The Scootish commentator for CBC, Mike Collins, made a good point about bringing high-tech cameras into World Cup soccer goal decisions. The rationale he says, up to now, for not using cameras to determine iffy goals, was because that time to decide whether or not the ball fully went over the goal line, would interrupt the flow of the game. Collins argues that there is already an interruption to the flow of the game because each time there is or is not an iffy goal, time is spent by both teams debating with the refs anyway. In addition, teams get denied real goals, like England and Mexico in the last couple of days. So today FIFA's president Sepp Blatter said sorry to those countries, and finally, also said that it was nonsense not to consider goal line technology in the future. Hence, in July the debate will be re-opened by FIFA's board.
That's good, just that it was too bad that it was not permitted when sooky France qualified for the World Cup by beating Ireland with Henri's hand ball. For now, unfortunately, there is still the real possibility that some team could win or lose because the referee did not see a ball go over the goal line, or that someone was off-side. In any event, the competition is really getting interesting with the big guns Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Holland, and Spain in the field, plus Paraguay, Uruguay, and Africa's own Ghana. Argentina, Brazil and Germany look particularly strong. With so much skill, speed, youth, clinical precision, and drive, it's shaping up to be classic showdowns with the final eight.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Of all the demonstrations at the G20 Summit in Toronto, I liked the George Foreman Grill demo best
Dear protesters, especially violent ones, don't you think it's time to change your communication tactics? You know, the strategy you use to get your message out, like burning police cars, smashing windows, throwing bricks, sticks, and other objects. I can assume to know what your points are, but I would not really find out very easily by watching the news. Let me tell you, that what is getting covered is the fact that you are being violent, arrested, locked up, and angry. But angry at what exactly?!
A violent riot is not really a positive sales pitch for your probably, good reasons to be angry with various situations in the world, which are allegedly supported and promoted by G20 nations. Perhaps the rowdy upstarts among you can be encouraged to put their car burning, and stone throwing energies into better communication strategies which will get more specific messages out about what you are exactly protesting. Don't get me wrong, protesting any other wrong is right, but energies and opportunities are being wasted by the fact that the focus is on your violent methods of protesting, and very little on why.
A violent riot is not really a positive sales pitch for your probably, good reasons to be angry with various situations in the world, which are allegedly supported and promoted by G20 nations. Perhaps the rowdy upstarts among you can be encouraged to put their car burning, and stone throwing energies into better communication strategies which will get more specific messages out about what you are exactly protesting. Don't get me wrong, protesting any other wrong is right, but energies and opportunities are being wasted by the fact that the focus is on your violent methods of protesting, and very little on why.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Why we had so many weeks of fog this spring is a mist-story to me
Hopefully at some point during this summer, the spring will seem like just a haze to us. Hmm, well actually it was that, plus really cold and really wet. As reported on Here & Now, Senior climatologist, David Phillips from Environment Canada tallies the grey days of spring. From March 1 - June 1 (a time period that is mostly spring), St. John's received 590.8 mm of precipitation, far exceeding the average of 353.5 mm for this period.
From March 1 - June 20, St. John's received 679.5 mm of precip, compared to an average of 418 mm. Other areas of the province, except lucky Western, had above average rainfalls too this spring.
That's not all! In the last 70 days, there were 7 days of sun. So perhaps a vitamin D supplement might come in handy. It makes one wonder, "do we have low incidences of skin cancer because of our weather?" Oh well, the worst is over .. I think, and season three of 2010 is now enveloping us with double digits, most days. Here's hoping that the weather trend continues, no, not that one, but the trend of extended weather patterns, like a long warm/hot summer into Sept. While it's here, this blogger will be seizin' the season, and hope you do too.
From March 1 - June 20, St. John's received 679.5 mm of precip, compared to an average of 418 mm. Other areas of the province, except lucky Western, had above average rainfalls too this spring.
