Professor: " If You Read To Your Kids, You're 'Unfairly Disadvantaging' Others"

WalkingCarpet

Banned 9 years ago

That's why I am God.

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HeySal 9 years ago

Originally Posted by WalkingCarpet

That's why I am God.

Um....so hey, God? Whaccha smokin'? Care to put that into a little context? Or is God just neurotic enough to be afraid that we'd forget?
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- WalkingCarpet Banned 9 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by HeySal
  
  Um....so hey, God? Whaccha smokin'? Care to put that into a little context? Or is God just neurotic enough to be afraid that we'd forget?
  
  My dad used to read to me when I was young, so I grew up to take over.
  
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thunderbird

9 years ago

The link didn't open for me. The Onion?

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HeySal

9 years ago

Nope - not the Onion. Nat'l Review.

This is just a blown up "no kid left behind" bunch of bs - the type that comes from idiots who think that it's wrong to give a kid a trophy for winning, yet they for some reason still want them to play competitive sports. It's okay to compete - as long as everyone wins right.

This article is just proof that communistic thinking really doesn't amount to human level thought. My family will continue to read to our children and if that's not okay with anyone else -- then they better get off their babies with no parenting asses and read to theirs too.

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tagiscom

9 years ago

Originally Posted by discrat

All I can say is WOW !

Professor: If You Read To Your Kids, You

WC wouldn't read to his children, unless he had a well stocked spice rack, and jumbo plastic bags?

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MissTerraK

9 years ago

That's such BS!

My parents read to us and we could read before we started kindergarten, well, except my brother, hee, hee!

I read to my children and all three of them were reading before kindergarten, two of them were writing before kindergarten one of which was also writing in cursive before kindergarten.

I can't imagine having my child ask me to read them a story or how to write and my reply being, "I'm sorry Honey, but it just wouldn't be fair to all of the other children around."

What the heck!!!!???

Terra

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tagiscom

9 years ago

Originally Posted by MissTerraK

That's such BS!

My parents read to us and we could read before we started kindergarten, well, except my brother, hee, hee!

I read to my children and all three of them were reading before kindergarten, two of them were writing before kindergarten one of which was also writing in cursive before kindergarten.

I can't imagine having my child ask me to read them a story or how to write and my reply being, "I'm sorry Honey, but it just wouldn't be fair to all of the other children around."

What the heck!!!!???

Terra

Just a nutter trying to make a name for himself and sell a few books, by saying something controversial!

These nutters usually give a gloomy picture of our future, then do it again when it doesn't happen!

They also create stupid diets, like the eat bananas all day, to sell a book, but eventually, unfortunately after their stupid book makes a few million, they are sussed out!

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discrat 9 years ago

Guys he even takes it one step further.
Okay, lets have the State automatically take over custody of all children so everyone is on an even playing field
Makes a lot of sense, huh ?

Is having a loving family an unfair advantage? - The Philosopher's Zone - ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
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discrat

9 years ago

Originally Posted by tagiscom

WC wouldn't read to his children,

WC has children ? Dear Lord say it ain't so !! lol

Joseph, can you confirm this ?

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tagiscom

9 years ago

Originally Posted by discrat

WC has children ? Dear Lord say it ain't so !! lol

Joseph, can you confirm this ?

Well, the spice rack is half empty, and his bins are full, so l will leave it there!

And the Hansel and Gretal Barbecue he had last week is a worry!

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Joe Mobley

9 years ago

"I don't think parents reading their children bedtime stories should constantly have in their minds the way that they are unfairly disadvantaging other lazy, inept, entitlement-minded people's children

(Bold is mine.)

Just the b^stards that should be placed at a disadvantage.

Joe Mobley

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TLTheLiberator

9 years ago

Originally Posted by discrat

All I can say is WOW !

Professor: If You Read To Your Kids, You

Reminds me of an Jerry Lewis and later a Eddie Murphy movie.

