Top Ten Ways To Confuse A Child

From A Parent's Perspective Blog:
Ten Ways To Confuse a Child
http://demandeuphoria.blogspot.com/2011/05/ten-ways-to-confuse-child.html

If he's yelling, yell at him: STOP YELLING! IT'S NOT NICE TO YELL.

Tell him never to talk to strangers because it's dangerous, but then tell him he is rude when he won't say hello back to the cashier at the grocery store.

Tell him he should never let anyone touch him if he doesn't feel comfortable, but then don't intervene when his aunt, who he sees once a year, hugs him against his will.

Tell him you can't afford to buy him the one-dollar candy bar he wants, as you are buying yourself a five-dollar cup of coffee.

Tell him he has to share his favorite toy with his sister, but then later when he wants to play with your iPhone, don't let him.

If he has just hit his sister, tell him it's not nice to hit someone, then grab him and hit him.

Tell him he's not allowed to quit doing that thing he hates, because it's important to be persistent and determined, but then tell him to quit asking for that thing he wants because it's annoying how persistent he is.

Tell him not to eat now (when he's hungry) because if he does, he won't be hungry later (when the clock says it's time for dinner).

Tell him you can't do that thing he wants you to do for him because you are in the middle of writing an email, but then get really upset when he tells you he can't do something for you because he's in the middle of playing a video game.

Explain how important it is to be honest, and then freak out when he tells you the truth about something he did and punish him for doing that thing. And then later, lie to him about something really important.



From A Teacher's Perspective Blog:
Ten Ways To Confuse a Child: Education Edition
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2011/05/ten-ways-to-confuse-child-education.html

By Vickie Bergman, who blogs about Parenting and Education at Demand EUPHORIA.

Last week I wrote a post about how parents can confuse their children. Then I started thinking about how teachers and school administrators can do their parts as well. We can all work together to make sure no child is left thinking the world makes sense.

Here's a test to see how well you are doing. Each of these items is worth ten points, with a few extra credit opportunities:

Punish him for something that is completely beyond his control, like being late for school because of traffic or because his mother overslept.

Make a really big deal about how important it is for kids to get physical activity, and then force him to sit still for 95% of the school day. *extra credit for giving excessive homework, leading to more forced sitting: 1 point for each hour

Tell him how important it is to present original work, and then take away points on his math test when he gets the answers his own way.

Brush off his complaints about being bullied, telling him he has to toughen up, and then punish him for retaliating against the bully.

Call something "an opportunity," and then make it mandatory. *extra credit if you recently made him learn the definition of the word opportunity: 5 points

Ask lots of questions to which you already know the answers.

Tell him how important it is to develop healthy eating habits, then make him ignore his hunger for most of the day, only allowing him to eat at designated times, and then serve up some horrible food in the cafeteria. *extra credit for making a rule against bringing any food from home: 20 points

Give him a long-term assignment with very specific requirements that take a whole page to explain, and write at the bottom "Have FUN with this!"

Tell him how important it is for him to get eight hours of sleep every night, and then make it impossible for him to do so. *extra credit for starting school super early: 1 point for every minute before 8 AM

Talk about how one purpose of school is to teach critical thinking, but then absolutely don't pay any attention to his criticisms of anything about school.