That's not all! In the last 70 days, there were 7 days of sun. So perhaps a vitamin D supplement might come in handy. It makes one wonder, "do we have low incidences of skin cancer because of our weather?" Oh well, the worst is over .. I think, and season three of 2010 is now enveloping us with double digits, most days. Here's hoping that the weather trend continues, no, not that one, but the trend of extended weather patterns, like a long warm/hot summer into Sept. While it's here, this blogger will be seizin' the season, and hope you do too.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Inspirational H1N1 survivor
Last fall, Des McDonald contracted the H1N1 virus, and barely survived. He was put on a ventilator, and in an induced coma. He lived, but the price was heavy. Seven of his fingers were partially amputated, and his legs were amputated just below the knees. He will also lose his thumbs eventually.(From The Telegram) As the illness got worse, his circulation suffered.
“All your blood concentrates on the central part of your body — your main organs — and leaves your hands and your feet. So this is how you pay up for it. It probably saved your life, but ...” McDonald said.... At the worst of it, he had pneumonia, blood infection and he was on dialysis
Despite his horrific ordeal he is positive about his future. He will get prosthetic legs and intends to work. His colleagues at work are organizing a organizing a motorcycle “Poker Ride” to raise money for him. Good luck to him.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, May 07, 2010
Instead of bashing people and religions, how about just concentrate on getting along
The debate about where we come from, God, the big bang - a super condensed amalgam of matter (that came about somehow) which blew apart in the big bang which formed what we see on earth and in the sky, and religion, has been going on since the time of God's son Jesus... haha, just throwing that in for atheist readers :) Ok, perhaps going back further, not quite to Neanderthal's time, though recent news says that there are DNA traces of Neanderthal in non-Africans today, and you might think, "there's proof everywhere", ha. Sorry, getting back to the debate about where we come from, that debate is not going to come to any abrupt stop soon. In the past three years at least, there has been a noticeable surge of anti-religion and pro atheist talk, articles, forums, through various multimedia. Obviously religion is an easy target for anyone with it's questionable stances on various topics, and a small percent of clergy who are pedophiles, thus, humiliating followers, and damaging the institution that many see as man made anyway. As well, while different world religions have many good core tenets in common, some have extreme, life-threatening belief systems, and we hear that every day too, especially since 2001.
There certainly seems to be a trend to fully dismantle organized religion, at least it is a fuel for comedians like Bill Marr, and is constantly fodder for humour on shows like the Simpsons. A more well known atheist Sam Harris, is also making the rounds, between book signings and debate forums spreading "the word". Actually, this is a very interesting debate between him, a partner, and on the other side, God-proponent Deepak Chopra (it's in six parts). Harris and partner are very articulate, and make good points. Well known spiritual guru Chopra, does not do a great job of proving God, in fact his words and explanations seems to take on a "pseudo-scientific" slant, that is clear as fog. However, it is useful to hear a debate like this, not just hear proof or not about God's existence, but to delve into human commonalities, and what we all need in order to live together peacefully, mutually respectfully, and cooperatively. Towards the end of this debate series, this idea of "principles to live by" was touched upon.
While debates, and shows mocking religion and those who were raised in a religious way, are trendy, they can also be hurtful for many. It would be more helpful for human harmony, if there were forums with panelists from all backgrounds to discuss human cooperation, mutual respect and love, peace, harmony, diversity, empathy, human needs, common needs, similar needs and goals, and how we can promote better inter-human, inter-culture understanding. Really, atheists and believers in God, are not necessarily worlds apart. There are so many good people from all backgrounds, religious or not, and they share good and positive life outlooks, and views to make the world and their local community a better place, and they prove it by their everyday actions.
If someone does no harm to others, that alone is good. From whatever perspective you have, we can all agree that this is fine. Any person who helps others, brings comfort, support, hope, healing, joy, laughter, food, shelter, and love, is so valuable. Debate and education is also valuable, however, insulting people to hurt them is not.
