Dennis Prager's recent column in the LA Times has caused some reaction by various Muslims and non-Muslims. CAIR, of course, has responded in the Islam OpEd piece, "A Muslim Response to Prager’s ‘Five Questions.’" Umar Lee, who writes one of the edgier Muslim blogs, also has a response: "Muslim Answers to the Questions of Dennis Prager." Perhaps the best response I've read, though, came from Professor Juan Cole, in his blog, Informed Comment: "Muslims and the 5 Questions."
Then, while reading Underwater Light this morning, I found a link to this article: "Cellphones Get Broken by Tight Jeans." According to the article:
The most common reasons for "Mobile accidents" according to 300 Swedish retailers.
- Dropped the mobile on the ground.
- Squeezed the cellphone in tight jeans/pockets.
- Used the handset in the rain.
- Throw the device on the ground in rage.
- The dog/child got hold of the mobile.
- Dropped the cellphone in the toilette.
- Dropped the handset into the sea.
- Forgot the cellphone on the roof of the car.
- Perspiration on the mobile during workout.
- Dropped the handset in the snow.
This article resonated with me because, a few months ago, a friend's handphone was ruined when his pants were washed without the pockets being checked first. :)
Finally, there was an interesting article about the punishment of Coretha Henderson by her mother:
Tasha Henderson got tired of her 14-year-old daughter's poor grades, her chronic lateness to class and her talking back to her teachers, so she decided to teach the girl a lesson.She made Coretha stand at a busy Oklahoma City intersection Nov. 4 with a cardboard sign that read: "I don't do my homework and I act up in school, so my parents are preparing me for my future. Will work for food."
"This may not work. I'm not a professional," said Henderson, a 34-year-old mother of three. "But I felt I owed it to my child to at least try."
In fact, Henderson has seen a turnaround in her daughter's behavior in the past week and a half. But the punishment prompted letters and calls to talk radio from people either praising the woman or blasting her for publicly humiliating her daughter.
...
Coretha has been getting C's and D's as a freshman at Edmond Memorial High in this well-to-do Oklahoma City suburb. Edmond Memorial is considered one of the top high schools in the state in academics.
While Henderson stood next to her daughter at the intersection, a passing motorist called police with a report of psychological abuse, and an Oklahoma City police officer took a report. Mother and daughter were asked to leave after about an hour, and no citation was issued.
...
Coretha, a soft-spoken girl, acknowledged the punishment was humiliating but said it got her attention. "I won't talk back," she said quietly, hanging her head.
She already has been forced by her parents to give up basketball and track because of slipping grades, and said she hopes to improve in school so she can play next year.
Donald Wertlieb, a professor of child development at the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University, warned that such punishment could do extreme emotional damage. He said rewarding positive behavior is more effective.
"The trick is to catch them being good," he said. "It sounds like this mother has not had a chance to catch her child being good or is so upset over seeing her be bad, that's where the focus is."
-- (Source)
Personal Note to Coretha: I understand that you feel humiliated by this experience and, quite frankly, I'm surprised that you would stand on that street corner or even have the above photograph taken. But I want you to know one thing: Your mom loves you and has your best interests at heart. It's all too easy to sit back, ignore your education, then wonder why you didn't get into the college you wanted or why your career is going nowhere.
The article says you're on your school's basketball and track teams. That's great. I hope you're very competitive and do well in those sports. But guess what: competing in sports is nothing compared to the competition you'll face in the real world. People compete all the time. Job applicants compete to get jobs. Salespeople compete for customers. Nations compete for businesses, and so on. Right now, the United States is slowly losing out because countries around the world (especially here in Asia) are much more willing to compete than Americans are. Like you, many Americans have sat back, ignored their educations, lost their business competitiveness, and now wonder why they've lost their jobs to outsourcing or have stagnant wages.
The good news is that you don't have to be like these other Americans. Take your education seriously! You should strive for A's in every class, regardless of the subject (and whether you like that class or not). Try to get into the best university. And then, when you finally graduate and join us in "the real world," I hope you'll be wildly successful. And, insha'allah, if that all comes to pass, I hope you'll thank your Mom for making you stand on a street corner.
Good luck!
2 comments:
I'm a psychotherapist who used to work with children, and I can tell you parents do a lot worse things to their kids than make them stand on the street wearing a sign with info that everyone who knows them already knows.
Elizabeth wrote: "I can tell you parents do a lot worse things to their kids than make them stand on the street wearing a sign with info that everyone who knows them already knows."
I agree; however, I don't want to turn this blog into a litany of horrors documenting the abuses of children by their parents. What did strike me about this particular article (although I didn't bring this up in my original post), is how this punishment is reminiscent of the punishment of stocks (and pillory), whereby the person being punished is subject to abuse and humiliation by the public. Calling the police to complain of the "abuse" by the mother is an indication to me of a society gone soft.
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