Students Pretending Not to Know

STUDENTS PRETENDING NOT TO KNOW

By Domenick J. Maglio, PhD.  Traditional Realist

Many of us have been surprised at what our children know. We cannot figure out where they could have picked up these tidbits of knowledge. Usually they are attributed to television or other types of passive learning.

The opposite phenomenon happens as well where we are positive a child knows something but acts as if she had never been exposed to the information.  It could be a momentary mental block although this is unusual in youngsters because they possess incredible memories. In well functioning families, strong fear of making a mistake would not be likely.

The act of not knowing what the child previously knew lies with her choices. A young child is asked by a parent, “what state do you live in?” The child has answered this same question on numerous occasions. Now the child looks back with a blank face as if she does not understand the language.

This type of interaction between the parent and child is commonplace. After numerous incidents parents get frustrated because they are not sure if they are going crazy or if the child is attempting to drive them there by playing dumb. Children learn early to push parent’s buttons.

When the child enters school he has a new victim: the teacher. This new, non-relative professional has to use all her skills to assess this type of student. Usually the child’s testing results will be unpredictable. When the student wants to impress the new teacher the scores will be more indicative of her ability. The opposite is the case if the student does not care one iota about the testing. Then the results of the student's scores will be lower, often significantly.

Regardless of which approach the student takes, the teacher will see inconsistency. Depending on the student's interest or mood of the day, her performance will widely vary. The teacher will have to solve the puzzle of the student knowing something at one time and not knowing it at others.

An experienced teacher develops the ability to see through a child pretending not to be able to repeat an activity, which she was able to do on command on many other occasions. Once the verdict is reached that it is the "pretending to be dumb” game, the teacher needs to confront the parent before she addresses the student putting them on the same page. It is the only way to diffuse this game.

Habits are hard to break when they are getting the outcome desired. The student is in control when the authority figure is confused. However, this can be eliminated when the consequences are reversed.

Once the parent understands the game being played by the child, the teacher has to let the student know the student's poor quality work is not due to any inability or ignorance but a willful act of defiance. This act is done not to allow authority figures to know the true functioning level of the student.

It serves two purposes for the student to hide her ability. The youngster can dictate her rate of working by lowering the level of expectation the parent and teacher should have for her. By keeping a low level of performance the child can coast with little learning effort. Secondly her peers would see her as “cool.” The more she hides her true level of functioning from parents and teachers but not from friends she would be seen as a “shrewd player” among them.

By using a straightforward observation of the child’s behavior both teacher and parent can regain control. This power shift to the authority figures allows them to establish higher expectations and standards for the student. This takes control of the game away from the child.

A child pretending to be unable to do what she actually can do is her own worst enemy.   No child should be allowed to play these games to outfox her elders. The youngster may think she has won but ends up as the loser by becoming an underachiever and eventually a poor student.

Once she is exposed as being conniving, this destructive habit will slowly be eradicated. The termination of her game playing will put her back on the right track. The future of the individual to live up to her potential as an achiever will be greatly enhanced.

Unfortunately too many parents and teachers allow too many children to continue this game. Setting low standards and expectations for these students is a tragedy that will follow them throughout their lives.

Dr. Maglio is an author and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.

FREEDOM IS AMERICA'S SECURITY

FREEDOM IS AMERICA'S SECURITY

By Domenick J. Maglio Ph.D. Traditional Realist

Freedom is the hallmark of America. The Pilgrims, the settlers of our frontiers, and immigrants that arrived from all over the world to our shores did not come for security but for freedom and opportunity.

During the late 1700s the founding fathers could have just gone along with King George III. He would have provided the security of the most powerful military in the world. They could have continued to individually prosper while paying a little more protection money in the form of taxes for their security. Instead these intelligent, dignified men chose to put themselves and their families in peril to establish a constitutional republic. After a thorough review of history they were convinced that this form of government would maintain individual freedom and yet prosper economically. They were proven right.

