More Monday Musings

[gurdymonkey]

OK, fine, the Internet is a terrifying place with child-hating maniacs at every turn. It is clearly a good thing I never reproduced, because my spawn would be The Curmudgeons Of The Future. 

Facetiousness aside, though, is no one teaching letter writing these days?

I remember assignments in school in which I was expected to write to complete strangers, and at a relatively early grade level too: members of the armed forces, the Vice President (get well card to Hubert Humphrey), astronauts. I got an autograph from Red Skelton and a really nice letter from Michael Crichton who answered a question I had about the disease mechanism of the Andromeda virus. I had foreign pen pals. (Come to think of it, I still do.) I even discussed books with inmates at one point.

How can you tell your favorite artist/musician/author that you enjoy his work? How can you tell your elected representatives your point of view on an important issue? How can you apply for a job? How can you, yes, ask a stranger a question about information she put out on the web?

Concerned about turning your kid loose on the internet? Be a part of the process. Get involved with their correspondence project, by which I mean supervise without doing it for your Wittew Dew Dwop.

Who knows, maybe teaching kids how to use the US Mail and the Internet responsibly might even prevent things like the "I Hate Olivia" club that appeared on Myspace.

Words are powerful things. Writing letters - or emails - or blog entries that other people will see - is a valuable skill. As with anything worth doing, it has its risks, but it has its rewards too.

Comments

[takadai-no-tora.livejournal.com]

Actually, in our state at least, students are taught how to write a letter. In second or third grade, they are taught how to write friendly letters, the following grade they are taught how to write an inquiry and in sedondary school, letters to the editor and complaint letters. Clearly, many of them do not retain this knowledge or drag it out for use at the appropriate time.

[reynardine.livejournal.com]

I agree with you completely. It seems that children today are far more coddled by their parents than most children were in the past. (I've noticed this with my nieces and nephews, too!)

[mamapduck.livejournal.com]

My son is fully capable of writing a letter. I still wouldn't have him email a stranger in the SCA without making sure they were kid-friendly first. I screen his interactions. Once I've cleared it with the other party they can take up the correspondence between the two of them but for first contact- no. I'm not leaving him open to the sort of ugliness that some folks feel is acceptable.

The Accountant's school teaches letter writing. He had a pen pal all last year and I know his class wrote regularly to the little girl who left halfway through the year and are all capable of lovely thank you letters- I have a book full of them. This is not about the child's ability to write, it's about vetting the sort of response they will get.

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

That's the "supervision" part.

[mamapduck.livejournal.com]

Yes, but if I "supervise" someone being snotty at him I've still left the opportunity for them to be snotty at him. I prefer to wait until I am certain he will be treated politely before I have him reach out. Once I am certain that he is welcome, I let him do his thing.

[momstable.livejournal.com]

Likewise for mine. Not only am I protecting my boys from some of the ugly snottiness. Equally, I'm protecting the adults who do not wish children to bother them. As you know, my kids have no problem interacting with adults. Some adults do not wish to interact with them. I will not "push" my kids on people who aren't willing to interact with children. It's not fair to either side.

Yes, my children know how to write letters. If they wished to write to "public" individuals, such as celebrities or politicians, that is a completely different experience from writing to someone who has an expertise they wish to learn from. Why set them up for failure? Rejection, they've already experienced (all kids have). But if I want them to learn the skill of contacting someone about learning a skill, the first couple of times, I'm going to test the waters. Otherwise, they will lose interest - fast. I speak from experience. I was pretty young joining the SCA. When I asked for help, I got a ton of rejection. It was years before I returned to the arts that I originally was enthusiastic about. After all, no one thought I was worth helping....

I know better now. But certain lessons, I'm not going to expose my kids to until they are ready for them. Why should they make my mistakes? They'll get to collect plenty of their own.

[florentinescot.livejournal.com]

I am teh evil Biology Professor. I make my students write not one but *four* short papers in Intro Biol.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Would it help if you reply to the parent with a short note saying something like "I'm delighted your child is interested in Japanese things, have (her?) e-mail me with questions and I'd be delighted to respond.

[momstable.livejournal.com]

That's the ticket. Once I know my child's interest will be welcome, then it's up to him to ask questions, ask for help, etc. Certainly mine are not overly shy about speaking with adults.