A growing number of people do not label themselves as religious, but "spiritual", and others are neither. Good people are everywhere, and learning how they evolved that way is interesting. There are many ways for people to turn out as decent, and both atheists and believers in God, need to appreciate and respect that.
Peace.
There certainly seems to be a trend to fully dismantle organized religion, at least it is a fuel for comedians like Bill Marr, and is constantly fodder for humour on shows like the Simpsons. A more well known atheist Sam Harris, is also making the rounds, between book signings and debate forums spreading "the word". Actually, this is a very interesting debate between him, a partner, and on the other side, God-proponent Deepak Chopra (it's in six parts). Harris and partner are very articulate, and make good points. Well known spiritual guru Chopra, does not do a great job of proving God, in fact his words and explanations seems to take on a "pseudo-scientific" slant, that is clear as fog. However, it is useful to hear a debate like this, not just hear proof or not about God's existence, but to delve into human commonalities, and what we all need in order to live together peacefully, mutually respectfully, and cooperatively. Towards the end of this debate series, this idea of "principles to live by" was touched upon.
While debates, and shows mocking religion and those who were raised in a religious way, are trendy, they can also be hurtful for many. It would be more helpful for human harmony, if there were forums with panelists from all backgrounds to discuss human cooperation, mutual respect and love, peace, harmony, diversity, empathy, human needs, common needs, similar needs and goals, and how we can promote better inter-human, inter-culture understanding. Really, atheists and believers in God, are not necessarily worlds apart. There are so many good people from all backgrounds, religious or not, and they share good and positive life outlooks, and views to make the world and their local community a better place, and they prove it by their everyday actions.
If someone does no harm to others, that alone is good. From whatever perspective you have, we can all agree that this is fine. Any person who helps others, brings comfort, support, hope, healing, joy, laughter, food, shelter, and love, is so valuable. Debate and education is also valuable, however, insulting people to hurt them is not.
A growing number of people do not label themselves as religious, but "spiritual", and others are neither. Good people are everywhere, and learning how they evolved that way is interesting. There are many ways for people to turn out as decent, and both atheists and believers in God, need to appreciate and respect that.
Peace.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Electric 2010 Junos Heats up St. John's and Canadian living rooms
The two hour broadcast of the 2nd Juno awards show in St. John's in 9 years was electric, fast paced, with a heavily music based component to the show rather than a more host(s)-centered show. There were two venues for the broadcast, the main Mile One Centre, and a live feed from a lively sardine-packed George Street.
The live awards show kicked off with rap group Classified rapping their crowd supported "Oh ... Canada". The trio walked, rap-danced through the crowd of possibly 1000's of George St. fans, chasing the camera, as an aerial cam panned the group making the way through. They ended their performance on a circle in Prince Edward Park, which immediately was sequed by the announcer to inside Mile One where fan favorite Michael Bublé took the stage to sing his hit, "Haven’t Met You Yet".
At first, it appeared, at least on my tube that the sound was somewhat stifled, but it improved toward the end of his performance. The crowd reacted with enthusiastic appreciation, and was acknowledged by the BC crooner.
Bublé went on to win three Junos during the night, and shutting out teen fave, Justin Bieber. Whenever, either of their names or appearances was announced, the fans harmonized well practiced screaming. A few other acts were prominent during the night. K'Naan, and Drake both picked up two, they are hip hop and rap artists, which seemed to get plenty of exposure in the broadcast, with Drake taking the stage to sing three different times, and two for K'Naan. It is not surprising, as rapper Drake had been a big hit at the Grammys, and thus, is a hope for the less than super hot Canadian music industry right now.
For this blogger, the most energetic, and riveting highlight was the explosive sounds of rock group Billy Talent. Their song "Saint Veronica" had a hard edged, catchy melody, but carefully crafted sound that makes their music recognizable as Billy Talent. With great guitar riffs, combined with vocal cord shredding screeches by their lead singer, and solid bass and drums, their interesting hooks and stage presence was the most magnetic stage act of the night - interesting lyrics to "Saint Veronica" as well.