The need for security would have dictated capitulation to the English empire. Instead they chose freedom over a false short-term decrease in the threats of repression by the most powerful military at that time. The dream of a model experiment in freedom was the impetus for the colonist’s solidarity against England and their eventual victory, not security.

In both WWI and WWII the security of the United States would have been served by remaining isolated across the Atlantic Ocean. Instead we fought these great wars at a great cost in troops and treasury to liberate repressed people from the clutches of central governments. Freedom for people trumped the false security that is derived by buckling under the threats of tinhorn bullies.

Our security has come from the American people's willingness to stand up for the belief in themselves as self-reliant people. We did not want to be submissive to the English empire or to the European dictators or even to our own big-brother government that has the capability to know our every tiny move and thought to blackmail us into zombie compliance.

Our leaders, both republican and democrat warn us that security comes from giving up more of our freedoms. The PRISM secret program has gathered metadata to be able to put together a detailed record of each American. It invades our personal freedom, which openly violates the Bill of Rights. This personal information data gathering makes us both less free and less secure.

The rhetoric and slogans coming out of Washington, D.C. should frighten every patriotic citizen.  Big government cannot guarantee data safeguards because it cannot even stop outside governments or any individual from hacking into our most sophisticated database. There are certain government agents who can be threatened or seduced by outside forces into providing secret information that our government has collected on each one of us.

Most frightening of all is that our politically elite leaders and high-level bureaucrats have their hands on the levers of power. They can use it for their own political and personal benefit. This so-called security data jeopardizes our freedom.

Our past freedom has come from “We The People” who have been given power in our Constitution and Bill of Rights to control the inevitable abuses of big government. Our government has grown to the point of being too unwieldy to be accountable to our representatives and thus us, the citizens.

Instead of going along with this campaign to exponentially enlarge the growth of government to protect our security, we have to halt it NOW before it controls each and every citizen’s thoughts and actions. Our greatest threat to our loss of freedom comes foremost from our own government, not from outside enemies.

Americans have always been sleeping giants who will sacrifice their lives for their freedom from any outside attack. The real enemy today is our bloated government, which should not be allowed to disguise its intentions under the slogan of "trading of freedom for security" to take away even more of our freedoms. The government elites want to continue to whittle down our remaining liberties until there are none left. 

US citizens’ standing up en masse to remain free is the only true way of keeping a secure America.

Dr. Maglio is an author and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.

"WHITE HISPANICS" CHANGE THE COMPLEXION OF AMERICA, NOT IT'S DIRECTION

“WHITE HISPANICS “ CHANGE THE COMPLEXION OF AMERICA, NOT IT’S DIRECTION

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD., Traditional Realist

George Zimmerman was stated in the press to be a  “white Hispanic” to gin up the racial overtones in his encounter with Trayvon Martin. His mother is Peruvian and his father is Jewish. He could have been described as a “swarthy Jewish American” but it would have confused the simplistic black vs. white narrative that is in vogue.

The same reasoning could have described presidential candidate, Mitt Romney as a “white Hispanic.” His father, George Romney, was born in Mexico, making him Hispanic and his mother was white. The media would have done him a great service by calling him a “white Hispanic.” It could have made a difference in the Hispanic vote and possibly the election. Words do matter.

President Obama announced that if he were to have a son, “he would look like Trayvon Martin.” Since President Obama’s mother was white and his father was Kenyan. He is as much Caucasian as he is Negro and could be described as a white- black. His son could have looked as much like George Zimmerman as Trayvon Martin. It logically does not matter if a person looks like you whether that makes him guilty or innocent. Justice is supposed to be blind.

The same mainstream media that frames issues into racial themes has boldly and proudly proclaimed that America will no longer be a white nation in the near future.

This “fact” is supposed to indicate that America will be transformed by the new racial mix into a radically different nation. The country’s principles and beliefs will march forward ushering in a big government statist society.

