"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."

Yes they will. Since the entire global education system has decided to spare the rod and spoil the child in keeping with postmodern communism, they'll just be joining the swarms of self esteem-packed rabble before them. They leave school in cohorts, otherwise known as packs, illiterate masses, ignorant mobs and, in some circles, the current generation. Bless 'em.

Ban colour. That will fix the problem.

If red is angry then any number of pc sentimental euphamisms may attached to colour. Hmmm... blue pen is sexist (masculine) and black pen is racist. Hang on, green pen is environmentally friendly. Booom. l feel much better now.

The drive for self esteem above all else..or worship at the altar of self starts in childcare where the word "naughty" is banned. Apparently centres can lose their licences if they use the word naughty to describe a childs behaviour. The other day, a young child with allergy problems, climbed across the table to eat something from the plate of another child...that something of which she was allergic to. I said "Don't... that's naughty" and was immediately advised by my supervisor that this was inappropriate and I should not use the word naughty" Then we tried to find another word to describe what the child had done and couldn't. This behaviour has dire consequences fo the little girl, and yet... we can not find a way to tell her this is unacceptable (in a way she understands)

Surely our drive for increasing self esteem has hit a dangerous low!

Sofisu - your supervisor doesn't seem to have much of an understanding about language, does s/he?

When a child hears a word for the first time it comes with none of the packaging of nuance, prejudice or implied meaning with which we pack it. These only come to the child with experience and often include the kid's own interpretation anyway.

Whether you tell a child certain behaviours are 'unnaceptable' 'naughty' 'irresponsible' or even utilise an abstract such as 'purple' the word itself has no intrinsic meaning to one who is still emotionally or chronologically immature enough to crawl across a table. Whatever word one uses is merely a collection of sounds that, with time, comes to be associated with - in this case- proscribed behaviour.

If, for example, one did take your supervisors stricture to its conclusion and decided to use an innocuous word such as 'purple' as a code for behaviour that was anti-social, in time the child would come to have exactly the same reaction to being called purple as they would to being called naughty.

We don't "make" a child feel guilt or sadness by using particular voiced codes. Children come with an innate ability to reason: soft voices, smiles and rewards go together, frowns and shrill or harsher voices mean no rewards. Each child's genetic make-up and particular life experiences results in the way they react to such knowledge.

BTW - I have a pack of coloured pens - orangle, purple, green, pink etc. I use for marking. Not because some Board advises it, but because it suits me: correcting assignments - especially at Uni level - can be sooo stultifying and heartbreaking!

My students don't react to the colour of what I write, but to the content. As someone said above, the red-pen thing may not be as fatuous as it sounds taken out of context. As merely a small part of a series of recommendations to remind teachers of the impact their words and comments have, it's relevence seems to have been sensationalised?

well spotted, bennie. this one was a no-brainer, and muehlenberg still managed to trip over his big sanctimonious feet.

"bad worldviews lead to bad consequences..."

Still, it could be worse. Just imagine how arrogant and spoiled and intolerant a child would grow up to be if it actually believed that an omnipotent being that created the Universe was personally concerned with its welfare on a day-to-day basis! The consequences are unimaginable!

Wait a second...