I read with interest the following article apparently by a student writer at Mariner H.S. My eyes and mind focused on something that struck my vibes. I wonder if it strikes yours, also. "From birth until kindergarten, children are t o l d that they are individuals, that no one on Earth is just like them, that the are just as unique as their fingerprints. Then, suddenly - WHAM." (The spacing of the word told was mine, not the articles. But it occurred to me that perhaps we are sending a wrong message to kids when we imprint the idea that we "are individuals, that no one on Earth is just like them, that they are just as unique as their fingerprints. Then, suddenly - WHAM." I understand the bases for the idea, but carried to extreme, could cause some problems, which apparently the writer has encountered and observed with Life around him, and in his World. If this idea of uniqueness fostors selfishness, egotism, greed, then it is NOT a very good lesson in life, however if it is a healthy attitude that is promoted to recognize values in each individual then it could be quite positive for attitude, and social exchange and appreciation. You be the judge: Ref.The Herald Tues, Nov 10, 1998 http://www.heraldnet.com/edge Section D pp 1D, 2D edge Section QUOTED AS FOLLOWS: Stereotype strangeness starts early, gets worse By Timothy Goddard edge writers/Mariner H.S. Humans are funny people with a bizarre tendency to put others into boxes. These boxes are an odd bunch, too. They morph and change shapes and sizes depending on where and what the people they envelope happen to be. These boxes are called- in case you haven't figured it out yet - stereotypes. Stereotypes in general are a bad idea. From birth until kindergarten, children are told that they are individuals, that no one on Earth is just like them, that they are just as unique as their fingerprints. Then, suddenly- WHAM. School hits and everything your parents ever taught you in hopes of helping your self-esteem flies out the schoolhouse window to a painful death on the concrete below. It does start out small. At first, it's just a simple congregation into "boys" and "girls." This is not a bad thing. In fact, it's a rather good thing that can prevent a whole lot of embarrassment at restrooms, department stores, and health classes. Of course, as it is with all stereotypes, it is taken a bit too far, giving us words like "cooties," "icky" and "eeeeww." Then elementary school moves along and even more of these silly little categories spring into view. Crude versions of the "jock" and "nerd" begin to emerge, usually coming out of a combination of advanced classes and physical education (Remember that? Back when the best sports were all named after movies and used mats and those big foam balls?). Soon middle school comes along, refining the categories a bit more. Not only are the "jock" and "nerd" more clearly defined, but teh "popular" group is put into place. No one seems to be quite sure how this happens. Mostly, it springs from the athletic types, with a few non-athletic "cool" girls and guys thrown in for good measure. Other subgroups, such as the "ganstas" and "loners," develop around this time. Next, high school comes along. This is a funny time, when people's stereotypes switch around, change, split off or even disappear. As extracurricular activities other than sports take bigger parts of students' lives, terms like "band geek," "choir nerd" and "drama rat" pop up, while other subgroups continue to appear. "Skate," "stoner," "freak." "overachiever," "cheerleader," etc., get stamped on people"s forheads and right hands, then erased, changed, and so on. College and/or work soon follows, and stereotypes get stranger and more complex.(sic.)rade, gender, class, appearance, age, musical tastes, marital status, place of employment and many other factors get swirled around, mixed up, baked, fried and boiled into another heap of stereotypes. These stereotypes are more important, affecting sholarships, potential jobs, raises, promotions and even (gasp)invitations to join exclusive clubs. When one steps back and sees the origin and evelotion of stereotypes, one sees the overall strangeness of them. Like so many things in American culture, it begins in kindergarten. (???How about the home, the parent's values, attitudes, prejudices, steretyping, examples, positiveness, negativeness, l a n g u a g e, body l a n g u a g e and other utterance, expectations long before any sort of school begins. - CC.). Whydoes this happen then, if it is such a silly idea? Because humans are silly people. You don't see other animals acting crazy, the males belching and spitting, the females in perpetual fear that another female will have the sameplumage or fur. It makes people comfortable to be ablt to generalize others. It is also rather cumbersome, when referring to a group of people with shared interests to say, for instance, "people-who-enjoy-participating-in-sports," so the word "jock" is used instead. But that brings on connotations of stupidity, laziness and arrogance. While this may certainly be the norm for some "jocks," it is definitely not the way it is for everyone. Therein lies the main problem with stereotyping- all that feel-good gunk that parents tell their kids is actually true. Peopl's personalities - a combination of genes and experiences - are never the same. This messes up the whole stereotyping idea. All men don't spit and scratch. All women don't obsess over their appearance. And, more pointed, all high school dropouts aren"t quitters who have given up on their lives. (Bill Gates comes to mind among us, for example. Another stereotyped individual, but he hasn't done too badly. He is just being contested by those who have not done as well in Life. - CC.). Just as everyone's twisted swirls of DNA are utterly different from everyone else's, so is the environment they grew up in, their outlook on life, their current environment, their values, their goals, and so on. Though someone may have one or two of the characteristics of a stereotype, there is no way in the world that they fit all of them. END OF QUOTE FROM THE HERALD edge article. & Comment: Bravo Bravo! That last paragraph says a lot in a few words of wisdom. And a good part of that environment, values, goals, and individuality lies in the parental guidance that was around them from that first breath of Life. Neglect breeds neglect. Positive values can and often does breed positive values and character in individuals. However, in some instances the brain takes over and where neglect breeds, or other negative values and circumstances prevail - GOOD PREVAILS and circumvents attitude toward positive values and successes that are examples we admire in those People. This writer, has done much toward telling us how it is and the pressures experience by young people. He also tells much about adults and parents in his own way. His final para is quite good, and an exposition of something that should be of interest to parents, and parents-to-be toward establish values, goals, attitudes, expectations of mannerisms very early before school begins and afterward. Even animals establish that early in their young for survival throughout their life span. Can you imagine the pressures above that Kenneth Ervin, the teenage sailor that was suddenly thrown into at Pearl Harbor, when -WHAM & BLOOEY! bombs from Japanese planes started dropping around him only 200 yards away. How much did all the stereotyping of the day mean to him in those moments of Life or Death? (Ref. my quote of the article on WWII vet Kenneth Ervin, Navy teen, now age 75 -article by Kristi O'Harran, of Kristi's Notebook, The Herald dated same as for the article above.). Carroll of Snohomish. * * * 30 * * * ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]