|
ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Message board > let ´s try to understand
let ´s try to understand
|
|
|
|
isa2
|
Thanks for the interesting link.
No doubt, that ´s true.
|
10 Aug 2011
|
|
|
ueslteacher
|
|
Hello Mariethe Well, I ´ve been watching the BBC news for a good while yesterday. Analysts are trying to find reasons for this unprecedented outbreak of violence. Many of them mention the socio-economic factors. But I think it ´s not an excuse. Not all families with low income have low moral standards. The media are talking about "kids" and "teenagers" but there were a lot of people in their 20s and 30s. IMHO the problem is low morality, idleness and undeveloped critical thinking skills. We as educators need to develop those skills in our youngsters, as people who lack them are easily manipulated. |
10 Aug 2011
|
|
|
seansarto
|
This article sickens me as does the post. The forum should not be used for political underpinnings. What topic heading was it categorized under? I see nothing that would indicate such a post is appropriate.
But since the honorable member deemed it fair to provoke the righteous indignation in their fellow honorable member... I find it correct to defend against this breach of tranquility and peace of mind.
This is not "all good" like this type of "popular" media advocates....It is only when minds are no longer in the capacity to tell the difference between good and bad that such transgressions are so easily assimilated...and that is the very same premise of mob mentality that this article tries to articulate...Sympathies are being contrived in the media directly proportional to the cultural medium that is being perceived as "successful". Today, that is being commoditized as the Black gangsta role-model... (Notice that JayZ and Kanye West ´s new product is being released amidst the hype and burning...and Obama has just commandeered a very high-profile and irreproachable failure in lowering America ´s credit rating...The very same week the two were having a "hip-hop barbecue" at the White House)
According to this article, (and the black gangsta role- model), the only question you people in the bleachers need to worry about is who will you be? Will you loot your neighbors? (i.e. "winner" according to this article) Or will you be looted by them? (i.e. "loser" according to this article)...because there is a "premise"...or justification for the crime...and its 𡜻un� and you can 孄et away with it� if you follow the leader.
How about an analysis on why looting is a crime? That is what apparently needs to be written instead of this hogwash. Where can I post a link to that article? This foolishness must cease.
I dare any respectable teachers here to go to their neighbor who has been beaten by a laughing mob or had their livelihoods burnt to the ground for no other reason but to "feel the power"...I dare any one of you, teachers, to go to them and look them in their bruised faces and unwarranted loss and pain and call them "loser". Like children on a playground picking on a defenseless child.
Apologists for criminals are simply "blame the victim" advocates and have no place in the realm of moral codes of justice, civility and true compassion. They are simply toadying up to and kissing the butt of the bullies. |
10 Aug 2011
|
|
|
juliag
|
Obviously as a society we are failing the younger generation and that is one of the reasons why these terrible events have occurred.
But I think the problem will need to be targeted on several levels. Yes, we need to give young people more of a sense of a future. But I think we also need to teach them values and empathy from a young age.
It is a also a sad but true fact that many young people in the U.K. take advantage of the social benefits system, and seem to believe that they don ´t have to work or even to look for a job, the government and society "owes" it to them to pay out a dole payment each week.
One of the things I like about the U.K. is the way it supports people who have lost their jobs, are single parents etc. But I think the system may need to be rethought so people can take advantage of it less. Now it seems to breed people who are dependent on it. I think it is kind of similar to the way people say it is better to give a community the means to build a well themselves than just to give them water. Somehow a system needs to be found that will encourage young people to build their own futures rather than just being dependent on the state.
And I think the media and movies need to stop portraying drugs, apathy and violence as cool.
To be honest, I feel like I don ´t really know what can be done. It will be such a huge task to turn this around and make sure the next generation coming up don ´t follow in the same footsteps and the people taking part are held accountable for their actions, but hopefully without just putting them in a jail which will only further entrench them in the world of juvenile crime.
Sorry, I don ´t really know anything, just my thoughts on the matter.
|
10 Aug 2011
|
|
|
Zora
|
I ´ve been saying this for years now - there is going to be whole generation of very disappointed youth, who suddenly realise that life ain ´t as easy and comfy as they thought it would be.
