Are Kids Tooddled By Frank Bruni Analysis

In his op-ed “Are Kids Too Coddled,” author Frank Bruni’s claims that parents are overprotective of their children from real life struggles, with the new Common Core State Standards. Bruni describes a school in California that instituted a rule that bans students wearing sweatshirts that they received at a party advertising the fact that they went to a party to which the other classmates weren’t invited to. It’s sensible for a school to take action to address situations that are under its control, which create a climate in which large numbers of students are adversely affected. But, Bruni’s point was not about party sweatshirts. It was about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Bruni attributes opposition to the CCSS to parents who are hell-bent on protecting their children from failure. Learning should be difficult, he states: “Aren’t aspects of school supposed to be relatively mirthless? Isn’t stress an acceptable byproduct of
If you’re gonna tell me we can’t have mirth then I’m not coming to school in the morning! Here lies the problem with what is going on in schools at the present time. No one opposes higher standards, but ideal learning environments are characterized by the absence of fear and an abundance of support. With the current Common Core testing model and program for teacher evaluation, students are challenged with these new higher standards in a climate that is the opposite of this. What I would most like to see in the public discourse about the Common Core State Standards would be to separate consideration of the standards from opposition to testing and teacher evaluation. When Bruni indicts parents for coddling their children by opposing the common core he is mixing up the common core state standards with the assessments. But that’s to be expected, many others are doing this too, including those who stand up in opposition to the tests, they often sound like they’re against the CCSS