The 2010 Junos will also be remembered for the amazing creative and eye-catching stage design. Icebergs were the backdrop scene, which could also have been versions of west coast mountain ranges, and would have been appropriate since the west coast representation were such a big part of the show.
The iceberg set design allowed many different images, lights, strobe effects, and variations to keep the generation of short-attention span audiences, still stimulated by them. The iceberg light, and image patterns were changed for different performances. For example, in parts of the Billy Talent song, when the song reached a momentum point, the whole iceberg set design lit up bright all of the bergs at once to coincide with the particular musical high point. It was executed with excellent timing, and effect to compliment the emotional energy created by the band's fantastic song.
In 2002, St. John's was a big hit with Juno organizers, being the first city to host the Junos on the road. This year has outdone that first Juno event, and the broadcast will be seen as successful event.
Congratulations to NL musician Amelia Curran on winning for the best traditional/roots category.
As a broadcast, it depends on your perspective how you would describe it. From this one, it was mostly exciting, well planned, generally smooth flowing, with nice production direction, coordinating crews, personalities, and two crowded venues. Up to the time of the blog post, there have not been many show reviews nationally. There certainly have been no negative comments so far. The Vancouver Sun said it was a "a potentially tame awards show, uplifted by the energy of fresh blood into the Canadian music canon"
It was tame perhaps, but had some gracious moments, which from this blog view is much more pleasing than some other obnoxious music awards shows internationally.
The live awards show kicked off with rap group Classified rapping their crowd supported "Oh ... Canada". The trio walked, rap-danced through the crowd of possibly 1000's of George St. fans, chasing the camera, as an aerial cam panned the group making the way through. They ended their performance on a circle in Prince Edward Park, which immediately was sequed by the announcer to inside Mile One where fan favorite Michael Bublé took the stage to sing his hit, "Haven’t Met You Yet".
At first, it appeared, at least on my tube that the sound was somewhat stifled, but it improved toward the end of his performance. The crowd reacted with enthusiastic appreciation, and was acknowledged by the BC crooner.
Bublé went on to win three Junos during the night, and shutting out teen fave, Justin Bieber. Whenever, either of their names or appearances was announced, the fans harmonized well practiced screaming. A few other acts were prominent during the night. K'Naan, and Drake both picked up two, they are hip hop and rap artists, which seemed to get plenty of exposure in the broadcast, with Drake taking the stage to sing three different times, and two for K'Naan. It is not surprising, as rapper Drake had been a big hit at the Grammys, and thus, is a hope for the less than super hot Canadian music industry right now.
For this blogger, the most energetic, and riveting highlight was the explosive sounds of rock group Billy Talent. Their song "Saint Veronica" had a hard edged, catchy melody, but carefully crafted sound that makes their music recognizable as Billy Talent. With great guitar riffs, combined with vocal cord shredding screeches by their lead singer, and solid bass and drums, their interesting hooks and stage presence was the most magnetic stage act of the night - interesting lyrics to "Saint Veronica" as well.
The 2010 Junos will also be remembered for the amazing creative and eye-catching stage design. Icebergs were the backdrop scene, which could also have been versions of west coast mountain ranges, and would have been appropriate since the west coast representation were such a big part of the show.
The iceberg set design allowed many different images, lights, strobe effects, and variations to keep the generation of short-attention span audiences, still stimulated by them. The iceberg light, and image patterns were changed for different performances. For example, in parts of the Billy Talent song, when the song reached a momentum point, the whole iceberg set design lit up bright all of the bergs at once to coincide with the particular musical high point. It was executed with excellent timing, and effect to compliment the emotional energy created by the band's fantastic song.
In 2002, St. John's was a big hit with Juno organizers, being the first city to host the Junos on the road. This year has outdone that first Juno event, and the broadcast will be seen as successful event.
Congratulations to NL musician Amelia Curran on winning for the best traditional/roots category.
