Pupils to get lessons in respect

Gillie on 6/7/2007 at 00:28

Schools in England are to get 13 or more Million. to teach/and learn respect... :tsktsk:
Funny I thought in the main that was the parent/ Guardians job.
To teach manners and respect.
Do any other Countries do this. I doubt it.
Perhaps if they gave the money to the NHS it would be of more use. :grr:

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6274736.stm)

Pupils to get lessons in respect
Schools in England are to get £13.7m more to teach pupils manners, respect and good behaviour.
New Children's Secretary Ed Balls wants pupils in all primary and secondary schools to have lessons in social and emotional skills by 2011.

A programme already running in 60% of primary schools, which helps children deal with anger, anxiety and conflicts, is being rolled out across the nation.

It has had a major impact on behaviour and attainment, the government says.

The programme will make sure that all children understand the importance of being confident and interacting with other children in a respectful and positive manner

Ed Balls
Children's Secretary

The programme focuses on encouraging pupils to understand themselves, manage their feelings and promotes social skills and the understanding of others.

Scots Taffer on 6/7/2007 at 01:04

In other news, Britain desperately tries to prevent the social decay that has been accelerating rapidly for the past twenty years with exercises in sheer fucking futility.

Yakoob on 6/7/2007 at 01:12

Quote:

lessons in social and emotional skills

That just sounds... wrong.

My social and emotional skills are pretty fucked up due to a shitty social life (or lack thereof) and constant moving and stuff. But I'd rather take that than being told how I should act and feel towards my friends/loved ones decided by some random guy in the government.

jbairdjr on 6/7/2007 at 01:25

In my time, lessons in respect was called citizenship.

Malygris on 6/7/2007 at 03:31

I do sometimes miss the days when respect was something you learned by getting smacked when you didn't show it.

Vasquez on 6/7/2007 at 04:20

Quote Posted by Yakoob

being told how I should act and feel towards my friends/loved ones decided by some random guy in the government.

It's hardly gonna be like that. I don't think the world really gives a fuck how you treat your family and friends (unless it's something illegal, of course).
Social and emotional skills in this case, I HOPE, means that the kids learn some basic rules:
- You can't always have what you want (and screaming tantrum won't help)
- You can't always win and be first in everything (same as above)
- Other people are not here to serve and obey your every whim (learn to deal with it)
- Sometimes you meet people you don't necessarily like that much, but you'll still have to treat them politely (just deal with it)
- There are general rules, official and unofficial, that are meant to make us living together a bit easier and nicer. Like traffic rules. They apply to you, too. (Yes, you. That screaming and cursing won't change the fact.)
- etc.

Of course, most of these things should be learned before 1st grade, but what can you do? Maybe make some of the parents take these classes as well. I guess it's better late than never.

Scots Taffer on 6/7/2007 at 04:30

It reinforces the perhaps once ludicruous notion that parenting should be a taught course delivered compulsorily when a couple/single parent discovers they are pregnant, because assuming people know what to do simply isn't good enough - compounding generations upon generations of disciplineless parenting is going to make the problem harder and harder to reverse too.

Yakoob on 6/7/2007 at 04:48

Quote Posted by Vasquez

It's hardly gonna be like that. I don't think the world really gives a fuck how you treat your family and friends (unless it's something illegal, of course).

Yeah, I hope. But what threw me off was the "emotional skills." All the examples you listed are basically "social / ethic skills."

D'Juhn Keep on 6/7/2007 at 05:45

Quote Posted by Scots_Taffer

In other news, Britain desperately tries to prevent the social decay that has been accelerating rapidly for the past twenty years with exercises in sheer fucking futility.

I tried hard (3 minutes googling) but couldn't find a quote I was looking for that I remember seeing on TV. It was a guy reading out a quote, something along the lines of: '"...culture in Britain is declining, with more people seeking lower forms of entertainment. People are getting ruder and drinking more, the children are less well educated..." ... and that quote was from 1286'

I wish I could find the actual thing rather than my paraphrased botch job, but I'm sure you get the idea. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1675175,00.html) This also sums it up fairly well.

Vasquez on 6/7/2007 at 05:54

Yakoob, I believe the "emotional" part doesn't mean you should feel in a specific way in specific situations - rather that you learn to control how you express your emotions. I.e. even if you feel baaaaad that someone else got an A in a test and you only got C, you don't punch that other kid in the face and/or demand that your parents throw a lawsuit at the teacher, who is clearly being partial and unfair.

Hmm, anyone seen the movie (http://imdb.com/title/tt0387808/) Idiocracy? It's excellent and hilarious. But a bit horrifying, too, as it seems more like a prophecy than fiction.