Having read the thread on expedition skills or the lack of them reminded 
me of the following which I understand is attributed to Bill Gates.  I 
am not sure if that part is true but it does hit the nail on the head 
and it wouldn't be a bad thing if some of those responsible for teaching 
and social work roles considered some of the points made and what is 
happening to our yp.

Bill Gates gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not 
and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically 
correct teaching has created a generation of kids with no concept of 
reality and how this concept will set them up for failure in the real 
world.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world doesn't care about your self-esteem. The world will 
expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You 
won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents 
had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine 
about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they 
are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes 
and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were.. So 
before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's 
generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but 
life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and 
they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This 
doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off 
and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do 
that on your own time.

Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have 
to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

-- 
Paul Harris

Excellent!!!

Thats going to get used at school AND scouts!


-- 
Stephen Rainsbury
DESC Gillingham, Kent
www.gillinghamscouts.org.uk

In message <naGim.69410$OO7.19613@text.news.virginmedia.com>, Stephen 
Rainsbury  writes
>Excellent!!!
>
>Thats going to get used at school AND scouts!
>
With the threads on YP not taking personal responsibility and not making 
a commitment it highlights the real world that many of them know nothing 
or little about.  If we were all to teach them the truth rather than 
that life is easy and we are all winners perhaps they wouldn't grow up 
expecting that the world owed them a living and they would realise that 
like respect they have to go out and earn it.  It would be good if 
everyone was told about life so that it didn't come as quite such a 
shock when they found out.
-- 
Paul Harris

"Paul Harris"  wrote in message 
news:nNUd4OiDx7iKFwW9@zen50073.zen.co.uk...

> like respect they have to go out and earn it.  It would be good if 
> everyone was told about life so that it didn't come as quite such a shock 
> when they found out.

The missing one is that buisnesses don't care about your special needs, if 
you can't compete, then tough, so don't lean on your LSA too much because 
you won't get one at work.

In fact saying "I am dyslexic" will actually count against you. Possibly 
illegal but thats what happens.

-- 
Stephen Rainsbury
DESC Gillingham, Kent
www.gillinghamscouts.org.uk

In message <qQSim.69565$OO7.16017@text.news.virginmedia.com>, Stephen 
Rainsbury  writes
>"Paul Harris"  wrote in message
>news:nNUd4OiDx7iKFwW9@zen50073.zen.co.uk...
>
>> like respect they have to go out and earn it.  It would be good if
>> everyone was told about life so that it didn't come as quite such a shock
>> when they found out.
>
>The missing one is that buisnesses don't care about your special needs, if
>you can't compete, then tough, so don't lean on your LSA too much because
>you won't get one at work.
>
It may appear cynical but in general businesses are only concerned with 
maximising their profits by getting the most they can out of their 
employees whilst protecting themselves from their staff which is why 
they have HR departments.

>In fact saying "I am dyslexic" will actually count against you. Possibly
>illegal but thats what happens.
>
A bit like age discrimination, the real world can be harsh if you don't 
know how to play the game.
-- 
Paul Harris

"Paul Harris"  wrote in message 
news:Y2tim0pjwCjKFwrN@zen50073.zen.co.uk...

> A bit like age discrimination, the real world can be harsh if you don't 
> know how to play the game.

I often wonder if we are being kind to special needs kids at school by 
giving them LSAs and extra time in exams. They might get a befter grade in a 
subject but they are totaly uneqiped to deal with the real world.

-- 
Stephen Rainsbury
DESC Gillingham, Kent
www.gillinghamscouts.org.uk

"Stephen Rainsbury"  wrote in message 
news:Yl%im.69786$OO7.26775@text.news.virginmedia.com...
> "Paul Harris"  wrote in message 
> news:Y2tim0pjwCjKFwrN@zen50073.zen.co.uk...
>
>> A bit like age discrimination, the real world can be harsh if you don't 
>> know how to play the game.
>
> I often wonder if we are being kind to special needs kids at school by 
> giving them LSAs and extra time in exams. They might get a befter grade in 
> a subject but they are totaly uneqiped to deal with the real world.
>
> -- 

To a point you may be correct - but in education people need to be given the 
best opportunities that they can so that when they move into the real world 
at least they have been given the best. How they are able to use it then is 
another question.

