Word: todays
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...interactive relationships with thy peer group. In the public schools, where any kind of commandment might be deemed unduly judgmental, character ed revolves around pillars or building blocks of character--universally accepted values bleached of any sectarian contamination. And they are transmitted by the familiar methods beloved of today's pedagogues: posters and banners, role playing and sharing, multi-culti storytelling and words of the week--all the cheerful paraphernalia that makes the modern American classroom seem like a Maoist re-education camp run by Barney the dinosaur...
...skepticism is shared by some experts, including Alfie Kohn, an educator and author in Belmont, Mass. "Most of what passes for character education is behavioral manipulation, not an invitation to reflect on values," he says. "It's no way to transform a community to say, 'Today is Tuesday; it must be Honesty day,' or by giving kids doggy biscuits...
...obvious point to make about American culture today is that it's going to the dogs. That is, of course, the obvious point to make about every culture every day. Still, the indicators are alarming: magazines read more and more like tabloids, and newspapers treat foreign affairs as if they referred to overseas friendships. The Internet bombards us with more data than knowledge of how to make sense of them, and in certain parts of Los Angeles, 89% of the citizens at age 18 can't read. I am often to be found on street corners declaiming about the days...
...only trouble is, if anyone's losing touch, it's me. The most striking thing about our culture, to an outsider today, may be that Harold Bloom's 745-page scholarly exegesis of Shakespeare's plays is on the best-seller list (joining a history of the makers of the Oxford English Dictionary), and an updated version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses is at the cineplex. In certain respects the country around us seems to be dumbing up, presenting us on a daily basis with texts and thoughts that give no indication of a nation suffering from attention deficit disorder...
Look at Martin today, and you can tell he was a child star--he wears the spotlight like ordinary folks wear house slippers. Indeed, Martin got started early: at 12 he auditioned to join Menudo, a Latin singing group comprised of boys ages 12 to 16 whose roster rotated when members grew too old. Martin was rejected on his first try because he was too small and too young-looking. Martin tried out again. Rejected again. On the third try, he made it. It was an early sign: what Martin lacked in talent he made up for in pure doggedness...