Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for April 10, 2015

Bill Watterson joins GB Trudeau in bashing the self-esteem movement of the 80s and 90s.

Wormwood wouldn’t make it with todays Common Core.

But work is a four letter word.

Self-esteem exists without grade system!!

For us Christians, self-esteem is in Jesus Christ our Savior. “For I know that in me, (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing:…” Romans 7:18a“So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:8“But without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11;6

Watterson was on the front lines of the culture wars

Calvin has been a victim for years. Here is a strip from two years earlier:Click here (or stretch image): Calvin and Hobbes (January 21, 1993)Click here: Ziggy (June 3, 2005)Click here: Peanuts (May 6, 1954)Click here: Peanuts (September 30, 1968)

It’s sad how true an augury this was. Back when Watterson originally penned this strip, public schools, by and large, were still effectively teaching students, and were actually requiring them to demonstrate that they had learned the material.

Today, however, although it continues to baffle me, it is possible, and not at all uncommon enough, for a student to graduate from high school with less than a third grade level of the three Rs. I met more than one – even ten years ago – who couldn’t even read well enough to complete an employment application without someone explaining the questions to them. And not only could they not figure simple change from a dollar, they weren’t intuitive enough to just punch in the amount into the computer and have the computer figure the change for them. They’d just stand there staring at the money in their hand with a blank look on their face. Watching them was like looking at the BSOD, but in a human instead of on a PC monitor.

And parents are complacent enough – and disengaged with their children’s education – to allow it to continue. Probably because the teaching concept of rewarding students with a passing grade without requiring them to earn it, goes right along with parents’ awful tendency to pacify their children by buying them anything they want without requiring them to do anything to earn it, and so the children have no real concept – either at home or at school – of the value of hard work.

yeah bullying, humiliating and grinding kids down was so character building…..

And why does this Comic Strip keep attracting the religious nuts………

Calvin sounds like a true liberal.

In terms of the “self-esteem” movement, one of the great ironies of eduction, is that LBJ, back in the 60’s, launched a controversial long term study of education. He asked educators to submit for his study novel new ideas, and then Project FollowThrough followed students for 13 years, from kingergarten to high school to see which ones really produced good results over the long term. Some new methods pushed building self esteem. Others tried other approaches. What did they find? Only two “novel” methods did better than the current methods. The two that worked? One focused on teaching the material directly with little distraction. The other focused on involving parents. Then there were the failures, the ones that produced far worse results than conventional education. The ones that focused on self esteem universally produced miserable results, far worse than conventional education, and in fact, didn’t even boost self esteem. It turned out that the students that actually learned their reading and math had more self esteem than those who were praised constantly, but were actually weak in the skills. So, how was the US Education system taken advantage of the things learned in this massive study? Bizarrely, despite Project Followthrough, the systems that were shown to work have gone out of favor, and the systems that were shown to produce miserable results have grown in popularity. Why? I can only guess that their ideas “sound” appealing to the educational system, or perhaps it is because the developers of such systems have been good salespeople. I decline to believe that it was a deliberate effort to worsen education, though it clearly has.

I graduated in 1972. In my senior year, I was asked to tutor a classmate who had serious learning disabilities. It was an impossible task, yet he graduated along with me. Social promotion and worthless diplomas are not a new phenomenon.

“Kobayashi Maru”.You “Trekkies” will get the drift…

That child needs a good smack.

This is a comic strip — meant for humor and it succeeds!! I doubt it was intended for use in politics or teacher education. I just read it to enjoy it, myself!!

What is this “Self-Esteem Movement?” Because I don’t remember any of it! I remember ALL my teachers telling me what Miss Wormwood says!

All Calvin needs is his dad helping him with his homework instead of Hobbs.

and may I also add that in the three R’s, only one word starts with R

Geez, how prescient was THIS strip?

It was the thing then, too.

IMHO, self-esteem is not given. It’s not a goal. It just happens when a person (even 6-year-old) is competent.

I sat 5 exams at school and I done well in about 3 of them.I didn’t get the best grades but I was able to get a high grade in English which was essential for apprenticeships.I can’t say the same for Maths though. My Maths grade will always hold me back but I have an equivalent qualification in Maths which is also accepted.xxx

Unless you are a narcissist, self-esteem is earned not taught.

Sometimes you became too old to change it!! You know, you should change something, but you are too old to!!

When you see, you can’t change anything, than live and be happy. Mourning doesn’t make it better!!

I remember my childhood. I remember not being liked by the other kids, because I was “new”. I also remember that my self esteem did not come from them or the attitude of bad or poor teachers. It came with each success I made toward achieving a goal. I have always set goals for myself and I work to achieve those goals, even if they are beyond my capability. If I fail I try again. My self esteem is not dependent upon the approval of others but my own achievements.

America today!

Working hard damages my self- esteem!

Wow, and from 1995… he was really ahead of his time! ;-)

Denial never gets you out of your problems at school.

Exactly. I know this because I work with schools.

@richardelguru and kea,Tell it to the Judge (of all the earth)!

Oh, sure, Calvin, blame everyone but yourself. That is so like you.