"You know what stickers I hate? The ones that say 'We are the proud parents of an honor student at Mars High' or whatever other innocent sounding name that has been assigned by the indoctrination center where their child has been sent to be stripped of his individuality and turned into an obedient-souldead-conformist member of the american consumer culture. Proud parents? What kind of empty people need to validate themselves through the acheivements of their children? Here's a bumper sticker I'd like to see: 'We are the proud parents of a child whose self-esteem is sufficient that he doesn't need us promoting his minor scholastic acheivements on the back of our car' or 'We are the proud parents of a child who has resisted his teacher's attempts to break his spirit and bend him to the will of his corporate masters' " -George Carlin
Truest thing I've heard in a while...
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911paramedic
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Hayabusa Rider
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feralkid
Lifer
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"whatever other innocent sounding name that has been assigned by the indoctrination center where their child has been sent to be stripped of his individuality and turned into an obedient-souldead-conformist member of the american consumer culture."
Your orwellian view of the American education system intrigues me, and i would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Your orwellian view of the American education system intrigues me, and i would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
HeroOfPellinor
Lifer
- Dec 27, 2001
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Right it would be much cooler if it read, "Proud parent of a kid who is okay with himself and doesn't need grades or achievement tests to feel good about himself. He doesn't need to where pants like those high-falootin' children of corporate zombies. He can go unbathed for months. He can speak with a third grade vocabulary at the age of 24 and be just fine with himself. He can live at home till he's 42 and can work part time at McDonalds until he decides to start his own tie-die shirt company and sells two shirts to us...his proud proud parents."
Carlin's a freakin' hippy.
Carlin's a freakin' hippy.
Uh-huh. He's not saying education is a bad thing but rather the way it's presented. I personally like to learn but there are numerous things I really hate about school. And who says you have to be making a lot of money to be happy? The world is imbued with people that think that way. Sh!t, if you're happy and work at McDonald's or somewhere like that, fine. The bottom line is happiness.
I disagree with that statement. School only does things to students in response to their own actions. Do honors students get different treatment than troublesome students -- yes. There's hardly conformity in today's student bodies. That statement implies that honor students don't have self esteem. Does this mean that non-honors students are more sure of themselves? There's no basis to support or oppose that statement.
All honors means is that some students invested more time into their studies than others. Granted, non-honor students could easily have done something productive as well, but more often than not, their time is spent pursuing more self-gratifying endeavors. Study is a behavior that I think should be encouraged rather than discouraged because more often than not, people leave the bounds of lower education without even a basic understanding of academics or any other semblance of useful knowledge. I once knew a kid PROUD to have graduated high school, whose sole learning experience consisted of how to pack down cigarettes and having followed to price of an ounce of weed.
You also have to realize that the VAST VAST VAST majority of students in lower education are sheep. They derive their self image from those around them, including their parents. More often than not, seeing their parents express pride in them for achieving honors, even if it's through an ugly honor student bumper sticker, contributes to that child's development. As far as creating a conformist individual, I would point to the media and the television and the entertainment industry LONG before I point to schools. That's ok by me tho, because I think it's damn near impossible to be an individual nowadays, because most people tend to go with someone else's views, consciously or not. heck, supporting this statement by Carlin could very easily be seen as conformist. granted, it's not the norm, but the norm is only decided by how many people agree with it. Besides, a little conformity is good, you tend to learn things by following others for a while.
Now I have a lot of grips with the educational system, mostly because they cater to the lowest common denominator in nearly all things. The honor societies, however, are one of the few things I think have potential to be doing what is right.
All honors means is that some students invested more time into their studies than others. Granted, non-honor students could easily have done something productive as well, but more often than not, their time is spent pursuing more self-gratifying endeavors. Study is a behavior that I think should be encouraged rather than discouraged because more often than not, people leave the bounds of lower education without even a basic understanding of academics or any other semblance of useful knowledge. I once knew a kid PROUD to have graduated high school, whose sole learning experience consisted of how to pack down cigarettes and having followed to price of an ounce of weed.
You also have to realize that the VAST VAST VAST majority of students in lower education are sheep. They derive their self image from those around them, including their parents. More often than not, seeing their parents express pride in them for achieving honors, even if it's through an ugly honor student bumper sticker, contributes to that child's development. As far as creating a conformist individual, I would point to the media and the television and the entertainment industry LONG before I point to schools. That's ok by me tho, because I think it's damn near impossible to be an individual nowadays, because most people tend to go with someone else's views, consciously or not. heck, supporting this statement by Carlin could very easily be seen as conformist. granted, it's not the norm, but the norm is only decided by how many people agree with it. Besides, a little conformity is good, you tend to learn things by following others for a while.
Now I have a lot of grips with the educational system, mostly because they cater to the lowest common denominator in nearly all things. The honor societies, however, are one of the few things I think have potential to be doing what is right.
HeroOfPellinor
Lifer
- Dec 27, 2001
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Everybody I see working at McDonald's looks like they're extatic to be there.
Truth is, the kids who don't feel like even trying in school become the biggest corporate slaves of them all. Bottom line is that you're gonna "not like" a lot of stuff in life, but you got to have some discipline and suck it up so that you'll have more options down the road.
Anyone recall a band from the 90's called "Picasso Trigger"?
They had a bumper sticker that said: "Picasso Trigger Sodomized My Honor Student"
They had a bumper sticker that said: "Picasso Trigger Sodomized My Honor Student"
I would rather see a bumper sticker that read, "Proud parent of a responsible student." Who the hell cares that your kid can make A's in an education systems that caters to the lowest common denominator. What should really matter is if your kid is a hard worker who takes responibility for not only their successes, but also their failures.
Anubis
No Lifer
While I agree with the idea, I'd rather they didn't send bumper stickers. They're ugly, they don't match the paint job 9 out of 10 times, and if you don't put it on, you send a not so good msg to your children that you maybe just don't give a @!#% about how well they do in school.
idnut is just ticked off because he can't get "C" to save his arse and his chance of completing high school is nil.
Pliablemoose
Lifer
- Oct 11, 1999
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My sticker could say: "My kid takes stimulants so the underpaid (but strangely attractive) teacher in the overcrowded classroom can neglect her more effectively & safely" Merck Sharpe & Dome or Pfizer could print them.
Learning is a good thing and regardless of how the schools run things, it's the only place kids have pretty much. What is wrong with parents being proud of a child who puts effort into learning? What is wrong with parents encouraging their child to regard learning as important? Nothing.
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