I take education very seriously, so I'm taking this thread onto its own web site. I'm interested in comments from parents and teachers, but more from medical professionals, people with vision problems (of any sort) and their familys. The new site is
Kindness Beats Blindness. As much as I thought the program was an abject failure at our local school, I feel it has potential and in a modified form, could be very successful at other schools.
URL's for this project are:
www.kindnessbeatsblindness.org
www.kindnessbeatsblindness.net
www.kindnessbeatsblindness.com
Harrington Middle School had a program they named Kindness Beats Blindness.
This sounds like a good idea in theory. Give the kids some idea what its like to lose your ability to see. The problem is the program was ill conceived and, in my opinion, a vehicle for self-promotion for a person outside the school district who wants material for a new book.
I asked where this program had been implemented before. The answer was "It's our idea".
I asked what academic or other credentials the organizer had, and I was told "He's an author of several books.". Well, I don't really care that he wrote books about 'celebrating kids'. I was interested in what expertise he had regarding the blind. The answer is 'None'.
To re-affirm my concern that this was a self-promotion exercise, without any notice to parents, television and newspapers were notified about the event and it was featured on a national morning entertainment program. This is appalling. I don't believe its in the interest of my child's education for TV and newspapers to be in the school.
After some research, it appears there is quite a bit of controversy among advocacy and support groups for the blind. They don't think the "Kindness Beats Blindness" program was a very good idea.
This was the point I was trying to make with the teacher organizing the program. Why not design and implement a program based on *some* recognized methodology, rather than rely on a "children's book author" for guidance? I think the program was a fraud. With agencies such as Wills Eye Hospital and other resources 15 miles from Mount Laurel, why did they 'go it alone'?
Heck, I represented myself in court once (I was 19). I won't do it again. I go to a doctor when I'm sick, I use an accountant for my taxes. I refer to an expert in the field when I'm doing something I have never done before. This is how I learn. This minimizes mistakes.
The only fear I have is that other schools are going to use the Harrington hero's misdirected program as a model. I hope not!
My favorite quotes from the Orientation and Mobility mailing list are below:
"The problem I have with them is that people assume that because they have simulated a condition, such as blindness, that they know what it is really like to have that conditional find that line of thinking very insulting.""...For the purposes of educating about vision impairment, blindfolding can do more harm than good because it confirms the feelings people already have ...""I don't like the blindfold sensitivity training concept at all. To me the barrier of blindness is not the physical limitations of blindness, it is the social attitude that I can't stand. I can be the most competent person in the world, but when a stranger recognizes that I am blind, they talk to Melissa I am a child or retarded or worse yet, a retarded child. THAT is the barrier. Personally, I feel there is too much kindness. I sometimes feel 'Killed with Kindness' "My Suggestions:
- Grammar and Middle Schools should look to the local community for support and programs, not an 'outsider'.
- Leverage Community Resources - Mount Laurel has experts in every field. The CEO of Our Lady of Lourdes, pad's in everything from Microbiology, Physics, Engineering, Medicine, Law, and other fields.
- Mount Laurel Schools to date have been a cooperative effort between Parents, Students, Teachers and Administration. This program was the first breakdown I have witnessed in the past ten years.
- National TV and Newspapers don't need to be in our schools. Period. Our schools are for teaching our kids, not promoting individuals or outside agendas.