As a broadcast, it depends on your perspective how you would describe it. From this one, it was mostly exciting, well planned, generally smooth flowing, with nice production direction, coordinating crews, personalities, and two crowded venues. Up to the time of the blog post, there have not been many show reviews nationally. There certainly have been no negative comments so far. The Vancouver Sun said it was a "a potentially tame awards show, uplifted by the energy of fresh blood into the Canadian music canon"
It was tame perhaps, but had some gracious moments, which from this blog view is much more pleasing than some other obnoxious music awards shows internationally.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Friday, April 09, 2010
KFC's Double Down - New burger to die from for
If you want to get 92% of your daily recommended dose of sodium in one food item, then Kentucky Fried Chicken's Double Down, will not let you down. Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, obesity specialist, at Weighty Matters, reports that this new beast, or beasts (chicken and bacon), weighs in at 540 calories and 1,380 mg of sodium (adults are recommended to get not more than 1500 mg of sodium a day).It is a "breadless" burger, if you forget the two coated deep-fried chicken fillets, that surrounds two strips of bacon, and two slices of processed cheese.
Freedhoff's food articles remind me of reading comparisons between Canon and Nikon cameras, as if each negative (no pun intended) feature is a positive. In this link he compares the Double Down to a "secret" McDonald's menu item, called the Mc10:35, because it is a combo of egg and bacon taken from the breakfast McMuffin, and added to the McDouble (replacing inadequate McSingle), at the changeover time between bk and lunch (apparently now popular in the San Francisco area .. so far).
Estimated calories 560, estimated sodium 1,300mg.
Nutritionally? Pretty much a wash. Yuck factor? Flip a coin.
The winner?
The Double Down.
The winner will indeed be KFC. For a few minutes, consumers tasting this will feel like they've won a prize. Too bad that all those types of happy meals don't keep us happy after we consume them.
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Monday, April 05, 2010
Want to reduce hospital wait times? Hire more clerical support! Soon!!
Eastern Health is apparently making some headway with hiring nurses, that's great! Now please focus on hiring more secretarial help! There are long wait times and delays in large part because doctors do not have adequate and in some cases, any office help. This is truly a ridiculous and unacceptable situation.
This is not opinion, this is fact! Eastern Health, at least, can reduce wait times by simply hiring more secretaries. Imagine this: a doctor is on the 5th floor of the Health Sciences Centre, and while attending to immediate patients, is also thinking of distance patients who require urgent treatment advice. The doctor cannot give an immediate treatment regimen because the patients' records are down several levels of the health science complex, and there is no one to communicate patient records to the doctor. So to get the latest record of patients from some other part of Newfoundland and Labrador, the physician has to take the elevator down several flights, walk through corridors to reach their office. Then, they will have to dig out the files (or order them from another part of the hospital), maybe do some faxing, phoning, researching, or emailing, and then repeat for any number of other patients who are out of town. Meanwhile, seriously ill patients up on the floors are wondering where the doctor is.
This Is the present situation, and it is dangerous for patients and doctors. They often are responsible for 100s of patients from across the province, but then to not have adequate clerical help on top of that will take valuable time and energy away from important patient care. As well, doctors may not be able to take extra patients because they cannot adequately treat them, due to the extra demands on their time.
Eastern Health really needs to address this issue. There is a high turnover rate in clerical positions, and they also need to put in place plans to more efficiently replace workers who once in a new position, need to take maternity leave. We hear about nursing and other health worker shortages, but the problem with office help is also critically important. If it is not addressed it will lead to more stress on doctors, health care professionals, and patients. If the clerical support shortage is addressed, then there is a better chance of timely patient care.