My son was given support at school and needed it. In the real world he does 
struggle but without the help at school he would have been far worse off.

I agree however with the ideas of making all pupils 'equal' is wrong. There 
are winners and loosers so let them get used to it. Life can be hard.

DaveB
West Yorks

"Dave"  wrote in message 
news:tZ-dnQONz6VDZhHXnZ2dnUVZ8ludnZ2d@eclipse.net.uk...

> My son was given support at school and needed it. In the real world he 
> does struggle but without the help at school he would have been far worse 
> off.

I agree, and it would be crass to suggest that there is a one size fits all 
solution to giving support. Sometimes we as teachers are best placed to give 
extra support in our chosen subjects, but sometimes you get a kid who can't 
grasp the fundamentals, you can't work out why, and you run out of 
strategies.

People with Dyslexia are reasonably better off now because they may be able 
to use a spell checker, and it won't effect their work a jot, but its those 
who can't understand bank statements, or put together a reasoned argument 
that are going to struggle.

-- 
Stephen Rainsbury
DESC Gillingham, Kent
www.gillinghamscouts.org.uk

In message <g8ajm.69929$OO7.63522@text.news.virginmedia.com>, Stephen 
Rainsbury  writes

>I agree, and it would be crass to suggest that there is a one size fits all
>solution to giving support.

We are not all equal, we all have different skill and abilities and all 
therefore have different needs.

>Sometimes we as teachers are best placed to give
>extra support in our chosen subjects, but sometimes you get a kid who can't
>grasp the fundamentals, you can't work out why, and you run out of
>strategies.
>
It happens, sometimes even Teachers need help :-)

>People with Dyslexia are reasonably better off now because they may be able
>to use a spell checker, and it won't effect their work a jot,

I have seen spell checkers come up with some interesting results

>but its those
>who can't understand bank statements, or put together a reasoned argument
>that are going to struggle.
>
Must admit that Bank Statements have always seemed simple to me but I 
have met people who found them unintelligible as for reasoned arguments 
women will always have the advantage <VBG>
-- 
Paul Harris

"Paul Harris"  wrote in message 
news:sRlfv6xAHTjKFwfh@zen50073.zen.co.uk...
> In message <g8ajm.69929$OO7.63522@text.news.virginmedia.com>, Stephen 
> Rainsbury  writes

> We are not all equal, we all have different skill and abilities and all 
> therefore have different needs.

Agreed, which is why we are not all capable of doing any job, but they don't 
tell kids that. they are led to beleive that the world is open to them, 
which isn't true.

> It happens, sometimes even Teachers need help :-)

All the time.  A doctor can be a bad patient, but a teacher who is a bad 
student is stuffed.

> I have seen spell checkers come up with some interesting results

Me too, I am mildly dislexic but at least I can normally tell if the spell 
checker has teh right answer :-)

> Must admit that Bank Statements have always seemed simple to me but I have 
> met people who found them unintelligible as for reasoned arguments women 
> will always have the advantage <VBG>

Thank the heavens that computers are not programmed with female logic. :-)


-- 
Stephen Rainsbury
DESC Gillingham, Kent
www.gillinghamscouts.org.uk

On 18 Aug, 23:45, "Stephen Rainsbury" 
wrote:
> Excellent!!!
>
> Thats going to get used at school AND scouts!
>
> --
> Stephen Rainsbury
> DESC Gillingham, Kentwww.gillinghamscouts.org.uk

For an explorer meeting we used this and a whole set of other "how to
live your life rules", gleaned from the internet, as a comparison with
the scout law and promise. Quite interesting.

Bill