Seeing red over purple

Woodmonkey · 01-29-2005, 03:22

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Seeing red over purple

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"Will you edit my English paper?" asked Jenny, a friends' daughter who is a freshman in high school.

"Sure," I said, "Do you have a red pen?"

"Oh no!" she said, "You're not allowed to use red!"

Turns out, purple is the new red.

As retail stores continue their red blitz sales-a-thon for Valentine's Day, and as we consumers eat it up because we've been programmed into equating red with hearts and roses, red has become linked to failure. Schools across the nation have begun banning red pens. Apparently, they're detrimental to kids' self-esteem.

After several focus groups found the color red traumatizing, many educators began grading in a different hue, feeling that errors highlighted in red inhibited students' creativity. Sabrina Jacobs, a teacher at the High School of Economics and Finance in Manhattan, said that from what she's heard, "Red tells the kids they did something wrong." Isn't school supposed to teach you right from wrong? We're talking about spelling and grammar mistakes, not cutting class.

I understand the logic of not wanting kids to loathe school, but to me red shows progress, not failure. As my first editor, my father drenched my school papers in red ink. I eventually learned that the red pen was the most important part of the writing process.

Many computers underline misspelled words in red. Using red pens for correction started in the 1700s, when accountants filled their quills with red ink to correct ledgers. Red, after all, stands out.

Should Microsoft Word underline words in purple to prevent writers from giving up mid-sentence? And how long before purple begins turning stomachs? These days it takes a lot more than a red pen to do that.

"Grand Theft Auto San Andreas," voted Spike TV's Video Game of the Year, lets players shoot police officers and run over prostitutes. Is this less disturbing than the contents of a red writing implement?

Will a gentler, kinder shade really motivate students? Color theorist teacher Daniel Ochoa of the Art Institute of California San Diego thinks so. He's been quoted as saying that purple "is associated with spirituality and elegance" and green is "the color of the forest and symbolic of refreshment." Come on, we're talking about schools, not day spas.

Carol Jago, a California high school teacher for 30 years, has no plans to stop using red. "We need to be forthright with students," she said, "Red is honest and to the point. I'm sending the message, 'I care about you enough to care how you present yourself to the outside world.'" Not everyone, whether they're faced with caring teachers or purple pens, will like writing, but in our fears of kids' emotional reactions, are we losing sight of the big picture? You know, like a complete education.

For the holidays I gave my editor a blue Cross pen. "This is for you," I wrote in the card. I also gave him a red pen. "And this one's for me."

[url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0105/felice1.asp]Click Here for the Source of this Story[url]

Snowden · 01-29-2005, 22:08

I've heard of "from the ridiculous to the absurd" all my life. I believe this is the final depth of absurdity possible.

Woodmonkey · 01-29-2005, 22:36

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Originally Posted by Snowden

I've heard of "from the ridiculous to the absurd" all my life. I believe this is the final depth of absurdity possible.

I agree. It was suggested that I not grade papers with a red pen and I just rolled my eyes and continued on. Kids are supposed to be learning and, if they can't handle having their work edited, how will they handle a boss in the real world?

USMC5831 · 01-29-2005, 22:42

Wow just when you thought you heard it all. I had a lot of ready marks on my papers and I turned out ok. I mean I still can not type worth a shiat and I got a bit of a twitch but other than that I am ok.

JohnRN · 01-29-2005, 22:44

Somebody needs a few kicks up the hiney...

USMC5831 · 01-29-2005, 22:56

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Originally Posted by John.

Somebody needs a few kicks up the hiney...

More than a few.

Woodmonkey · 01-29-2005, 23:28

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Originally Posted by USMC5831

... and I got a bit of a twitch but other than that I am ok.

and the twitch is hardly noticeable!