence and understanding of material.

But in the past few years, students have started calling out in-class presentations as discriminatory to those with anxiety, demanding that teachers offer alternative options. This week, a tweet posted by a 15-year-old high-school student declaring “Stop forcing students to present in front of the class and give them a choice not to” garnered more than 130,000 retweets and nearly half a million likes. A similar sentiment tweeted in January also racked up thousands of likes and retweets. And teachers are listening.

This. Stupid. Shit. Needs. To. Stop.

 

[Dak]

https://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2018/09/a-small-note-on-terror-of-uncertainty.html

China still has concentration camps.

 

[CiG]

Leaked video shows Google co-founder Sergey Brin comparing Trump voters to 'fascists' as he vows to thwart rise of populism in the aftermath of the 2016 Presidential Election.

 

[viewerfromnihil]

https://www.theatlantic.com/educati...t-have-to-speak-in-front-of-the-class/570061/



This. Stupid. Shit. Needs. To. Stop.

Only Twitter is real.

That said, the article highlights another issue: the workloads of upper-middle class American high school students. I find it absurd, and all the more absurd that universities expect it of them if they are to be accepted, in which case they still get charged out the ass. I've never spent much time rubbing shoulders in those social ranks (in part because I can't stand them), but I was sort of forced to when attending all of these events with Fulbrighters last year, of whom, of course, primarily come from very privileged backgrounds. A lot of them were so god damn half-socialized, and that socialization translated primarily into how to participate in pissing contests and pretend that they knew more about the world than they actually did.

 

[CiG]

The Dalai Lama has declared refugees should rebuild their own countries. The Dalai Lama has said refugees should return to their homes and help rebuild their countries because “Europe belongs to Europeans”.

 

[viewerfromnihil]

 

[The Ozzman]

Based

 

[CiG]

[alt-right nut-hugging of asians intensifies]

 

[Dak]

Only Twitter is real.

That said, the article highlights another issue: the workloads of upper-middle class American high school students. I find it absurd, and all the more absurd that universities expect it of them if they are to be accepted, in which case they still get charged out the ass. I've never spent much time rubbing shoulders in those social ranks (in part because I can't stand them), but I was sort of forced to when attending all of these events with Fulbrighters last year, of whom, of course, primarily come from very privileged backgrounds. A lot of them were so god damn half-socialized, and that socialization translated primarily into how to participate in pissing contests and pretend that they knew more about the world than they actually did.

This is the one of the divergences though right? We're going to have a cadre that looks like what you describe, and masses left behind because of adults who coddle kids. Worse, the lack of exposure worsens anxiety symptoms.

Systemically, even less justification for complaining about inequality when it gets baked into the education. Never a better time to homeschool.

 

[viewerfromnihil]

Systemically, even less justification for complaining about inequality when it gets baked into the education. Never a better time to homeschool.

Pretty sure that doesn't help the coddling problem, and it certainly doesn't help the socialization of children. I can smell a homeschooler on a university campus from a mile away.

 

[CiG]

They're not blue-haired, wearing Che shirts and ranting about random social issues?

 

[Matt]

Every home-schooled person I've ever met has been about as socially inept as possible.

 

[CiG]

@HamburgerBoy is perfectly normal.

Where is that fag lately anyway?

 

[Dak]

@CiG I never attended a day of school before going to college. I'm not perfectly normal

Every home-schooled person I've ever met has been about as socially inept as possible.

Some of that is selection effects and the other is parents not enrolling them in extra-curriculars. But seeing these headlines and seeing the quality of current undergraduates leaves me with no confidence in US education, and it's not a money problem.

 

[EternalMetal]

This is the one of the divergences though right? We're going to have a cadre that looks like what you describe, and masses left behind because of adults who coddle kids. Worse, the lack of exposure worsens anxiety symptoms.

Systemically, even less justification for complaining about inequality when it gets baked into the education. Never a better time to homeschool.

As someone who was always a bit introverted, I totally agree. Heck, even the most extroverted kids I knew growing up stressed out over giving presentations, but nobody ever straight up refused to give them. This is definitely a reflection of the widespread victimhood mentality, and is just further proof of how it is a detriment rather than a positive move for social justice.

Still, I hate giving presentations. Back in college when I presented my senior thesis, my mind went completely blank (cliche phrase, but god damn is it an accurate description) the moment I got in front of my professors and colleagues, and had to take a minute (while standing in front of everyone) to try and gather my thoughts enough to present my material. As a result I had to distill my presentation because of an unprecedented anxiety attack. Then again it was the first time I ever gave a presentation where over 50 people and about 6 or 7 professors (including my PI) were sitting down with clipboards analyzing my work, so I cant say I was ever in a situation quite like this before. I aced the Q&A at the end though, because I truly did know my stuff. Despite my anxiety struggles, I never once thought that I was a victim and should have been exempt from presenting. It's sad that kids feel this way, how pathetic.

 

[Dak]

IIRC, public speaking is feared worse than death, or is just after death among things people fear most. This isn't an excuse for not doing it. Anxiety and phobias are successfully treated with exposure. Period. It is my opinion that the coddling of children and now up through adulthood is part of the reason for the increase in clinical and subclinical anxiety disorders, often with associated depressive symptoms.

You can't put this on children though, it's on the "adults" who let children run the show. Children are woefully ignorant, and are being done a disservice by adults across the nation who increasingly defer to them in matters large and small.

 

[Dak]

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...k&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Opinion

NYT gettin woke to what I've been saying.

 

[The Ozzman]

It's Trump's fault

 

[Einherjar86]

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...k&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Opinion

NYT gettin woke to what I've been saying.

It's like you're mainlining the secret truth of the universe, hoss.

 

[CiG]

The Dalai Lama has declared refugees should rebuild their own countries. The Dalai Lama has said refugees should return to their homes and help rebuild their countries because “Europe belongs to Europeans”.