Alfie Kohn Quote
Do we really want to condemn as excessive the use of safety helmets, car seats, playgrounds designed so kids will be less likely to crack their skulls, childproof medicine bottles, and baby gates at the top of stairs? One writer criticizes the inappropriateness of excessive concern in low-risk environments, but of course reasonable people disagree about what constitutes both excessive and low risk. Even if, as this writer asserts, a young person growing up in a Western middle-class family is safer today than at any time in modern history, the relevance of that relative definition of safety isn't clear. Just because fewer people die of disease today than in medieval times doesn't mean it's silly to be immunized. And perhaps young people are safer today of the precautions that some critics ridicule.
Do we really want to condemn as excessive the use of safety helmets, car seats, playgrounds designed so kids will be less likely to crack their skulls, childproof medicine bottles, and baby gates at the top of stairs? One writer criticizes the inappropriateness of excessive concern in low-risk environments, but of course reasonable people disagree about what constitutes both excessive and low risk. Even if, as this writer asserts, a young person growing up in a Western middle-class family is safer today than at any time in modern history, the relevance of that relative definition of safety isn't clear. Just because fewer people die of disease today than in medieval times doesn't mean it's silly to be immunized. And perhaps young people are safer today of the precautions that some critics ridicule.
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About Alfie Kohn
Kohn's challenges to widely accepted theories and practices have made him a controversial figure, particularly with behaviorists, conservatives, and those who defend the practices he calls into question, such as the use of competition, incentive programs, conventional discipline, standardized testing, grades, homework, and traditional schooling.