Wed Nov 14 22:54:08 2001

Premise: Cornpops commercial about a kid that tries to fake illness as to avoid a quiz. Once he informs his mother, the child is confronted with the dilemma of eating his "sweet golden pops"(crap) or "sucking broth". The child exits the commercial with a comment alluding to the fact that "there's always extra credit", while sitting during the class quiz.

Why it's stupid:

The child assumes there's "always extra credit".  
As a school teacher, one of the toughest jobs there is, I can't tell you how many parents assume that it's the teacher's job to maintain total observation over their child at all times.

"Billy didn't do his homework? Why didn't he? YOU'RE his teacher!"

Yeah, and you're his freakin' parent. Grow a clue.

This concept that the class *must* contain extra credit, a classroom-oriented pop-icon for improvement, is fallacious. To dicatate class protocol not only demeans the teacher but limits his/her impact and power in the classroom. Moreso, it instantiates a deleterious attitude that may convince parents and students that it's the teacher's responsibility to provide an "out", regardless of the number of students, work and responsibilities said teacher may have.

As I said, inconsiderate, fallacious and culturally dangerous.

Kids that don't study, like that brutally-stupid-looking underachiever in the commercial DESERVE to fail.

Only drive generated by the child him/herself should dictate whether the child becomes a sucessful programmer/scientist/doctor etc...or just another Whopper Flopper.

The nerve.

M.

Wed Nov 14 23:45:18 2001

Wed Nov 14 23:55:41 2001

But on the other hand, it encourages kids not to skip school to avoid tests, something I did a lot of in my youger years. Perhaps this comercial could have influenced me in some small way to skip school less and could have changed the course of my life.

Yes, it encourages them to avoid skipping for the wrong reasons. But avoiding that muddle, your argument is a horrid stretch at least. The attitude that students are *owed* the opportunity to repair their grades(after they willingly damaged them) at the expense of the school, the teachers and the society is one that I expected most Arsers to recognizes as emminently illogical.

And asinine.

M.

(Edited by Madan at 4:10 pm on Nov. 14, 2001)

Thu Nov 15 00:08:10 2001

Thu Nov 15 00:16:29 2001

He might do poorly on this test, but if he applies himself, there is an oppertunity to improve his grade, whether through extra credit or getting better test scores in the future, whatever.

No. There's the PERCEPTION that the child should/always will have the opportunity for improving his grade because: "there's always extra credit".

The brat didn't study. He didn't apply himself. He didn't think of enlightenment, as few kids his age do. That is not the harmful nature of the commercial.

What is harmful is the concept that extra credit is implied as available and that it is a "save" for children that don't carry their weight. Moreso, it implies not that extra credit *may* be available or present the teacher providing such information. It has the child pompously extoling his own weakness for the crunchy crapceral and, in part, assuring the public that extra credit will ALWAYS be available(hence the "there's ALWAYS extra credit"), and the inplied mitigation of any trouble, work or problems this may cause for the school or the teacher.

The teacher, in this commercial is just a "unit" that dispenses any amount of documents necessary to serve the child-centric cereal mongers that have no clue how much work goes into watching 40 of their little angels(read: smart asses) in a class the size of their living room.

All this work of course, without the problem of adding extra credit to 40 kids per class, times six classes or, 240 extra assignments to read....

As you well know, grading an assignment is not the same as *reading* one. It takes, approximately, depending on the teacher, an average of about 4 times as long, at the fastest possible speeds.

So even if you can read 40-60 pgs an hour, like me for instance, a 240 page assignment to grade takes several days of work AFTER school just to get it setted....

M.

(Edited by Madan at 4:21 pm on Nov. 14, 2001)

Thu Nov 15 01:14:17 2001

Thu Nov 15 02:09:22 2001

Althought it doesn't matter what *I* think.

All that matters is the what the average infantile parent or bratty kid get from that commercial.

*That* scares me.

M.

Thu Nov 15 04:30:34 2001

Fri Nov 16 10:56:54 2001