C123S105L@aol.com wrote:
> I must have touched a very raw nerve here . . . , otherwise I would
> not have received the hostile responses I have.
Hi, this is my first post. I've been reading and enjoying the posts on
this list for some time, and I'm sorry to see annoyance start to brew.
My call on this is that a lot of the response has to do with language.
Using phrases like "there is absolutely NO excuse" and "bi-lingual
education is absolutely unecessary [sic]" and "It is incredible that
anyone would believe this is not possible" and "parents have no excuse"
and "It is the only way to ensure fairness" puts many people on edge.
It implies that the writer's opinions are so universally correct that
there is no room for discussion.
I think it's wonderful that C123S105L was able to learn English on your
own in a few months in front of the television. I also think it's great
that C123S105L has seen teenagers learn a new language in a year. The
human mind is an amazing and wonderful thing, and is capable of great
feats.
However, just because some people are capable of great achievement with
little or no support from their schools does not mean that other
students wouldn't benefit from that support. Similarly, the positive
experiences that C123S105L and his or her daughter have had as a result
of C123S105L's involvement in her school life are inspiring, but by no
means universal. C123S105L has been blessed with positive experiences
have been good, and it's encouraging to see them recognized them as
such. However, the experiences that others have may be quite
different. It is understandable that some would think it arrogant on
someone's part to assume that their experiences are applicable to
everyone else in our school system.
I think the negative response to these posts has not been due to the
fact that people think the opinions are wrong (though I'm sure some
disagree, that's the nature of opinion), but to the fact that the writer
seems so sure they are right.
I've read a lot of insightful and intelligent things on these pages, and
I'd hate to see us get distracted with matters of ego.
Jenny
jennyg@fix.org
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 04 2000 - 12:33:17 EST