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May 28, 2010 Think back to when you were a kid? What thing were you a participant in and what FAD thing did you do? Did you streak? Did you wear those pants that were so far down on the floor that people laughed behind your back? Adam Ant makeup? Wait, were you a Ramones fan and had to have the jacket and hair style? Oh I know you were the type that just had to look like Madonna or Cindy Lauper or Depeche Mode or Def Leppard. Or were you the type that was so straight laced that the school made fun of you and you think this is payback? Were you the kid in the third row that just had to trade slap bracelets? Garbage Pail kid cards? Baseball card flippers? Or had to have the latest hair accessory? People who are in charge, GET OVER IT! You were and are not different than the kids of today. Yes, while you will no doubt drop your head and squirm in your seat, and not want to look anyone in the eye. You are a peon, no different, no better and certainly have no right to dictate the actions and clothing of another. Get over yourself big time. On a serious note, you, the oppressors of the future of today are the exact reason why kids go ballistic, rebel in worse ways than we could ever have imagined and do more harm to themselves than we ever thought the numbers would reach. Kids, one thing you have to remember is these teachers, administrators also had a checkered past. They had the things that they were involved in and collected many " fad" items that were often banned by their upper echelon. Their excuse for owning and collecting certain things when they were kids was the same as yours, self expression, and their individualism. As a teacher, tutor, parent and school administrator I am appalled that a teacher cannot learn to use what is so offense to them as a learning tool. The bracelets that are so horrific and being banned have a viable life in a school. While they are colorful, you can use them for Science, Cultural History, math, Home ec, debate club, Fashion merchandising. Ok so you are going to ask how right? I am ashamed that a teacher cannot figure this out. Well, Do you know what the chemical properties of those cheap bracelets are? Do you know the manufacturing process of them? The design, tempering, and overall properties. They can be used to explain Physics, and elastomer technology, color influence of plastics. How the colors appeal to the eye, what are their stretch limits? Can other chemicals harm them, can they be straightened out and reshaped? What else can they be used for. You can use them as a physical representation of certain scientific formula. THINK PEOPLE. It’s not just a thing to offend you. It’s a learning tool. In English the students can write essays on the appeal, the fashion sense, how they came into being and sharpen their interviewing skills by talking with the company that created them. They can help to strengthen their debate skills and writing abilities. In history it has its place in culture. A new fad, a new aggressor in education, It is now part of history and so are your knee jerk reactions to them. They are no different than the beaded bracelets of other cultures. So make them part of the history. Delve into their place, their iconography in the modern culture. No different than looking at Slap bands, drop pants, hobos culture, outsider art, garbage pail kid cards, basketball team jerseys, and school spirit. Ok how about math? Yes they can even explain math in terms of measurements or geometry, radius, distance, pi, calculations etc. Measurements of linear length turned in to a circumference, what about difference in peaks and dips? Why are some bands thick than other bands? What about those depth ratios? And what about using a few to divvy up teams in a game? How about incentives for better results? These Bands are not just things, they are learning and education tools. If you step back and look you are passing up a real useful and wanted tool. But I guess you feel better thinking that by quashing these things you are helping a situation. In essence you are not. You are exacerbating a problem that exists and not looking at how something can be your ally and not your enemy.
THINK! IBM has is right, THINK before you do something, THINK before you say something, THINK.
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