[lit-ideas] Re: Conscious after the fact?

Point taken.  My purpose in bringing this up isn't to work out the fine points 
of how and where and whatever, the same way that if I were advocating some sort 
of college admissions test I would defer to others for what content, what 
questions, etc.
 
Sex education is a huge step in the right direction but nowhere near enough.  
Sex historically had so much mystery and misinformation surrounding it.  I 
remember a Masterpiece Theater series on George Sand, the writer, who, when 
asked by her mother where she thought babies come from, said [to the effect of, 
I don't remember the exact words] that someone puts them under your bed.  The 
camera then panned to the incredulous look on the mother's face.  
 
Well, child rearing is still for a vast number of people (most of the world I 
would say) in that stage of beat the monster so you can control him (or ignore 
him or whatever) stage.  But again, the details are not my problem to work 
out.  I'm just pointing out the big picture of what needs to be done.  And 
really, if we can teach people to cook and sew (home ec), why not courses in 
child development needs?  The kids might even then help their parents out, 
those parents who had the openness of mind to take the information in at 
least.  One of the problems is that the drop out rate from high school in parts 
of this country is staggering, so people may not stay in high school long 
enough to be taught the subject, and might be too already glazed over to absorb 
it.  
 
I tell ya, if I were king of the world, especially given the vast 
overpopulation of this incredibly shrinking planet, I would mandate birth 
control for everybody.  Want a kid?  Take a course.  Caught on drugs or DUI?  
Your reproductive 'right', now a privilege, is taken away forever.  Draconian, 
maybe, but the alternatives are Malthusian self-corrections.  I think my way is 
a lot more pleasant.


--- On Mon, 6/30/08, Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Conscious after the fact?
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Monday, June 30, 2008, 2:43 PM

There is a distinction surely to be drawn between having a test, even a
compulsory one that is standard to all curriculae, and saying that only those
who pass this test are licensed by the state to have children? (What would the
sanction be for having children without a license? etc.) There is a difference
between education and its tests and licensing and its tests. One might applaud
one as sensible and feasible yet not the other. When children are given sex
education at school it is surely not to give them a license to have sex?

Donal


--- On Mon, 30/6/08, Andy <mimi.erva@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> From: Andy <mimi.erva@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Conscious after the fact?
> To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Monday, 30 June, 2008, 2:39 PM
> This is a legitimate question.  The test is not the issue,
> the questions are not the issue, and there would be no
> grade except to pass or fail.  The point is to teach
> people when to respond, how to respond, how to communicate,
> how to guide and correct without hitting or shaming
> (otherwise known as discipline) and on and on.  For
> example, to explain that the terrible 2's are a time
> when the child is beginning to explore his world and his
> sense of self while still connected to mom.  He's not
> just being a recalcitrant little monster.  And so on and
> so on.  Also to inculcate that if there isn't both a
> father and mother (and a huge percentage of the time there
> isn't) then don't even think about it.  Also to
> inculcate that children are needy creatures who CANNOT
> meet an adult's needs for friendship or whatever.  
>  
> There are right now parenting classes that people can take
> and are often mandated to take by child protective
> agencies.  It might be of academic interest if someone on
> the list were to participate in such a class just to see
> how it's done.  The licensing process actually could
> start in high school, for both boys and girls.  In fact,
> if it did start in high school, people would begin to
> understand that having children is a serious endeavor, and
> teenage pregnancy would go down.  Right now there's a
> giggle giggle tee hee, stars in the eyes
> quality, whether glazed over or just unrealistic, to
> doing something as serious as creating a human being.   
>  
>  
> 
> 
> --- On Mon, 6/30/08, John Wager
> <john.wager1@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> From: John Wager <john.wager1@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Conscious after the fact?
> To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Monday, June 30, 2008, 3:28 AM
> 
> 
> Andy wrote: 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>   This is why I harp on parent training, indeed
> licensing.  
> I've been thinking about this today: What would a
> "license" exam look like for parenting?  
> 
> Let's say you had to identify 2 questions that such a
> test MUST have: What would those two questions be? 
> 
> (And, of course, what would the answers have to be?)
> 
> -- 
> -------------------------------------------------    
> "Never attribute to malice that which can be         
> explained by incompetence and ignorance."            
> -------------------------------------------------    
> John Wager                    j.wager@xxxxxxxxxxx    
>                              Forest Park, IL, USA


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