This is not opinion, this is fact! Eastern Health, at least, can reduce wait times by simply hiring more secretaries. Imagine this: a doctor is on the 5th floor of the Health Sciences Centre, and while attending to immediate patients, is also thinking of distance patients who require urgent treatment advice. The doctor cannot give an immediate treatment regimen because the patients' records are down several levels of the health science complex, and there is no one to communicate patient records to the doctor. So to get the latest record of patients from some other part of Newfoundland and Labrador, the physician has to take the elevator down several flights, walk through corridors to reach their office. Then, they will have to dig out the files (or order them from another part of the hospital), maybe do some faxing, phoning, researching, or emailing, and then repeat for any number of other patients who are out of town. Meanwhile, seriously ill patients up on the floors are wondering where the doctor is.
This Is the present situation, and it is dangerous for patients and doctors. They often are responsible for 100s of patients from across the province, but then to not have adequate clerical help on top of that will take valuable time and energy away from important patient care. As well, doctors may not be able to take extra patients because they cannot adequately treat them, due to the extra demands on their time.
Eastern Health really needs to address this issue. There is a high turnover rate in clerical positions, and they also need to put in place plans to more efficiently replace workers who once in a new position, need to take maternity leave. We hear about nursing and other health worker shortages, but the problem with office help is also critically important. If it is not addressed it will lead to more stress on doctors, health care professionals, and patients. If the clerical support shortage is addressed, then there is a better chance of timely patient care.
Saturday, April 03, 2010
A tragedy that could have been
but wasn't. Now that's luck. Any other Friday, workers would be at this condo work site on Logy Bay Rd., but Apr. 2 being Good Friday, it was a holiday. The cement floor collapse on a 17 degree calm spring day will raise many questions about the structural design of this building. As well, one has to wonder if currently existing buildings were constructed with similar specifications, and are time-ticking flaws. It will be useful to have investigators pinpoint what went wrong. Only by luck were injuries and deaths averted this time. The rate of construction in the St. John's/Mt. Pearl area has been high in recent years, and one also has to wonder if the pressure to build fast, and profit is affecting quality construction, and/or engineering design.Click photos to enlarge.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
City lights
Maybe Christmas is starting 9 months early this year as opposed to the regular two to three months, but for some reason the Xmas lights on the hill were aglow. Just fine with me for a night.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
So that explains it
"Men's sexual pursuit area is 2.5 times larger than the one in the female", and "testosterone drives the "Man Trance"-- or a glazed-eye stare at breasts", says clinical professor of psychiatry, Dr. Louann (what a dish) Brizendine.We just can't help it
According to that probably voluptuous babe,
.. As a woman who was among the ranks of the early feminists, I wish I could say that men can stop themselves from entering this trance. But the truth is, they can't. Their visual brain circuits are always on the lookout for fertile mates. Whether or not they intend to pursue a visual enticement, they have to check out the goods.
There it is, leering men are vindicated. In fact it is unnatural for us not to look. Thanks Dr. Louann! By the way, got any full body shots?
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Education systems everywhere may repress personal development and creativity
Sir Ken Robinson thinks so, and so does millions of others in the world, including this bloggist. Everyone has a unique, diverse set of abilities, talents, skills, and interests, but schools and education are designed to harvest mostly certain abilities from people, and not always help develop a person's natural ability/..ies.
We probably know many young people who have any number of talents, are intelligent, capable, creative, problem-solving, strong, agile, athletic but yet there is a frustration showing, a stifling of who they are. All subject areas are important in school, math and language being the tops (unless that has changed in recent years here). Yes we all do need to have math and language as well, to communicate clearly, to take care of our finances, and help us with work and careers. However, many kids are struggling with the high school maths, for example, so frustrated that they lose interest in bothering to go to school at all. They have no interest, or are not wired to think in a way that makes trig, algebra, calculus or geometry easy enough. But they may want to pursue other things, yet there are no opportunities for that at school, or very few. Many end up dropping out, become frustrated, or problematic, or take prescription drugs to cope, and even take their own lives. What a pity, and a waste of human talent.
