Should reasoning skills be taught in primary school?

This is a question that is more complex then it sounds. At first this question sounds like a no brainer, teaching children to be able to make good decisions based on reasoning and weighing the options, would sound like a good thing. However, there are pro’s and con’s to this.

Some pro’s include; Smarter, Logical, mature attitudes, and more responsible children. Kids would do better in school, and in general life because they would be able to reason the benefits of getting higher grades, staying out of trouble, and the possibilities that they could receive from those later in life.

However, con’s include nearly everything above as well. Smarter kids would be more independent, less emotionally attached to the parents for support. More logical children would also be able to realize the impossibility of things like Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, and the other wonders that make childhood special. Adolescents with mature attitudes would be less likely to follow the advice of their parents, believing they know what best, leading them into trouble. More responsible children would also be more concerned with the affairs of the adult world. Things like war, poverty, the state of the economy, and the precarious balance of power between the nations, would make the kids into depressed limp sacks of sorrow, killing all the joy and memories childhood supposed to give you.

There is also a much darker possibility. Children, who are taught to reason and use logic in making decisions, do not posses the necessary experience to understand that sometimes a logical course of action is not always the best one.

For instance, if one were to use only logic, in a situation where that one is being made to suffer by another, as school kids often do to each other, logic would dictate that the only viable conclusion would be to remove the other to preserve the self. In other words, a child using only logic would see justification in killing another, if the other presented harm to the child. A child using only logic would not see the point in merely walking away, or reporting the incident to an adult because of the chance of revictimization, it would make much more sense to them, to make a permanent end to the problem.

It may be faulty reasoning, but it is logical.

So my final opinion is that reasoning skills should not be taught in primary school.

Is technology destroying our brains?

Are we getting stupider as our technology progresses?

I was in town the other day with friends at the mall, when i noticed four teenagers, probably only 4 or 5 years younger then myself. They were all texting, and despite their close proximety to each other, at least two of them were texting each other. Anyways, while they were texting they were ordering something to eat and when it came time for them to pick up their food, one of them couldn't figure out to put up his cell phone, so he could grab his food and drink. Instead this genius kept his cell phone in one hand picked up his drink and put the edge of the paper cup in between his teeth, and grabbed his food with his other hand. The paper cup of course ripped because of the weight of the fluids in it, and the drink spilled down his front. In that same day i also witnessed someone walk into one of those metal wires that keeps the telephone poles anchored while listening to their mp3 player, not sure if that because his brian was being destroyed by the mp3, but it was funny.

Over the past several years i have also witnessed multiple other acts of stupidity that all had one thing in common, technology.

One of these instances included a scene at best buy, where a couple of people were trying to operate a tv by touching its screen, even though there was a remote right by it. They kept at it for several minutes before one of them realized that it was remote controlled, and tried to operate it with the remote. I say tried, because they failed, they pressed the power off button and could not figure out how to turn it back on, even though there was a button on the front panel of the screen that said power. Eventually they gave up and moved on, but it was still amusing, they reminded me of monkeys at a zoo who stole a ladies cell phone.

I understand everyone has one of those moments where you feel like slapping yourself in the head because it was so obvious, but i could swear that kids these days are getting stupider, or they at least seem to posses less common sense. I bet if some of these kids were taken to the woods where there is no cell phone signal, even if they were given supplies like a tent and food and water, we could come back in a week, and they would all be dead because could not figure out how to build a fire to cook.

I know some people, personally, who would starve with out their microwave, and the only reading they ever do is on the internet. Lets face it, people have become to rely on technology to much.

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