Thread: Banning Red Pens

My response on another forum was:

I have never ever heard of any negative (or positive) comments re red penning, and I've not heard of any directives coming down.

To be honest, if the kid is offended by the colour of red pen being used when marking then they really need to harden up. If we change colours then it will only mean that they will the new colour to be aggressive also. God help them when they get their learners permit and have to stop at their first red light. I guess there are a few reasons why red is used, and they may be that its a clear colour that stands out over black and blue, it's a known teacher colour - kids know not to work in red, and you can buy red pens everywhere.

I think the real problem is pandering to these kids that burst into tears at the thought of having red pen on their paper. They're probably really anxious because they have failure fear or something, and despite the reaction against red penning, its probably more to do with the teachers evaluation not being what they were hoping for or some other issue rather than the actual colour of the pen. This is not to dismiss the impact of differing colours on kids... and there is a good reason for using green carpets in schools etc as it is a calming colour etc etc etc.

I'm sorry.... I'm not particularly tolerant of kids that are lame like this. They really need to harden up and I would have no hesitation in telling them something along these lines... obviously with a little more diplomacy. If they cant deal with red pen, then they need to step up and do something about it, and having a good look at themselves would be a good starting point. They're going to have to deal with other stresses which are much more significant such as the HSC and life after school. Changing pen colours does nothing to help the 99.99% of other kids that are normal, and I don't believe it will do anything to help the 0.01% of kids that are offended by using red either. They need to learn to deal with lifes stresses, there is no such thing as a utopia.

I have red hair. I must be aggressive.



CC

(only to dumb ****s that deserve it. Harden the **** up)

It was probably thought up in a remedial lesson at "Gumnut Cottage" as a good idea.

Originally Posted by FenianEel

It was probably thought up in a remedial lesson at "Gumnut Cottage" as a good idea.

Yeah, the problem is that a lot of stuff comes down from people that are withdrawn to some extent from the realities of education. Ideals most definately have value, though its important not to get lost by this when some leaders and academics try to develop "best" educational theory. They think they are doing the best thing by the kids, but the kids are a lot more resilient than they are often given credit for, and I don't think that changes to welfare management policy over the last 15 years has made any real improvements. I think that it is especially important to care about the kids, and part of that is letting them grow by toughing things out, learning how to deal with issues and generally preparing them as a human being for the other side of the school gates - but within a framework that doesn't push them beyond what they are capable of dealing with. This red pen issue will do nothing in real terms to help develop the kids, and we don't need to increase the number of kids that come through the education system that can't deal with life - there are enough "I generation" people out there that are self centred and wont take responsibility for themselves. We dont need to make it any worse by blaming the red pen.

What is worse, banning teachers from using red pens or the fact that someone who we are paying decided that banning red pens was a good idea?

Originally Posted by Utemad

What is worse, banning teachers from using red pens or the fact that someone who we are paying decided that banning red pens was a good idea?

Next they will ban Auditors from using green pens, saying it will make you envious

G'day All, Talk about a load of %$#@&*^ crap, in my line of work everything written is written in 'Black', Red biro in the schedule 4 & 8 drug registers, now are we going to ban the black biro so as not to offend indigenous people ???, get a life who ever you are cheers Dennis

What a load of rubbish. What is the world coming to? Time for people like this to go down to the nearest Bunnings, buy a bag of concrete and HARDEN THE **** UP.



Paul