This darkening of our complexion is now on shaky grounds. Skin tone or region of the world a person comes from does not dictate their political belief system. When the millions of southern Italian immigrants arrived in the early 1900s many were classified as “colored” because of their “olive skin.” Even with this ancestral experience American Italians melted into society becoming productive Americans who wholeheartedly accepted the competition in the free market system.

Hispanic Americans are people who possess white, Indian, negro or Asian blood. Their white ancestors came primarily from Spain although a significant portion came from other European nations. Sixty percent of the Argentine population has Italian ancestors. Like people all over the world they are not “pure” but are a mixture of races that go back to the beginning of time.

When we state that George Zimmerman is a “white Hispanic” then millions of other South Americans should be counted in the census as white rather than Hispanic. The designation “Hispanic” is a geographical term not a racial one. This correction in the framing of a person’s race would alter the perception that America is becoming a   centrally controlled government where non-whites are happily dependent on government handouts.

Regardless of whether we are a primarily “white” nation or not, America is not about it’s composition of races. It is about the ideas of our founding fathers limiting the power of government in our constitution.  This gave us the freedom to live our lives as we pursue our self-interests.

The racial makeup of the US is not germane for the political direction of our nation. We the People of the United States regardless of race, ethnicity or religion have the power to direct our government representatives to go further down the path of a welfare state with minimal individual freedom. OR, We could choose to uphold our constitution as a limited government with the people having the freedom to be self-reliant individuals.  The direction of our country is in our hands regardless of the color of the hands.

Our choice is based on our moral values, principles and beliefs and has absolutely nothing to do with the racial composition of our people.

AMERICAN STUDENTS NEED TO HAVE THEIR SELF-ESTEEM LOWERED

AMERICAN STUDENTS NEED TO HAVE THEIR SELF-ESTEEM LOWERED

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD., Traditional Realist

Our public schools have bought into the concept that high self-esteem of students translates into productive ones. The better a student thinks about him or herself, the more open, relaxed and absorbing the student's mind will be. The higher the self-esteem of the student, the easier the learning becomes for him.

This "cultural fact" has reigned supreme for several generations. Even young students now say the most important thing for them is to have a high self-esteem. Feeling good about oneself without being competent in a productive endeavor is not going to allow him to maintain his false high esteem.

 The academic results of American students has been dismal. US students have not done better as compared to other American students of the past or in comparison to other nations. At best, US students are treading water and at worst are declining academically.

This high self-esteem movement is fundamentally flawed. The reasons are evident when the theory is logically examined and analyzed.  The proponents believe high self-esteem is acquired through high doses of positive reinforcement even if it is not warranted. In actual practice the person that does the reinforcement is increasing praise by lowering standards. Teachers have been trained to spout positive feedback that is bordering on outright distortion.

The practice of increasing a student's self-esteem is not by working to improve their performance but by creating an educational environment without failure. Marking of schoolwork and tests has become devalued to the point of not being done. It has become immaterial to a student's assessment. Grade inflation is a common practice to avoid hurting a child's self-esteem.

More importantly than the child's work output is the teacher's ability to "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." The statement "your effort is better than yesterday" even when it is not or "you have a wonderful writing ability" even when it is grammatically incorrect and illegible has become standard operating procedure.

These positive reinforcement methods have not worked. Modern US students have positive feelings about themselves even when they cannot complete the simplest task.  They usually possess poor academic and social skills. These pupils are self-absorbed individuals with little to no need to prove themselves to peers or authority figures. Entitlement mentality sums up the way they view their future. When they want something, they expect to receive it without any effort. This is irrational thinking.

There is little past experience in school or in the home to prepare them to learn how to excel. When everything a young person does is uncritically accepted as top notch, there is no motivation to try harder to improve. Even sports competition has been removed to earn a spot on a team and to compile a higher score than a competitor to win. Everybody wins.

Standards have been lowered in most endeavors to erase any possibility of anxiety and the bad taste of failure. Our children have been weakened to the level of whiny complaining wimps.

For centuries children have been trained to be strong and self-reliant by elders setting almost unattainable goals and pushing children to reach them. It did create anxiety and uncertainty in the children’s minds although it pushed them to the next level. Without facing defeat, victory becomes hard to consistently obtain. 

