I need to destress...

Wow, I really feel like a tool right now. On Andrew Coyne's website, he linked to an article that made me reallllly mad. I actually read it with my jaw dropped and my blood beginning to boil.

The gist of the article is that children's imaginations have to be suppressed because it's dangerous to their health, according to the "Department of Health and Human Services". The first half of the article sounds like a super-radical version of what some "experts" believe is best for kids (I'm sure you've heard the debate over whether or not kids should wear helmets while sledding - but that's a topic for another day).

It wasn't until the article stated "The HHS also discourages aimless playtime activities that lack a rigid, repetitive structure: 'Opt instead for safe activities like untying knots, sticking and unsticking two pieces of Velcro, drawing straight lines of successively longer lengths, and quietly humming a single note for two to three hours'" that I realized I had been had. Apparently when you decide to skim an article it's possible to miss the fact that it says "The Onion" at the very top of the page.

If I had taken my time and seen that, I would have realized what I was reading. The Onion is a really funny website that posts ridiculous articles on a whole whack of topics. (Check out their Education section - maybe I just find it humorous because that's the field I work in, I'm not sure.) They have articles entitled "Last Month Apparently Women's History Month", "Study: Depression Hits Losers Hardest" and "Aliens Demand More Positive Portrayal In The Media".

I get frustrated with people who don't evaluate websites for legitimacy and accept everything they read. Apparently now I'm one of them. Why am I posting my stupidity on my blog? I'm really not sure. It just seemed like the right thing to do.