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Mabuhay! I'm an Asian American writer (Back Kicks And Broken Promises, Abbott Press, 2012), martial artist and teacher who was born in The Philippines, raised in Hong Kong and ended up in New Jersey.

20 March, 2012

Being Unrealistic

I was driving to work today with my usual radio setting when the DJs started talking how the kids' game Duck, Duck Goose was being eliminated from some school district in the country and it was, again, because somehow it makes students feel bad and feeling bad is not allowed for children. I agree that to make someone feel bad is not a good thing but to eliminate a game or change the name of something just because some people feel bad about it is ridiculous. It's also unrealistic.

As part of the radio show, the DJs reported that there was another district where Valentine's Day was not being called that. Instead, it's now being called Caring Day and St. Patrick's Day is being called O'Green Day. What a load of nonsense. This is my blog and my opinion so I'm going to give it.

The DJs reported that those days names' were changed because people felt bad not having a special someone on Valentine's Day when others did made people feel bad. St. Patrick's was changed because of the 'Saint' part, making it religious. What's next, changing Christmas to "Happy Birthday To The Messiah Of Some But Not All Day?"

I'm all for sensitivity and being thoughtful but things like this are, again, just plain and simply ridiculous. For children, yes, you want them to develop positive self-esteem but to do so at the expense of reality is a major disservice. Whether, literally, in sports or, proverbially, in life people win and lose. You don't always get your dream job or get into the college of your choice or win the trophy or medal you covet. Even if you do all the right things - sacrifice, work hard, train, etc - sometimes what you want doesn't happen the first time or at all. Everyone is special - I'm not denying that - but to mislead our children into thinking that the world is always going to be rosey is just wrong. Also, to denounce the name "St. Patrick's" because of any religious affiliation is also an unrealistic disservice. In many ways, all of the inclusion and political correctness we practise is making this world homogenous and, simply, bland and ignorant. It's insulting, too, when we're told to unify everything and call things by new names because it offends some. We might as well do away with every religion, ideology, descriptive word, country, you name it. Let's just be "world citizens" who practise "unrealinclusionism" and live where everyone is the same. Again, ridiculous.

Some years ago, I had a student (yes, I'm a teacher and a parent) in sixth grade who made fun of the "we're all winners" idea that was really starting to take hold. I was reassured that realism still had life when, at her age, she saw life with open eyes. She also gave me hope for the future because of how she, a future leader in our world, saw the truth. I'm all for awareness and sensitivity but, I think, in many ways we're going - we've gone - overboard and we're getting ominously close to the absurd.

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