Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Logical Thinking ?

I think that it is logical to assume that one of the purposes of schools is to teach logical thinking. Many of the subjects taught in school depend on logic. Obviously math is all about logic, but so is spelling . . . e.g. if the letter B has a certain sound, then the word, “bib” must be spelled thusly. Likewise, when the bell rings, it means that the class period is over . . . “the bell has just rung, therefore this class has ended.”

Because one of the purposes of school is to teach logical thinking, one would think that teachers should think logically, and by extension that school principals, and school superintendents should also be adept at logical thinking. (So far, this seems logical to me.)

Now let’s examine if this expectation of assumed logical thinking by educators is, in fact, the case. For the most part I think that this is the case, and so when there is an apparent glaring exception, it stands out. 

The case in point occurred in Louisiana where during distance learning on Zoom, a fourth grader was “going to school on Zoom in his bedroom. He moved a B-B gun on the floor away from the hands of a younger sibling who had wandered into his room. (To me this sounds like the logical thing to do.) However in the process of moving this B-B gun to safety, it was now on the Zoom screen. . . . “Horrors!” (Again to me the logical thing to do in this situation would be to tell Ka Mouri Harrison, the 4th grader, to please move the B-B gun to a safer place. “We will pause for a minute while you do that. You don’t have to worry that you are going to miss anything.”)

Apparently, the teacher, let’s call her Karen, was offended by the sight of the B-B gun and reported this to the principal, let’s call him Ken, who then reported this egregious offense to the school superintendent. The result of all of this “a lot to do about nothing” . . . Ka Mouri was suspended and threatened with expulsion! 

To me this is an example of those who are supposed to be teaching logical thinking in schools going off the deep end. Certainly no one would condone bringing a real gun or even a B-B gun to a real school, but Zoom is not a real school, and Ka Mouri was physically in his own home. If Karen was offended and thus reported this “transgression” to Ken. . . . “come on Ken, we expect at least a modicum of logical thinking from a school principal. Use your head, and prove that you were promoted to your position because of some logical reason!”

Finally, now Louisiana’s Attorney General is launching an investigation into the school district’s handling of the matter. He said he was alarmed by what he called multiple violations of the state and federal constitutions but also “blatant government overreach by the school system.”

“For anyone to conclude that a student’s home is now school property because of connectivity through video conferencing is absurd. It is ludicrous for this All-American kid to be punished for taking responsible actions just as it is for his parents to be accused of neglect.”

Hopefully “logic” will win out in Louisiana.

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