What are you views on the fact that teachers now want to ban the word "clever"?

Question

Certain words are being banned as they say children feel disconcerted. They say now that a child has not "failed" a test or exam and now clever is not to be used as children will feel that they are stupid. I cannot understand this. Life is full of disappointments and sometimes you may not be the cleverest or may fail at something. e.g. when you go for an interview you may fail to get the job, doesnt mean you are worthless it simply means you are not the best for the job.

This spoon feeding and all these euphemisms we are using is making our kids soft and more disrespectful. They will never learn that you cannot always get what you want in life and you have to work hard to achieve what you want.

THank you all for your input, to those who have asked ....yes this is the UK, I read it today in the Metro Newspaper on the way to work.

Answer 1

How ridiculous can those teachers get? In fact, as a former teacher, who became a teacher after a successful corporate career, I know that it's seldom the experienced teachers who make those rules. It is the professor types in their ivory towers who come up with those nutty ideas, and then infect the minds of student teachers. If they had to spend time in a real-world classroom, these professors would soon change their minds. This is as true in the U.S. as it is in the U.K.

Here's something to think about: Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a high school about 11 things students did not and will not learn in school. He talked about how feel-good, politically correct teachings have created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept has set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school.
You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you EARN both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your
grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you think you are.
So before you save the rainforest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer.
This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

If you can read this - Thank a teacher!
And cut out the anti-teacher bias. Those who can-do teach; those who can't teach their kids to behave in school--whine and blame teachers.

Answer 2

Since I believe in freedom of expression as one of the ideals this country was founded upon I cannot agree with banning any word. Now I would like to point out that less than 6 months ago the NAACP held a funeral in effigy for the word in the hopes of eradicating it's use. Unfortunately it obviously didn't work. And what is sad is that it's not people of other races that seem the most encouraged to say it, it's black people and I believe that is such a slap in the face of an organization that actually did something to try and end this stupid debate. It would be nice if we lived in utopia and there was no prejudice and everyone got along but we don't so I think IF for some reason it became lawful to ban racial slurs then they should all be banned. Not just the "N" word, but all of them. However we don't live in Utopia so instead the easiest thing to do is make a personal decision to not use those types of words.

Answer 3

This is the first time I have heard this situation.

Where do you live if I may ask? I read that this might be an UK issue. However, whatever happens in other countries, sometimes can be influenced into the US eventually.

I live in California and as a person who is getting my teaching credentials, I so far have not heard this "ban" in this word.

I think it is quite ignorant and I will pay no attention to this "ban". I hardly doubt the student's parents will even pay attention to it. I will use what words I feel appropriate in the classroom. If students and parents have issue's with it, I then will take care of it .Until then, banning clever isn't so clever after all.

Answer 4

I think you have to be realistic and call a spade a spade sometimes but there is something in not using the word clever because there are so many different types of intelligence for example if you are a visual learner you may be able to read a map better than someone who was not but that would not mean that they were not 'clever'.I think that teachers should take things like this into account more .

Answer 5

I am sorry, but how is protecting children from any sort of disappointment, let down or failure preparing them for the real world. Kids will get to 16, see what really goes on and go crazy or worse. Children need to experience disappointment and failure, and learn how to extract the positives, to learn from mistakes.

You hit the nail on the head with your details.

My girlfriend is 26 and because I have been a practitioner of martial arts since I was 8 decided to come along. Before, we could never do anything in our spare time in which we could compete, even for fun. We could not play board games (I swear I have a monopoly hotel lodged in me brain), sports, anything really because she would take loss/defeat personally. In the 2 years she has done martial arts, she has learned more about the nature of disappointment, and how it can be used to better ourselves and our philosophy than a lifetime of school. Tragic.

Answer 6

This is symptomatic of the way society is today. It's sooo sad. My children's school reports don't tell me anything any more - just that they've achieved the 'National Standard'. Well, big deal! I don't want them to achieve it - I want them to surpass it and I want to know by EXACTLY how much!

Sports Day is even more of a joke - there's no competition whatsoever, it's all this 'taking part, not winning' nonsense. And then we wonder why we, as a nation, are c*ap at football and the Olympics and every other sporting event. It's utter, utter rubbish.

So I absolutely agree with you. Life is all about winning and losing and if we're not prepared for that as children, what hope have we got??

Answer 7

Guess what? The same thing is happening in South Africa. Teachers are not allowed to fail any child that is 'not clever' but instead teachers should keep "encouraging" students to be better by passing off the lazy buggers into the next grade!

Answer 8

I absolutely agree with you! We should teach our kids how to overcome failure and how to tackle the fact that some people are better than them at some things. Like it or not, people are neither equal, or the same - this is what kids should understand and try to find their own place under the sun. In the choices they make then, they would also have to learn the difference between good and evil, and become aware of concepts such as dignity, nobleness, generosity, etc.

Answer 9

School carriculam or college syllabus and present examination system cannot find and certify whether a person is Clever or not.Teachers can measure only memory power or intelligence.So better avoid word Clever.But I think the news may be a joke only

Answer 10

In my view teachers have a lot to answer for. Over the years their liberal politically correct policies have destroyed respect in schools and now they carry on their mission by preparing pupils to leave school beleiving they will always be winners. Lifes not like that. Too many teachers left school, went to college, qualified, and returned to schools as teachers and have no idea of real working life. The best teachers are second career people who have their feet on the ground.
THOSE THAT CAN,DO. THOSE THAT CANT, TEACH.