Massachusetts has joined the movement toward re-segregating our public schools by race or gender or sexual orientation. Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr. in Chicopee is reportedly in favor of a new proposal to segregate students by gender for math classes. It is part of a trend that threatens the advances that we have made in the last six decades in desegregating our school system. Now, there will be “girl math” and “boy math” classes.
Various states are experimenting with all boy or all girl school, not just classes. I have been a critic of this trend, here and here.
The most recent proposal appears the brainchild of Bellamy Principal Matthew T. Francis, who reportedly attended an all-boys school as a child. He believes that other genders is a distraction and part of the reason that his school has underperformed: “I want to take away one of the variables.” Strangely, other schools not under Mr. Francis’ supervision have excelled on tests and math without adopted segregation by gender.
There are some studies that suggest that there might be marginal benefits from such segregation, but these studies remain sketchy. More importantly, segregation does not appear to be a significant factor in comparison to having good teaching, sufficient resources, and most importantly reasonably sized classes.
For the full story, click here.
Buddha,
Glad you asked about Jindal. My wife and I watched him in astonishment last night. He uses the kind of delivery that bespeaks and adult patronizing a young child. While I’ve heard snatches of him speaking, this was the first time I’ve heard him make a speech. Not only is he an annoying speaker but the speech was dishonest in so many ways of which we’re both aware. The Disneyland to Las Vegas train for instance. LA and Vegas would be a perfect route for a high speed mag-Lev train. It would reduce air travel and highway travel, thus reducing a lot of pollution. High Speed rail is the way of the future and the US is at least 15 years behind other countries in use and technology. Ridiculing it is the mark of someone so besotted by ideology and partisanship as to disqualify him for any serious political position.
When that tool talked about education though, the bile rose to my throat. Louisiana is either ranked 49th, or 50th in education, so there is nothing for him to be proud of. However, that ranking may explain his popularity and election there. As you said:
“he does have a lot of coonasses to deal with so maybe that’s a mitigating factor.”
Mike S.,
Speaking of uglier the more you get to know them, what did you think of Jindal last night?
I think the differences in delivery summed up the party line. Obama speaks to us like we’re adults whereas the GOP’s boy talks to us like we’re mentally challenged second graders. The kind you can steal their lunch money unchallenged. A buddy I talked to after the speech said, “I guess that exorcism thing didn’t work out to well for Jindal because I swear he was channelling Mr. Rogers.” Jindal ALWAYS talks that way. It just goes to show, you can read all the books required to be a Rhodes Scholar and still not understand them. Then again, he does have a lot of coonasses to deal with so maybe that’s a mitigating factor.
Mike,
Most assuredly.
“have you notices that the looks of people you get to know become prettier or uglier, based on your evolving perception of the person they are?”
Mike,
That is so true!
Buddha,
I agree that many people use plastic surgery to instantly remove emotional problems, that can’t be removed that way. We live in a culture that has been propagandized to believe that we find cures for all our ills by buying or paying for something. It is a pipe dream for many and does lead to further misery.
Part of the reason I stopped doing Psychotherapy was that many of my patients wanted me to cure them, rather than putting in the work of curing themselves. I became a psychotherapist after putting in five hard years of my own therapy and I did the work and learned to make the changes needed to give me happiness and become aware. I was serious about my change and realized that a therapist was like a yoga instructor, who could show you how, but it was you who had to do the actual work.
Many people have these procedures as a shortcut to solving their perceived problems, rather than making the hard effort needed to solve them. However, for some, especially women living in this youth/beauty obsessed society a nose job can make a difference how others perceive them.
As to your other points I hear you. A girlfriend of a friend said to my father once”I’m small but I come in a pretty package” He replied “So does poison.” In love and friendship beauty is nice, but the soul is most important. Also too have you notices that the looks of people you get to know become prettier or uglier, based on your evolving perception of the person they are?
