We are mom and dad, who in addition to being parents, do research on healthy lifestyle and cancer. We would like to achieve a healthy, balanced and meaningful life. In our pursuit, we sift the healthy from the unhealthy, the simple from the complicated advice. The blog also includes random musings on topics other than health and parenting. Send us a message at applyforlife@gmail.com, mikelifesteer@gmail.com or through the contact form in the sidebar.
“Playful” boys are initially well-perceived by classmates but are labeled “class clowns” by teachers, with negative connotations. Thus leads to a negative perception by classmates (and self) in addition to the teacher, leading to “lethal” educational outcomes. By contrast, girl’s “playfulness” was not considered “intrusive” or “rebelliousness” and there were no negative consequences. This is more evidence that the educational system is increasingly hostile to male students. Abstract:
This longitudinal study identified degrees of playfulness in 278 kindergarten-aged children, and followed them through their next three school years to determine how playfulness was viewed by the children themselves, their classmates, and teachers. Perceptions of the social competence, disruptiveness, and labeling as the class clown, were assessed from all perspectives in each of first through third grades. Hierarchical linear modeling was conducted to account for the nesting of the data (children within classrooms within schools) and for the lack of independence between the measures. A central finding confirmed extant literature in that gender differences were dominant, with playful boys regarded as distinct from their less playful counterparts, while no such discrepancies appeared for girls. Playful boys were increasingly negatively regarded as rebellious and intrusive and were labeled as the "class clown" by their teachers. These findings were in direct contrast with children's self-perceptions and those of their peers, who initially regarded more playful boys as appealing and engaging playmates. The data further revealed that the playful boys were stigmatized by their teachers, and this was communicated through verbal and non-verbal reprimands, and classmates assimilated this message and became increasingly denigrating of the playful quality in the boys. In stark contrast, girls' playfulness levels were not a consideration in ratings by teachers or peers at any grade, nor did their classroom behaviors show significant variation. These negative perceptions were likely transferred by teachers to peers and to the children themselves, whereupon they changed their positive perceptions to be increasingly negative by third grade. The results contribute to the literature by demonstrating that playfulness in boys (but not girls) is often associated with the "class clown" designation, and is viewed as an increasingly lethal characteristic in school classrooms, where compelling efforts are undertaken to discourage its expression and persistence
Here are a few random, or not so random, thoughts from the past few weeks:
A jolt into thinking Have you been jolted into thinking recently? Listen to Joshua Sheats in his podcast # 473 – What’s Wrong With Radical Personal Finance? This podcast is a heart-wrenching and honest confession; it is also an exploration of our reasoning to exist. In this podcast, Joshua also refers to a book called “Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture” by Anthony Esolen. At least the introduction of the book sounds provocative, thought-inducing and nostalgic, when read by Joshua. I found a few highly negative comments about the book on Amazon, but as any provocative work, there would be a wide range of emotions evoked. I have no opinion yet, I have not read the book!
Let bygones be bygones Recently I watched a documentary on poverty in India. The days of the poorest were revolving around the trash – the mountains of garbage that were piled daily. The condemned people were going through the remnants and the discarded of other people’s lives. Digging into the dirt of yesterday … trying to find a single thing worth anything. As I watched, this picture of people sifting through the past turned into a symbol – the symbol of us sometimes looking back at the past, at the darkest, lowest moments of life, trying to find anything of value, anything redeeming. But sometimes all of the search is in vain. I do not claim that we should forget where we came from and what we went through, but a daily dive into the past keeps us poor. A daily dive into the past leads to poverty of the spirit and morale, it limits initiative. What do you think?
