Political Correctness In The Classroom

[acroyear]

Courtesy of Steve Jackson:

Teachers are being pressured to give up red ink because it intimidates the students. Green and purple are friendlier. But basically, we just need to recognize that criticism, regardless of the color, hurts their feelings and upsets their parents. No kidding. Read the CNN story.
-- Grumpy Steve Jackson

Comments

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know there are studies suggesting that red leads to aggression. Maybe we should also change the color of stop lights and stop signs (yes, I know that it has been suggested before)?

The reason for using red is a good one: it stands out. Since normal writing colors are black and blue, purple and green won't stand out as much, and short notes written between the lines might get skipped by the student. Is there any other color that stands out like red? Orange and yellow are generally two faint on white paper. What's left? We are responsible for controlling our aggressions, not the teachers. They are responsible for getting their point across, which red does.

If a little red ink leads to aggression in kids, they need more than another color for marking their papers.