BlogHer - Research, Academia & Education - Comments

I think the lack of

Placings — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:45:38 -0600

I think the lack of effective communication skills is not just in our scientists but our graduates in general :) I was traveling through Europe last year for over 3 months (via Eurail pass) and I asked a professor sitting next to me why the quality of graduates in Europe seem to be so high and their research and rapid advancement so prominent and he replied by telling me Americans are still winning Nobel Prizes, lol.

Go figure.

Why are boys failing?

sgreenla — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:08:45 -0600

I think the more interesting underlying question is why, over the last few decades, fewer and fewer boys are achieving academic excellence. I have seen this in my students as well as with my three sons and their friends. Sometime around middle school, boys stop engaging with their studies and adopt a 'good enough' attitude. This continues into high school and limits their oprtions for higher education. In my experience, the problem is not that boys prefer going into the military and vocational trades, but that they lack an academic drive. I don't know why this is the case.

Ego Lessons

Paula Copeland — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:42:59 -0600

Thank you for taking the time to write this. I really enjoyed reading it. There is a lot here to think about in terms of egos and lessons. I will come back to hopefully read more from you. casino en ligne

It Has Become a Life Long Job - Learning To Listen

Gena Haskett — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:58:40 -0600

I'm not as good as I hoped to be at this point. I do try to hear what has been said and what was really communicated.

I will have to begin studying your blog. I've always wanted to take a class on how to communicate with difficult people. Then again, I might be one of those people. ;-)

Thank you for your comment.

Gena - Out On The Stoop

It IS all about me!

Beverly Flaxington — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:07:20 -0600

I read this post with so much interest because this is exactly what I've written about in my book "Understanding Other Peope: The Five Secrets to Human Behavior". Secret Number One is that "It's all about me". But, not that we are totally ego-centric and full of ourselves, rather that we can't help but view the world through our own lens -- a lens comprised of our needs, our background, our experiences, etc. To process info, we tend to "label" things and make quick decisions based upon what we know and what we would have done. It's so hard to be genuinely empathic when we don't even realize we are using our own lens. So, recognizing it is the first important step and then learning to be an "Interested Observer" is next -- genuine interest and curiosity about what other's really mean. It takes work!

Beverly Flaxington

Blog: Dealing with Difficult People

Book: Understanding Other People: The Five Secrets

Any problems that a kid has,

pstanos — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:22:09 -0600

Any problems that a kid has, athletes or not, start at home. If you want to resolve the problem then start there. Don't blame a sport or activity for the stupidity of the parents.

Women and the Great Depression

dkdanielson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:15:38 -0600

Hi Suzanne - Thanks for including us in this. Glad to see people discussing the topic and not assuming it has "gone away." Your comments made me think back to some of my historical research about women in the Great Depression. Here's actually a good summary of how the women's movement stalled during the Great Depression, yet there are some parallels to what is going on now. http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/egd_02/egd_02_00550.html.

P.S. I'm with you on the more male caregivers being a big deal. It's an interesting twist. Especially because more people miss work for elder care than child care and it's going to be am even bigger issue. I'm thinking that maybe it's son's out of work? having to move back home? or Single/Divorced? Also, I note that my brother will have the responsibility because he lives near my parents. So, it may be a geographic thing.

Diane K. Danielson ceo, DowntownWomensClub.com

Women and the Great Depression

dkdanielson — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:46:13 -0600

Diane K. Danielson ceo, DowntownWomensClub.com

Unbelievable!

mc1977 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:08:08 -0600

The NIV is translated for people to understand the bible better (less ''thou shalt'' ye'' and ''thee's''), it's not an alteration AT ALL! Technically they could have just went ahead and burned the KJV! Same difference. Everyone has their beliefs but that is a little extreme! As far as the music goes, I don't listen to some of those genres but not all rock, jazz or country and ect. is bad. It might sound noisy but the lyrics are sometimes meaningful (and a lot of talent involved). The ONLY religion I have is if you add things, word and/or beliefs or take away from the bible, it's wrong. People come up with their own ideas and throw it out of biblical context for numerous selfish and prideful reasons. And fried chicken ...ect...??? Is that their idea of a celebration or something? This isn't the most insane religous proposal I've heard but close!

Thanks Leslie!

HappyHer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:21:53 -0600

Thank you for your feedback. I agree such changes take time. With four teen-agers involved in sports I can tell you I've seen more injuries and more ambulances being called to the fields for soccer where in my personal experience, there hasn't been a single incident in years of football that have required surgery or hospitalization.

I know that those injuries do exist though and feel training in safety and proper equipment is imperative. Injuries exist in every aspect of life, even sitting at a desk, I believe there are more that suffer from carpal tunnel injuries than football players sustaining life changing head injuries. But I'm quite sure we aren't going to set any bans about computing anytime in the near future to avoid injuries.

Again, training in safety and using the proper procedures, whether you are cliff diving, playing football, tennis, or just typing at your keyboard is of utmost importance to continued good health and well being. For example, one of the very first parts of training for young football players is how to properly fit and wear their protective equipment.

As far as college recruiters go, they realize that the difference between high school sports and college sports is vast and I've heard that from a variety of college sports recruiters and college sports coaches. I believe they would support any rule changes that were made to keep their potential recruits safe without effecting their opportunities for scholarships.

Yes, these kids could go for grants, which is difficult considering the recent upset with the college financial aid fiasco that is still being worked through. The competition for low income grants is extreme and many students that are "good" students but can't achieve the higher grade point averages get left in the dust when applying for those grants. There are also other sports, but a football player may not be a very good basketball, baseball, or tennis player.