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PBNDeveloper

9 years ago

This is the idiocy that is the social justice warrior.

And yes, life is a competition. Get moving!

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Claude Whitacre

9 years ago

it reads like satire to me.

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Dan Riffle

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre

it reads like satire to me.

Insanity often does. This, unfortunately, is not satire, unless ABC is in on it, as well. That and National Review isn't exactly known for its sense of humor.

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Raising a child is akin to knowing you're getting fired in 18 years and having to train your replacement without actively sabotaging them.

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Claude Whitacre

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Dan Riffle

Insanity often does. This, unfortunately, is not satire, unless ABC is in on it, as well. That and National Review isn't exactly known for its sense of humor.

Let's assume it's not a joke.

I guess it really is true though, if you do something for your kids, anything...you give them a slight advantage over other kids their age, that didn't have that help.

So, it's an example of something that may be technically true, but the viewpoint that created it...is bizarre. Calling the advantage "Unfair" is odd.

Perhaps the professor should quit. He is unfairly taking away a professorship from other applicants.

At least that's my take.

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Dan Riffle

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre

Let's assume it's not a joke.

I guess it really is true though, if you do something for your kids, anything...you give them a slight advantage over other kids their age, that didn't have that help.

So, it's an example of something that may be technically true, but the viewpoint that created it...is bizarre. Calling the advantage "Unfair" is odd.

Perhaps the professor should quit. He is unfairly taking away a professorship from other applicants.

At least that's my take.

It's true in the sense that we give our children advantages. We don't, however, "disadvantage" others' children. Their parents do that by not parenting.

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Claude Whitacre

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Dan Riffle

It's true in the sense that we give our children advantages. We don't, however, "disadvantage" others' children. Their parents do that by not parenting.

Can you imagine a parent withholding help for their kid, because they think that eventually, it would give their kid an advantage over other kids, that weren't parented as well?

"Well, Bobby, I would prepare you to live life as a successful adult, but there are parents who ignore their kids...so......it wouldn't be fair to them if I helped you be responsible and educated. Sorry. Go play in the street"

I wonder how the Professor was raised?

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Dan Riffle

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre

Can you imagine a parent withholding help for their kid, because they think that eventually, it would give their kid an advantage over other kids, that weren't parented as well?

"Well, Bobby, I would prepare you to live life as a successful adult, but there are parents who ignore their kids...so......it wouldn't be fair to them if I helped you be responsible and educated. Sorry. Go play in the street"

I wonder how the Professor was raised?

It's a bit of a paradox because that parent would fall into the "disadvantaging your own child" category. Do I think there are parents out there like that? Sure. And their children will grow up to sell fruit on the corner of expressway off-ramps.

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Joe Mobley 9 years ago

Originally Posted by Dan Riffle

And their children will grow up to sell fruit on the corner of expressway off-ramps.

Or become politicians.

Joe Mobley
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discrat 9 years ago

One thing that I learned a long time ago is that Life is NOT fair.

its just plain and simple as that.

For instance, you have people right now, right today who are praising God for the delivery of a beautiful baby or are on cloud nine after finding out they got approved for that new dream home and then...
at this very moment a parent loses a child and killed by a drunk driver or a 5 year old finds out he has terminal brain cancer.

Its so weird, right ? How some people can be celebrating and at the very same time others are in unimaginable, horrific pain

Its a cruel World. Its unfair and nothing is on a even playing field.

But there is nothing we can do about it so what's the use of bickering about it ?

We just move on
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- Kay King 9 years ago
  
  But there is nothing we can do about it
  
  What we can do is make the best of what we have for our family - give our children the most of what we are - and help others where we can.
  
  There is a picture on the desk upstairs...on the frame is a quote I really like:
  
  "While we try to teach our children all about life...our children teach us what life is all about."
  