Ken Robinson tells a story of a mother in the 1930's who brought her little girl to see a doctor because the girl was constantly interrupting other kids in class from their work. She was very active, and exhibited the kind of behaviours that today would categorize her as ADHD. The mother explained to the doctor, as the girl sat on her hands. The doctor and mom left room to chat and turned on the radio for the girl to hear the music. They watched her from outside, and saw that she came alive to the music, dancing impressively. The doctor told the mother that there was nothing wrong with her daughter, she was a dancer. That girl eventually went on to ballet school, became a nationally well-known performer on stage, set up her own dance school and was very financially successful. Dancing was not just an outlet, it was who she was.
Robinson says we need a major overhaul in how we structure education, so that it is more designed around personal development, rather overlooking more "hidden" talents, and gearing everyone to conform to the mass production assembly line model. As he says in this video, if we are not properly nourished, we will not grow.
It is also a pity that kids who do not do well in certain subjects, are often made to feel stupid, inferior, useless, hopeless, either by their peers, parents, or others, when they are stifled. Actually, in recent years with an economic boom in Alberta, many young people from this province have gone out west for work, like generations before them. A year or more ago some teens or early 20-somethings were making six figure salaries at the oilfields. A couple of high-school drop outs I spoke with were doing quite well, and at least one ran his own construction company, and had others hired on. It takes energy, drive, and talent to do this. In the first five years of life, we see energy, drive, curiosity, and excitement in learning in activities that kids are interested in. When you see that lacking as kids go through school, then something has gone wrong.
This is an excellent talk on how schools stifles creativity, and filled with humour too. Ken Robinson is, and has been on to something big.
This is another more recent interview with Robinson on education, called "Why teaching is 'not like making motorcars'":
We probably know many young people who have any number of talents, are intelligent, capable, creative, problem-solving, strong, agile, athletic but yet there is a frustration showing, a stifling of who they are. All subject areas are important in school, math and language being the tops (unless that has changed in recent years here). Yes we all do need to have math and language as well, to communicate clearly, to take care of our finances, and help us with work and careers. However, many kids are struggling with the high school maths, for example, so frustrated that they lose interest in bothering to go to school at all. They have no interest, or are not wired to think in a way that makes trig, algebra, calculus or geometry easy enough. But they may want to pursue other things, yet there are no opportunities for that at school, or very few. Many end up dropping out, become frustrated, or problematic, or take prescription drugs to cope, and even take their own lives. What a pity, and a waste of human talent.
Ken Robinson tells a story of a mother in the 1930's who brought her little girl to see a doctor because the girl was constantly interrupting other kids in class from their work. She was very active, and exhibited the kind of behaviours that today would categorize her as ADHD. The mother explained to the doctor, as the girl sat on her hands. The doctor and mom left room to chat and turned on the radio for the girl to hear the music. They watched her from outside, and saw that she came alive to the music, dancing impressively. The doctor told the mother that there was nothing wrong with her daughter, she was a dancer. That girl eventually went on to ballet school, became a nationally well-known performer on stage, set up her own dance school and was very financially successful. Dancing was not just an outlet, it was who she was.
Robinson says we need a major overhaul in how we structure education, so that it is more designed around personal development, rather overlooking more "hidden" talents, and gearing everyone to conform to the mass production assembly line model. As he says in this video, if we are not properly nourished, we will not grow.
It is also a pity that kids who do not do well in certain subjects, are often made to feel stupid, inferior, useless, hopeless, either by their peers, parents, or others, when they are stifled. Actually, in recent years with an economic boom in Alberta, many young people from this province have gone out west for work, like generations before them. A year or more ago some teens or early 20-somethings were making six figure salaries at the oilfields. A couple of high-school drop outs I spoke with were doing quite well, and at least one ran his own construction company, and had others hired on. It takes energy, drive, and talent to do this. In the first five years of life, we see energy, drive, curiosity, and excitement in learning in activities that kids are interested in. When you see that lacking as kids go through school, then something has gone wrong.
This is an excellent talk on how schools stifles creativity, and filled with humour too. Ken Robinson is, and has been on to something big.
This is another more recent interview with Robinson on education, called "Why teaching is 'not like making motorcars'":
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