I would hope we are teaching our children good sportsmanship, discipline and teamwork in any sport they decide to pursue. The childhood game Red Rover teaches children to collide with one another, without the padding and helmets provided by football, and without the coach or rules I may add, but I still see the neighborhood children happily playing it. I also hope their younger siblings are seeing us support the older children in healthy and educational ways.

I may not want my child in Karate, but if that's their hearts desire, I'm going to give them my all as teaching a child to pursue their true heart's desire, along with teaching them morality and integrity. is one of the most valuable parenting skills anyone would hope to attain.

My child that plays football plays with a good heart and excellent sportsmanship, it's about the touchdown, not the violence. That's good enough for me. Frankly I'm much more concerned about allowing them to get behind tons of metal and praying that they'll safely navigate the crazy driving conditions us adults seem to promote with our road rage and lack of attention to speed limits and other driving laws. But I guess that's a whole other topic!

Tracy Morrow Intimacy Specialist http://www.HappyHer.com/Blog

Good ideas

Leslie Madsen Brooks — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:13:12 -0600

Tracy,

Your ideas are good ones, and I hope they're implemented--changing the rules, limiting the spectators for games in school districts where there have been violent incidents.

But such changes take time, and in the meantime there will be kids sustaining life-changing and life-threatening head injuries. Some fans will perpetuate, and others will be victims of, deadly violence. The culture of football will continue to promote violence by players on and off the field. More people will be hurt or killed.

And will colleges and professional football allow for rules changes in the high school sport? Will they still want to recruit those kids whose districts are trying to quash violence? I hope so, but I doubt it.

I don't buy your argument about students needing football scholarships. There are many other sports that also offer a path to scholarships at good schools. In addition, there are many liberal arts colleges that will provide grants to help lower-income students who demonstrate they are intellectually and socially, and not just athletically, ready for college make a college degree a reality.

I think Gladwell's comparison of cockfighting and football is an apt one. As participants, we're watching birds kill each other or football players attempt to wound each other--for our pleasure. As players grow ever-larger and gameplay becomes more violent, we need to reconsider the sometimes sadistic pleasure we take from such viewing. What are we teaching our 14- to 18-year-olds about sports and life when we regularly put them at risk of head injuries as a result of collisions that are central to the game, and what are we teaching their younger siblings who watch the games?

Leslie

BlogHer Contributing Editor, Research and Academia
My blogs: The Clutter Museum, Museum Blogging, and The Multicultural Toybox

Why Punish the Kids?

HappyHer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:29:28 -0600

My heart goes out to Melody Ross's family. My daughter is a student/athlete, and senior this year and I couldn't imagine how I would survive losing her like that.

I don't think football should be taken away from the kids though. That's like punishing the good ones for something someone else caused. If safety in the game is an issue, change the rules. I know in soccer certain slide tackles are illegal because they have a high risk of injury, high school football could certainly look at that and create a safer playing environment.

I believe there are other options in regard to the other violence mentioned. What about closed games, where only football players, and perhaps their parents were welcome to be in attendance? That could be monitored via special parking passes or personal carry passes. Police officers and security could monitor the parking lots and attendees and athletes would have to show their passes in order to be on the premises. That way the kids can still compete, still have the opportunity for sports scholarships, which many of them need, and would give them a healthy outlet without having to worry so much about the violence of the crowd.

Tracy Morrow Intimacy Specialist http://www.HappyHer.com/Blog

Thanks for your comment

Leslie Madsen Brooks — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:55:42 -0600

Traci,

I don't understand how your comment about "liberals wanting to ban everything" applies to this post. I don't want to "ban" anything--I just think high schools need to cancel football games if players' or fans' lives are at risk. And yes, as you point out, we need to address why we have a culture that lacks restraints on behavior--and I think, as Gladwell points out, understanding the violence of football will play a part in that.

You know what fits into my "idealized world view"? Football games where people don't die. High school sports that don't promote serious head injuries that may contribute to memory loss, Alzheimer's, and worse. I don't think these are unrealistic expectations, and until we figure out how to solve these problems, some school districts need to remove football games and the culture of violence they engender.

Leslie

P.S. One more note on your comment about liberals: I can name far more things that conservatives want to ban than liberals do. Gay marriage, anyone? Books about gay families? The list goes on. . .

BlogHer Contributing Editor, Research and Academia
My blogs: The Clutter Museum, Museum Blogging, and The Multicultural Toybox

Scary Stuff

kazari — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:17:30 -0600

"Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings."

Heinrich Heine, Almansor (1821)

There is something particularly ominous about book burnings I think, as the sharp edge of intolerance. I'm not trying to imply that this pastor is at all homicidal, but to have such a deep abhorrence of ideas that don't agree with your own...

Thanks for the article, Gena

http://myrope.wordpress.com

Are you serious?

traciscottsdale09 — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:33:22 -0600

I'm not sure what this trend is today with liberals wanting to "ban" everything that doesn't fit into their idealized world view, but I digress.

Football has been around for a long time, and the violence that's going on at schools now is reflective of society today, not an individual activity or sport.

For the record, there's much more violence at your average soccer game worldwide than at any football game. And men and boys, guess what, like to knock into each other and play rough. We women, don't. That's the difference between the sexes (generally, not all the time).

Banning football, lacrosse, rugby, wrestling or any other activity that is rough or a contact sport isn't going to solve anything. Addressing why we have a culture that has no restraint or sense of behavior ... could be violence, language, sexual activity etc. ... is probably a more effective and honest topic.

http://twitter.com/tscottsdale09