Red Pen = Aggressive Color = Bad for Kids' Mental Health!

I've heard of this sort of nonsense happening here in the US. I hate to be so frank, but it's bullshit. This stuff is as bad as sporting events where every child gets a trophy just for participating. Those kids are in for a harsh reality when they grown and have to work for a living. Their bosses aren't going to be nearly so concerned for their little feelings ...

I went to school in Queensland and all throughout primary school my stuff was marked in either green or purple pencil. I don't think it really made a difference; what's written is more important than what colour it's written in (and whether or not the person who wrote it has the teaching manner of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal).

Agree a bit with DeadFashionista.

For English papers especially, it's horrifying when your essay comes back dripping in red. I had a philosophy teacher in highschool, she basically butchered your essay (average mark was 50% haha), and it came back completely covered in green. My favorite teacher in all of highschool btw.

I think its less shocking to see another color than red... But it doesn't really matter. Because I think we are just use to seeing red as a mark... once we get use to seeing say, green, that will become the new "agressive color"

I remember my old English teacher, sometimes my papers would come back with a word or a sentence circled and an arrow pointing to it, and all it would say next to the arrow was "NO!"

I taught freshman English at a university in the mid-90s, and we were told in no uncertain terms to use green pens instead of red, so as not to injure the students' self-esteem or something.

I hate the "Everybody gets a trophy" thing. And the "no tag because someone has to be IT" rule. But sure, switch from red.

I remember getting so angry at the splashes of blood on my paper - especially when it seemed like the words themselves came down from Mt. Olympus and there was no appeal. It's not really that big of a deal to switch pens.

I think it's not a self-esteem thing so much as a civility issue. Red ink seems like the old school version of ALL CAPS.

Having been a teacher (in Queensland!), I find this a ridiculous concept. Red, green, purple...it's the teacher's attitude that makes all the difference. If the comments are helpful and the criticism constructive, kids appreciate it whatever the colour. If they are negative and lend little idea on how to improve next time, kids will be anxious about it.

Red is useful because it stands out distinct from the rest of the writing. It's easy to see where errors have been made. If the kid is upset by the criticism, they need to learn a way of dealing with it. School is about learning to cope in the real world.

Athon

How much more crap do we need to dump on our teachers? We're asking them to be psychologists/psychiatrists as well as teaching our children? Why don't they send fthose "personal skill audits" home to the parents, so they can teach their children how to behave in a civil manner. I think what's making our kids so miserable is the fact that they are having more and more stuff crammed into their brains at a younger and younger age. They're not getting the chance to comprehend the basics before being pushed on to the advanced stuff. Colleges are making more requisites to get into college, plus if you want a scholarship, you had best have an extra curricular activity that you excel at, tuition is going up, and stuff that used to be considered college material is getting pushed back into high school. So, too much homework, too many extra activities, too many hormones, lack of sleep, and lots and lots of stress, and we wonder why the hell we get shootings in schools? Who cares about the damned color of the pen, show some common sense when it comes to what you're asking of children. Seems more like they're suffering from PTSD, and that's just from the schools! God forbid they come from a less than ideal home life! I knew how to read when I was 3 but I didn't know how to operate a computer until I was 20. My daughter is 5, doesn't read yet, but can operate computer programs like it was nothing. I'm really concerned about sending my child to a regular school, and I'm really seeing the benefits of home schooling her. Certainly she's less likely to get shot down by a homicidal classmate if she learns at home!

they're turning kids into pussies

My most strict (and least favorite) English teacher in high school used nothing but green ink... she believed in this "red=angry" nonsense.

My teacher turned red when someone talked in class. It was funny not scary.

P.S. he was trying to be funny.

Scottlass,

if you clearly don't know the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist, maybe you shouldn't be writing little, ahem, "essays" about them.

Max Power
psy?chol?o?gy
? ?/sa??k?l?d?i/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [sahy-kol-uh-jee] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -gies.

1. the science of the mind or of mental states and processes.
2. the science of human and animal behavior.
3. the sum or characteristics of the mental states and processes of a person or class of persons, or of the mental states and processes involved in a field of activity: the psychology of a soldier; the psychology of politics.

psy·chi·a·try (s?-k?'?-tr?, s?-) Pronunciation Key
n. The branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental and emotional disorders.

In case you didn't read the entire article,
the article does mention specifically, teachers harming students psyche with use of red pen, there being a large concern over suicidal tendencies of students, and the general mental health of students. All things that would fall under the care of a psychologist or psychiatrist in normal circumstances.
Although, I will concede to the "essay" portion of your comment. Unfortunately, I talk as prolifically as I write. Pardon the length of this particular contribution as the definitions that were provided took up a large portion of it.

I knew a bank auditor who was writing his audit reports in green (old school, no computer).
I don't think the color made a difference to the auditee when his job was on the line.

Every time I think the whole PC thing has gone too far, it gets taken to a whole new level of fu**ery.

It's so funny...I hated school when I was a kid, and failed to understand what purpose it served beyond employing annoying old farts to harass kids. But now, as a parent...I reminisce about the fact that it was still an institution that TAUGHT PEOPLE BASIC SKILLS, and didn't worry about what freaking color the grading pens were!

AAAAAAAAAAARGH! No wonder homeschooling is becoming more popular!!

--TwoDragons

Scottlass:

Bathed in any KFC sinks lately?

I think if we went back to let the teachers teach the kids without all the BS rules we would find the kids less aggressive!!

This story is so stupid it makes me want to use a RED pen for everything.

Grow a set! Maybe red shows up better on a paper full of black and blue writing.

No wonder the youth of today are such panzies.

School officials, namely stupid psychologists who are very comfortable in their seats doing nothing and have nothing else to do but to add nonsense to the world around. Why students were not committing suicide 50 years ago, when school was much harder? Of course it is not nice to know you did not well, but this is also the only way to improve, knowing what you did wrong. In life there are always little or bigger frustration and it is not good just to try to hide them, but to deal with them in order to improve. You need to know that you do well when you do, and the oppossite is also true. I am so sick of stupid psychologists and "experts" in "education" who don't even know about themselves and never in their lives taught in a classroom. This is the mediocrity "psicho" dictatorship.

Red pen didn't scar me for life. As for trophies for participation, they're just kids and rewarding them for participation isn't going to make them grow up to feel that they'll make it into everything all the time (such as plays, jobs, etc.). I do agree with a lot of this, though. I wasn't good at sports and it didn't scar me for life to be picked last for a team. I learned fairly early in life that encountering rude peers was a fact of life. Kids shouldn't have to endure horrific ordeals, but they should be taught to have a thicker skin. It also doesn't help that sometimes young people who are given a hard time by a few people have their so called supporters going up to them and going, "Oh, everybody makes fun of you, blah blah." What message does that send? If you're young and you do things in a way that they're not used to seeing, then it's going to meet with a fair amount of disapproval. That's a fact of life. Don't try to teach them to feel sorry for themselves. Sorry, but I think those who claim to "champion the underdog" don't have much sense and are people who make hasty and inappropriate assumptions.
Anyway, I think that red pen is fine.