Turn Your Dumb Ass to Teaching

Just watched a new TV advert, latest in the Government campaign to attract people to the teaching profession. Nothing wrong with that, but I was angered by the content of the ad.

A teacher shows her class pictures of other kids in chains, images that suggest forced child labour. Then the teacher solicits predictable comments from her kids, like how bad they feel about what they have, in comparison with other kids' supposed plight.

Teaching? This is teaching impressionable kids to be extra grateful for whatever they have, relieved that they aren't at the mercy of a corrupt government or a society that exploits children. And, given such media output, is that really the case?

Kids need to be educated. What they do NOT need is to be distracted by adults laying guilt trips on them, complete with heartstring-tugging slide show. I myself had that same crap at school, passing around the tin, collecting coins for the 'black babies'. Then we went home and
saw Ethiopians on TV news.

We were encouraged to think hard about how 'lucky' we were. What's the intent? That kids feel privileged by birth, so they learn not to strive too hard to better themselves or attain wealth. Another generation of drones.

Makes me sick. Schools are for learning to read, to write and to count. Not a platform for sap teachers to brainwash and distract us at our most vulnerable time of life.

If you plan to become a teacher, think hard about what you're saying to those little people.


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