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Kay King 9 years ago

That idiot is right up there with those who say if you work hard and get ahead - you are taking advantage of people who don't stay in school, work hard and get ahead.

Maybe he should go work at McDonald's or similar job. Being a professor is disadvantaging minimum wage workers....not fair.
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HeySal 9 years ago

Originally Posted by Claude Whitacre

it reads like satire to me.

I clicked all over that site hoping to find that it's a satire site. What is sicker than the fact this is real is that some people will believe him and actually take up activism for such an idea. Look at "no child left behind". If you read the principles it doesn't take long to find it's actually "no kid gets ahead".

One thing I wish I'd been told when I was a kid was that by the time I was this age I'd be living in an Orwellian science fiction movie.
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- Claude Whitacre 9 years ago
  
  I've read this article a few times now, as well as one that it links to.
  
  Although the entire idea is foreign to me, and in my opinion, would be very bad parenting......
  
  I see the logic. It could be considered altruistic.
  
  I wonder how the author ever came to this conclusion? In other words, I wonder what thinking process led to this.
  
  The conclusion that reading to your children is more beneficial than private school, sounds reasonable. Maybe part of it was taken out of context.
  
  Originally Posted by Dan Riffle
  
  It's true in the sense that we give our children advantages. We don't, however, "disadvantage" others' children. Their parents do that by not parenting.
  
  The only way you could be putting other kids at a disadvantage, is if these other kids...were also yours. (I don't mean you personally). There would have to be continuous direct competition. And the only way it would be unfair, is if you were the parent of both children.
  
  Anyway, it's the way I'm thinking.
  
  Added later; Infrequently today, I've thought about this post. And my mind flips back and forth, every few seconds, between thinking the professor is nuts, and thinking he's radical...but his ideas aren't really flawed.
  
  I think it's because I'm holding the thought in two areas of the brain, the cognitive frontal cortex, and the limbic area. It's like an optical illusion, that flips back and forth rapidly. The cognitive part of the brain understands the reasoning, but the parenting (emotional and instinctive) part of the brain rebels against the idea, and thinks it's ludicrous.
  
  It's a weird sensation.
  
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  Midnight Oil 9 years ago
  
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jgjh151

9 years ago

“I don’t think parents reading their children bedtime stories should constantly have in their minds the way that they are unfairly disadvantaging other people’s children, but I think they should have that thought occasionally,” he said.

Stupidest Thing I've Ever Heard

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AprilCT 9 years ago

Hmm, didn't the gubmint close a lot of mental hospitals? It seems the people who really need care aren't getting it.
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alistair 9 years ago

Originally Posted by jgjh151

Stupidest Thing I've Ever Heard

You haven't been down here before have you?
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discrat 9 years ago

Originally Posted by jgjh151

Stupidest Thing I've Ever seen

I could say the same thing about your Avatar
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Lance K

9 years ago

Would he rather we just pay someone else to read to them?

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Karen Blundell 9 years ago

what an idiot "professor".

I read to my son constantly - not only did I read to him, but I would act the part of the character in the stories I read him. It was a lot of fun - boy, do I miss those times.
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David Beroff

9 years ago

Did this make anyone else think of Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.?

THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal
before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter
than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was
stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th,
212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing
vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.

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Floyd Fisher 9 years ago

Originally Posted by David Beroff

Did this make anyone else think of Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.?

Read that work in high school......thanks for reminding me.
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seasoned

9 years ago

by KATHERINE TIMPF May 6, 2015 3:24 PM Bedtime-story privilege? According to a professor at the University of Warwick in England, parents who read to their kids should be thinking about how they’re “unfairly disadvantaging other people’s children” by doing so. In an interview with ABC Radio last week, philosopher and professor Adam Swift said that since “bedtime stories activities . . . do indeed foster and produce . . . [desired] familial relationship goods,” he wouldn’t want to ban them, but that parents who “engage in bedtime-stories activities” should definitely at least feel kinda bad about it sometimes: “I don’t think parents reading their children bedtime stories should constantly have in their minds the way that they are unfairly disadvantaging other people’s children, but I think they should have that thought occasionally,” he said.

