They will not have much 'self-esteem' left after they have spent a few months in the real world, away from leftie teachers and mummy and daddy.

I'm puzzled as to why a post that began by discussing Queensland schools morphed into a rehash of a bunch of criticisms of education in the USA. Our education system is not and never has been a replication of the American one.

As to the use of red pens - it encourages a mentality that marking is the search for mistakes. This should not be the purpose of most assessment. Marking should encourage learning and teachers should use feedback to steer students in the right direction, not simply highlight errors.

Quite a simple thing really and completely in accordance with mainstream educational practice that emphasises the importance of students actually, like, learning stuff. But I guess any excuse is good enough to drag out words like loonies, madness, nonsense, mollycoddling, crazes and all the other tiresome frothing of those who hate the contemporary world.

Segueing into a plea for the teaching of intelligent design was a novel touch though. I didn't see that one coming.

I worry that some parents think that six year olds should be able to spell correctly. Is that for real? That poor kid sounds like he's going to need a self-esteem program.

And, I also felt the tone of this article deteriorated rapidly towards its end. As far as I can tell Bill, most social change in Western society has been driven by Capitalism's relentless drive for profit, and Christianity has sat very comfortably along side all the way.

Bill, we are not end products, we are merely the current model and there's plenty more to come in the aeons ahead. Doesn't that just fill you with awe and wonder?

Of course, letting children believe they are inherently worthwhile flies in the face of Christian teaching - how can you feel good about yourself if you believe you were born sinful? On the other hand, I suppose you could have an irritating attitude of self-importance because you think God loves you.

Why fuss about all these ignorant, badly behaved children harbouring a serious sense of entitlement. Most of them will return rudely to earth when they have to deal with the minions in Centrelink to sign up for their Newstart Allowance.

Bennie: [Why not say it out loud and up front Bill?

1. Don’t teach evolution, it'll lead to drugs and suicide
2. Theism will boost your ego ]

You're exactly right Bennie. Bill thinks a good starting point for improving self-image and academic performance would be to lie to them about the facts of biology and tell them they are 'specially created' by his supernatural deity of choice.