Successful people have to put great concentrated effort to reach the top of any endeavor and even more effort to remain there. A person’s fear of failure is a great motivator to keep him focused. Having abilities and competencies in different areas gives them actual self-competence not phony praise that makes a person somewhat delusional.

The higher self-esteem movement has been the false-esteem fiasco. Grade integrity and constructive criticism need to be returned to our culture for us to be strong enough to compete or even survive in our competitive world.

Dr. Maglio is an author and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.

ERIC HOLDER ATTACKS HOME SCHOOLING FAMILY AND 1ST AMENDMENT

ERIC HOLDER ATTACKS HOME SCHOOLING, FAMILY AND 1^ST AMENDMENT

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD. Traditional Realist

It is hard to conceive of a better illustration than the Romeiki family to highlight the magnetism the United States has for oppressed foreigners. They chose to home school their five children instead of sending them to a German government school that was inculcating students with values which were contrary to their religious beliefs. This family left Germany after their children were forcefully taken in handcuffs from their home to a state school by German authorities. This terrifying incident happened in front of their powerless parents.

The Romeiki’s were threatened with losing custody of their five children. The family decided in 2008 to immigrate to the USA to continue to have the freedom to educate their own children according to their religious moral values.

This family like other pilgrims before them came to America to live their dreams of freedom from governmental religious persecution and not for welfare handouts.  Unlike the Boston Marathon terrorist family who received $100,000 in welfare, Mr. Romeiki provided for his family by working as a piano teacher. He and his wife created a wholesome family environment. They were contributing to society, not taking from us.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) Attorney General Holder and Homeland Security administration, using Sequester as an excuse, released from incarceration hundreds of known dangerous illegal immigrants back into the general public. The DOJ has been reluctant to prosecute illegals and terrorists not to alienate them although he chose to pursue revoking this productive family’s asylum.

Our government agencies overturned an order in 2010, which legally granted the Romeiki family political asylum. This law-abiding family had been in the United States for five years and their youngest child was born here. Being deported back to Germany would result in almost certain imprisonment of the parents, which would dissolve this loving family unit.

A spokesperson for the German embassy in Washington, D. C., Stefan Messerer, stated, “by mandating schooling we try to ensure extremely high standards for all of our children.” He did not go further in his justification by stating that parents have no right to educate their children according to their religious and philosophical belief system. Only the state has this right. MSNBC host, Melissa Harris Perry, noting that the collective good overweighs parental rights has shared the same sentiment in our United States.

The DOJ and the Homeland Security administration had the audacity to proclaim that Germany banning home schooling does not violate any human rights. The United States constitutional right of the First Amendment protecting religious freedom is somehow considered less significant in this administration than a "utopian human right.”

These “human rights are sanctioned by the United Nations members many of whom are totalitarian leaning governments who employed them to gain and maintain dictatorial power. Once again our federal government agencies are ignoring our constitution in favor of international law.

Government control does not trump the rights of parents. These decisions serve no logical purpose other than undermining the right of parents to homeschool their children. DOJ Eric Holder has cleverly set up legal precedence against home schooling by revoking the Romeiki family amnesty. In one fell swoop he has bolstered the federal government’s right to overrule the family’s choice to home school while dismissing and diminishing the First Amendment's protection of citizen's religious freedoms.

The institution of the family, home schooling and the First Amendment are being attacked not just the Romeikis who are being mistreated by the German and the American governments. The Romeiki and other American children never have and never should belong to the state. Parents have the right and responsibility to raise them, not a totalitarian government.

All Americans should voice a resounding “NO” to the Romeiki family being deported. Our freedom of religion, the sanctity of the family unit and all of our liberties would be weakened and called into question by this frontal attack on our bill of rights. Eric Holder is not upholding our constitution, but is dismantling it. This is another unconscionable act that begs for his removal from office.

Dr. Maglio is an author and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.blogspot.com.