Read more at: Professor: If You Read To Your Kids, You

SO, the take away is that you should lock your kids in a small closet, so they can't move or sleep, and don't feed them, or even TALK to them because if you do ANYTHING of that kind you might actually get them to succeed in something and THAT is bad because someone ELSE will be LESS successful!

Seriously, they should pull ANY items the guy wrote, get rid of the degrees, and investigate EVERYWHERE he went to. Such people have NO business teaching. And let me ask you something! WHAT was the ORIGINAL reason for going to school? Here's a hint! It was NOT to make more money! And WHY do they have grades? Here is a hint! If you do well, you do NOT want pass/fail classes!

It was to get extra knowledge, and the grades were to determine RELATIVE assessment! It is assumed that a person that gets an A KNOWS MORE about the subject than one that gets a D!

SO, by extension, he is trashing his entire INDUSTRY! DON'T have your kids go to ANY school!

Steve

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Claude Whitacre 9 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

Seriously, they should pull ANY items the guy wrote, get rid of the degrees, and investigate EVERYWHERE he went to.

I agree. I know for a fact that yesterday he went to Taco Bell. So Taco Bell is going to get audited....as is the laundromat, the movie theater, and the drug store.

These guys are going to get it!

We are shutting these places down!
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Synnuh

9 years ago

I read it and only smh ;/

If you don't read to your kids, you're unfairly giving my kid an advantage.

It did generate a TON of links though. Does the professor actually exist? Is this a lesson in gypsy tricks?

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Natasha1992

9 years ago

I don't understand the main idea of this article. In fact, I do, but it seems too strange for me.
Reading to kinds (especially before they are going to sleep) develop not only child's imagination, but in some kind his/her educational skills. For me it's impossible to imagine parents who will think like "Ok, why I should do it? I don't want intelligent, open-minded child, especially if my reading have bad consequences on other children. So let my child be stupid and without any imagination. At least I am not “unfairly disadvantaging other people’s children”.
In some way I can agree to this article, but if it only concerns children without parents, who really lack love and concern. But with "other people's children" it’s not the same. This is parents who are always responsible for their children's upbringing and education, so why should I leave my children stupid and uneducated, if other parents don't execute their main duty?

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yukon

Banned 9 years ago

Fact, illiterate kids are happier.

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Natasha1992

9 years ago

Originally Posted by yukon

Fact, illiterate kids are happier.

100% agree with you.
I would rather say that all the unintelligent people, not only the kids, are happier. It's even proven by experts.
Very often your intelligence and literacy present to your more danger than their absence.

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seasoned

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Natasha1992

100% agree with you.
I would rather say that all the unintelligent people, not only the kids, are happier. It's even proven by experts.
Very often your intelligence and literacy present to your more danger than their absence.

Let's say that they make more danger APPARENT to you. Being illiterate CAN be dangerous.

Steve

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thunderbird

9 years ago

Hilarious group! I really enjoy satire. It is a pity that I can't open the article that you're all joking about. Is Adam Swift a descendent of the great satirical writer Jonathan Swift?

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yukon

Banned 9 years ago

Originally Posted by thunderbird

Hilarious group! I really enjoy satire. It is a pity that I can't open the article that you're all joking about. Is Adam Swift a descendent of the great satirical writer Jonathan Swift?

The OP link/page makes a reference to this page. Maybe that link will work for you.

To be honest I'm not sure If the article is a wannabe of The Onion or what's going on, lol.

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yukon

Banned 9 years ago

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Joe Mobley 9 years ago

Originally Posted by yukon

I think I feel a tweet coming on...

Joe Mobley
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Professor: " If You Read To Your Kids, You're 'Unfairly Disadvantaging' Others"

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