It wasn't the teachers' fault.

The French generally take pride in their educational system. Because of a high emphasis on learning. But recently, the system has come under attack. For being too hard on students. Denigrating some of 'em. Even to the point of calling them 'worthless' if they don't learn.

The classroom culture has been criticized by a British teacher, Peter Gumbel, in a book titled 'They Shoot Schoolchildren, Don't They?' He's a lecturer at the Institute of Political Science in Paris.

"Why is France the only country in the world that discourages children because of what they cannot do, rather than encouraging them to do what they can?" Gumbel writes. "I believe France is missing a key element of what's wrong with the school system, an element that is immediately apparent to any foreigner who comes into contact with it: the harshness of the classroom culture. It's a culture you can sum up as T'es nul (You're worthless). You hear these words all the time in France."

Gumbel says it's little wonder that studies by the World Health Organization show that six out of 10 schoolchildren in France complain of being anxious, and four in 10 have difficulty sleeping and more than two in 10 have a stomach or headache once a week.

Anyway, here's my take on educational systems. Doesn't really matter how they are set up. It's individual teachers that count the most. If you've gotta a good teacher, things are likely to turn out good. If it's a bad teacher -- well, things could still turn out good. I had bad teachers. But that taught me something. I had to learn, despite 'em. Some of the bad ones tried to teach me by rote. To even memorize a poem by rote. Rather than get the true meaning of the poem. Thinking isn't a high priority with some teachers. He/she just wants you to pass the written test. Then he/she can be called a 'good' teacher. Even if the student really hasn't learned to think. I'm not sure that I learned all that much in elementary school or junior high or even in senior high school. Wasn't until I went to college that I really got turned on. And became a thinker. Maybe I wasn't ready to learn until then. And it wasn't the teachers' fault. More my fault. --Jim Broede