Freedom
Here is a great though that I shared with my daughter recently: "What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do." -Bob Dylan My girl will be soon deciding on what to do with herself after high school. I hope that she takes the right decision. I try not to meddle. Sometimes I think that by being passive, I am insuring myself against giving the wrong advice, but then I know my child – she would not change her mind no matter what I say. So, I am just sitting on the sidelines and waiting for her decision. What happens to our children after high school I recently found these stats on education:
"But for too many graduates, no matter the level of education they’re just completing, the transition to their next destination will be fraught with potential hurdles. Nearly 70 percent of this year’s high school graduates will go right on to college this fall, but if history is any guide only about half of them will graduate in four years. For those who do graduate, more than 40 percent of them might be underemployed, working in jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York." This is frightening, and discouraging. The education system needs to change. We need apprenticeships similar to these in Switzerland . After the apprentices learn about the real work world, then they can access more education, if they are inclined to do so. Watch what the future student may look like.
Quo vadis, Domine Where are we going? Where is America headed? These questions come to mind when watching the interview with Linh Dinh: America Is The Poorest First World Country. It is a scary, but honest view on America.
Whereas our identities will not be revealed until we are employed, it is not a secret that we hold academic jobs. My husband and I teach and do research. We interact with students every day. We try to impart useful skills and any piece of knowledge we have to our next generations.
However, academia, as we know it, is dying. It is disintegrating right in front of our eyes, and even we are unwilling participants in this process.
How is this happening?
First, there is very little money for research. If you are not highly published and high-visibility researcher today, you are lost. Your research ideas will never see the light, they will never be tested. Maybe in 20 or 30 years from now someone else will come up with the same ideas or may be not. Countless sparks of creativity are lost today, every day.
Second, teaching in person is over. We will move all instructional material online.
According to him, the students will enjoy short instructional modules of mixed media online and mini-quizzes. This online format may or may not be combined with flipped classroom activities. These are activities, in which students participate on their own - discussions of various scenarios, solving problems, creating small groups to analyze cases.
This does not sound bad, right? However, when the president of Stanford states that all of these activities could be led by teaching assistants and adjunct faculty to save money, the predictions become sordid.
The main reason to make these changes? Decrease tuition. Again - this sounds good (especially if you have a child headed for college). However, think about the fact that tuition has increased in the past 20 years, but the ratio faculty:students has not changed. Where does the tuition money go? The money goes to the ever-expanding administration in our schools.
The same administration is disassembling the academia, in order to decrease the payment to faculty, but not their own overblown administrative salaries.
Think about the impact: no academic jobs, no research, no real interaction between highly intelligent faculty and inquisitive students.
Would the U.S. remain a leader in higher education?
I just found the YouTube channel What I've Learned, whichsummarizes almost everything you may learn on this blog...
...not really, but it is worth watching as it has a fresh and informed perspective on many diverse topics.
The video above is a great description of the "system" that encapsulate us. I liked the message/style so much, that I immediately watched Longevity & Why I now eat One Meal a Day and WHY Sugar is as Bad as Alcohol. The second video is a shortened version of the knowledge in Dr. Lustig's lecture Sugar: The Bitter Truth.So, if you do not have the patience to listen to a long (buthighly entertaining) lecture, at least watch this video!
These videos should be viewedby the medical students across the country. It is sad, but true, that in terms of nutrition most of our doctors and medical students know less than the author ofWhat I've Learned, who seems to have no medical training background, but excellent reasoning skills.
Recently, I watched The Future is Now: Medical education for the 21st century, a presentation from Harvard Medical School. At around minute 19:50, one of the speakers, Dr. Edward Hundert introduced an interesting concept on raising children.
The concept came from Hinduism and the belief in reincarnation. If the parent dies when the daughter is still in childbearing age, the parent may end up reincarnated in the daughter’s womb.
From this possibility stemmed the conclusion: “raise your daughter as you might be raising your own mother”. The audience found this statement hilarious, but if you think about it, the advice is sound. The very first thought that came to my mind was that I needed to be respectful in how I approach and treat my child. I hope I have been doing this all along, even without the fear of being reincarnated in my daughter’s womb…
It is becoming more and more complicated for the parents, but I am sure that it is even more complicated for our children. It is not easy to grow up in today's world. This is a world of many demands and distractions.