Parents have given kids everything on a platter without them having any clue as to the value behind those things, defended the undefendable (i.e. my Johnny would never copy on an exam, Bobby surely didn ´t start the fight he ´s an good boy, etc...  ) and given little thought to discipline or what the child really needs - which is basically love, attention and guidance.
Social responsibility among these individuals is zero and they have become a bunch of immoral hooligans (or spoilt brats if I may call them) who are lazy, irresponsible and very used to taking and getting what they want.
It has very little to do with "race", poverty or anything else. It has to do with a total breakdown of "family" time, core values and the loss of respect towards your fellow man.
|
10 Aug 2011
|
|
|
Mariethe House
|
As a teacher of a foreign language, we are required, in France and I guess other countries too, to teach the language in context: historical, cultural and civilizational That ´s why I allowed myself to post this message. What is happening in the UK right now is a cultural fact that we can not ignore. I saw on this forum many posts on the royal wedding and I think the history of the Royal famile is important, but the history of colonization and the British Empire and how it has evolved to the present day is also part of our teaching and our syllebuses
It is also important to get children whose responsibility we are given ,tto consider things with a certain distance from the present fact. I always taught my students to think about why things happen without ever giving a personnalresponse. Up to them to judge but with all elements. This is what I did by posting this link this morning ... The international press about the events is also interesting to read.
As for the people whose houses were burned, vandalized shops, I understand that it ´s terrible for them and I regret it.
I regret this as much as what history told us about the actions of the Ku Klux Klan, of apartheid in South Africa and many other abberrations that man could commit.
to talk about another problem, that of work ... With all the cuts in jobs in the UK, do you think there is work for these young people from disadvantaged areas when young people with degrees find it difficult to find a job? Do you think that with a cost of 9000 pounds a year for access to university, these familiescan give these children a better education?
They must be taught respect and moral values ... Okay.
Do you think the display of wealth of our wealthy world is respectful of those families who are struggling to make ends meet?
It Is a question of Poverty ... It Is a question of Meaning .. They Are not Educated! Who Educates Them? Drastic cuts in Education Have left teachers powerless in front of the problems ... So, what is the resource when you can ´t make yourself heard?
|
10 Aug 2011
|
|
|
Zora
|
Hi there Mariethe  (don ´t mind the post too much, just up for a good discussion!)
I ´ve been watching the BBC too and I saw an interview with two girls (young, probably 16) who were drinking looted alcohol at 9 am and they were saying "we want to show the government that we can take and do what we want".
Sorry, to me this is not a despairing youth comment. It ´s a selfish "me-me" you-can ´t-do-anything-to-me attitude. It ´s disrespectful to say the least. Things in the UK are bad, yes I agree, but Spain ´s unemployment is at 20% percent, Italy and Greece, not to mention Ireland and Portugal have enormous economic problems and people aren ´t looting or rioting... THAT is an excuse for what these people are doing. It has nothing - or very little to do with socio-economic problems. Basically, the dregs of society have risen up and decided to have some "fun".
Also, there have been looting of Charity shops and small businesses; and I can tell you that those running them are probably not "the rich that need to be taught a lesson".
|
10 Aug 2011
|
|
|
seansarto
|
|
"Three people were killed during riots in Birmingham, England, early Wednesday, apparently while attempting to protect their neighborhood, according to an AFP report."
There is no need to ask questions about "meaning"...more people attempting to protect their neighborhood will die if you waste the time to ask them. |
10 Aug 2011
|
|
|
ueslteacher
|
|
Ok, Mariethe, I ´m not trying to oppose you or something, please don ´t take my comments personally. But let ´s imagine a situation of a lesser scale. We are next- door neighbours. Your husband works at two jobs, you work part time and night shifts, seizing every opportunity. You provide your children with a decent living. I also work but, I ´m less fortunate than you and my husband suddenly gets jealous of you new (not fancy, just new) car and a new laptop you bought for you children to be able to study effectively. One evening he and our teenage son just break in, beat whoever is in the house, take the laptop, empty the fridge, go outside and destroy your car and go home. So will you be calling what they did justifiable? Now as a Christian I would have to forgive these people their wrongdoings, but I won ´t try to justify their illegal actions and call violence the only way. Sophia
|
10 Aug 2011
|
|
|
|
1
2
Next >
|
