In our schools, competition for access to elite preschools, for grades, for social status, in sports, over positions of leadership, and for admission to exclusive colleges transforms one of our most basic institutions for fostering community, ethics and learning into competitive, individualistic corporate training-grounds. In these settings, the importance of competitive sports becomes paramount, for both financial and training purposes, and the artistry of cheating (see this year's Stuyvesant High School cheating scandal) and rule-bending (see Joe Paterno) revered. Such intense competition encourages the professionalization of parenting -- through tutors, highly-educated nannies, prep courses, and professional training camps (such as investment camps). You can imagine the deleterious effects these trends have on the ethos of care and moral responsibility in our families and schools, a critical buffer against bullying and violence in the lives of our children.
Kathleen N on 03 May 09OK, we are at it again! We're offering prize $$$ and iTunes to get you to make fun Brainypics flashcards. Here's how it works: you submit your Brainypics by May 22, we'll pick the top 10, and then the public votes to pick the grand prize winner. Not shabby, right? But it gets better: we're gonna double-up the prizes if everyone (all of you together) create 4 unique Brainypics for every word on our words list. Here's how it shakes out: Grand Prize Winner: $100 & $100 for student & school becomes $200 & $200 for student & school. Finalists: $10 iTunes gift certificates for the 9 runnerups becomes $10 iTunes gift certificate for 19 runnerups. Submitters: 1 iTunes for every 10 Brainypics submitted (good for the first 1000 submissions) becomes 1 iTunes for every 5 Brainypics submitted (good for the 1st 2000 Brainypics submitted). OK, we are at it again! We're offering prize $$$ and iTunes to get you to make fun Brainypics flashcards. Here's how it works: you submit your Brainypics by May 22, we'll pick the top 10, and then the public votes to pick the grand prize winner. Not shabby, right? But it gets better: we're gonna double-up the prizes if everyone (all of you together) create 4 unique Brainypics for every word on our words list. Here's how it shakes out: Grand Prize Winner: $100 & $100 for student & school becomes $200 & $200 for student & school. Finalists: $10 iTunes gift certificates for the 9 runnerups becomes $10 iTunes gift certificate for 19 runnerups. Submitters: 1 iTunes for every 10 Brainypics submitted (good for the first 1000 submissions) becomes 1 iTunes for every 5 Brainypics submitted (good for the 1st 2000 Brainypics submitted). Submission deadline 5/22/09
