Violence: Self-esteem vs. Self-control

Here's an interesting article by Tana Dineen called Smacking Adults. In it she builds the perspective that violence is being grossly over-generalized and that actions that are not fundamentally violent in nature are being presented as a form of violence...

In other words, society has a "naively well-intended zero-tolerance approach to violence." What the article nicely captures is the the nature of a "permissive society that favours self-esteem over self-control."

It would be quite interesting to hear Dr. Dineen's thoughts on youth that consciously plan and intentionally commit acts of violence in the full knowledge that their victim will suffer and experience emotional and physical pain. It seems that our tolerance of this is far greater than it should be and we seem to have a naively well-intended full-tolerance approach to violence here. For example: Boys Plan To Kill Teacher.

Another well written essay is Kathryn Ecclestone's Lifelong Learning: Education or Therapy. Her conclusion about the problems of demoralization in education resonate as much here in Canada as they do in the UK:

"But this analysis also suggests that once-prosaic humanist goals for education to challenge, to take us into new worlds, ideas and cultures and to permit criticism, hopes, fears and aspirations have never been more necessary. Instead, though, a demoralised humanism is emerging as one of the most pressing problems facing educators committed to social justice and to the transforming power of education"