[xmca] Re: [UD-PIG] What good for kids seems dangerous for adults

[Tony Whitson <twhitson@UDel.Edu>]

I am eager to hear what Mike has to say.

At the risk of commenting on something that may be different from Mike 
and/or Eugene's meaning:

I think this has become more and more prevalent over the course of my 
lifetime, at least in the US.

I went to school through 12th grade in Iowa, where there wasn't anyplace 
to go, really, even after age 16 when you could drive (although there were 
all kinds of adventures possible by bicycle).

When I moved to Boston at 18, one thing that seemed really exciting to me 
was the way kids had free reign of that marvellous city, inexpensively via 
the MTA. When I lived in Chinatown, I saw diverse groups of kids (mixing, 
for example, Chinese and Italian from the North End) freely roaming the 
city on the Boston subway system.

That seemed to change at the time of the conflict over busing, when 
politicians like Louise Day Hicks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Day_Hicks
fanned the flames of fear and suspicion among population groups.

Then, of course, came the paranoia over "Mr. Stranger Danger"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_danger
 -- which although perhaps overreaction, was not totally without basis in 
reality.

Now I live in an apartment complex with one entry from a suburban street 
to the lanes and parking lots within our complex. School buses pick kids 
up and drop kids off at that entry. At an age when I was riding my bike 
all over town in Illinois and then in Iowa, the kids today are watched 
over by their parents until they're on the bus, and then greeted by 
parents waiting for them when they're dropped off when they get home.

I expect that Eugene and probably Mike were referring to things that are 
meaningful intellectually, aesthetically, etc.; but I think the problem, 
in the US at least, goes way beyond that.

What do you think?

On Sun, 3 May 2009, Eugene Matusov wrote:

> Dear Mike-
>
>
>
> Many years ago, you made a very good point in one of our private phone
> conversations that unfortunately, I did not write down after you. You said
> something like, "Often what is meaningful for kids seems to be dangerous for
> adults." Is my memory correct? Can you elaborate on that? Have ever written
> on that?
>
>
>
> By now, I have so many observations and examples of this sad point. I wish
> somebody studied this phenomenon on a systematic basis. I saw so many cases
> when adults literally suck the life out of kids because of their concerns
> about kids' safety and well-being.
>
>
>
> What do you think?
>
>
>
> Eugene
>
>
>
> ---------------------
>
> Eugene Matusov, Ph.D.
>
> Professor of Education
>
> School of Education
>
> University of Delaware
>
> Newark, DE 19716, USA
>
>
>
> email: ematusov@udel.edu
>
> fax: 1-(302)-831-4110
>
> website:  <http://ematusov.soe.udel.edu/> http://ematusov.soe.udel.edu
>
> publications:  <http://ematusov.soe.udel.edu/vita/publications.htm>
> http://ematusov.soe.udel.edu/vita/publications.htm
>
>
>
> Dialogic Pedagogy Forum:  <http://diaped.soe.udel.edu/>
> http://diaped.soe.udel.edu
>
> ---------------------

Tony Whitson
UD School of Education
NEWARK  DE  19716

twhitson@udel.edu
_______________________________

"those who fail to reread
 are obliged to read the same story everywhere"
                  -- Roland Barthes, S/Z (1970)
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