Mike S,
“[T]he belief that if only they can perfect their bodies through surgery they will rid themselves of their ghosts. While that is a pipe dream in my opinion, no doubt people can follow many paths towards inner peace and I really can’t judge their decisions.”
You have captured my one and only objection to plastic surgery with that statement – when it leads people to more misery by misadventure or mistake as to what is truly making a person unhappy. Other than that, I have to say it’s a personal decision. As for any aesthetic consideration, well, a sense of aesthetics is a lot like a sense of humor, isn’t it? One man’s trash is another’s treasure.
Personally I’ll take dealing with an “ugly” person with a beautiful soul rather than the inverse any day of the week. It has also been my experience that no amount of exterior ugly can hide true inner beauty, while the inverse cannot always be said. We are visual creatures and that comes with it’s own limitations. That’s why that third eye is so important, no? It’s harder to deceive. I’ve known some physically beautiful people who have the blackened and charred souls of the damned. That was a lesson I learned at considerable personal cost. It is no hyperbole to say it almost cost me my life. It is a lesson I take very seriously.
Back in high school in the early 60’s I knew a girl named Caroline. she was a tall beautiful girl with a lither figure, smart with a nice temperament. However, she had a large ugly nose. Nobody saw the beauty of the person, or the beauty of the package, all they saw was her nose. she and I became very close and while I longed to be her boyfriend, being somewhat behind socially I never took that little step and kissed her. We were close enough though that she confessed to me that she worked every day after school, saving for her nose job. I think of her occasionally and hope that she got it. Perhaps then people would look beyond superfluities in judging her.
My first wife too had a nose job at 16 and people were startled to see that she was beautiful. I’m with Patty on this and my wife and I are hooked on the plastic surgery reality shows, even though neither of us needs nor wants any work done. It’s true Buddha that many misuse plastic surgery, that’s why I watch these shows, in the belief that if only they can perfect their bodies through surgery they will rid themselves of their ghosts. While that is a pipe dream in my opinion, no doubt people can follow many paths towards inner peace and I really can’t judge their decisions
As I dig further into this report, it’s impossible to get a total picture of what is done to 13-19 y.o.’s as they only include data based on age for cosmetics and not reconstructive surgery except as related to breast reduction/reconstruction/implant removal, but that being said, it looks like electives to 13-19 y.o. is only 2% of the total electives, thus backing Patty’s initial claim.
So, in summation, 70% of all ASPS procedures are elective, but only 2% of those are performed on teens.
What would be really interesting is a geographical breakdown of that data. I’d bet a dollar that 90-95% of that 2% takes place in Los Angeles.
in FRONT
Damn this cold! But the NyQuil sure is a good buzz.
I should have put an “elective” in from of “surgery on a minor” as to clarify surgery done in emergency circumstances as governed by EMTALA and other relevant law.
True, true, but I was really asking about the whole. Since surgery on a minor of any any sort requires parental consent, that concerns a sociological family dynamic that cannot be dealt with by the ASPS except in the most indirect manner if at all. That’s why the aggregate number was of greater interest to me personally.
The discussion was about high schoolers where I took exception to the suggestion that certified ASPS surgeons are casually performing invasive cosmetic procedures on adolescents.
Without looking, I’ll bet you’ll find the percentages for all ‘cosmetic’ procedures for 13-19 year olds is quite a bit lower than the national total average – which includes all groups.
For 2007 anyway.
Jill,
Thanks! That’s data alright. Straight from the ASPS source.
And it looks like it works out to be reconstructive surgeries are approximately 30% of all procedures.
5,159,669/16,968,460=.304074088
I think that about sums it up.
You seem to be confusing the term ’emergent’ with the term ‘elective’.
‘Medically necessary’ is a judgement call. Two different surgeons might very well make two different judgment calls. We call them
‘Second Opinions’.
Buddha,
Here’s some info that may help answer your question.
http://www.plasticsurgery.org/Media/Press_Kits/Procedural_Statistics.html
Patty,
I’m not disagreeing with that. What I want to know is what percentage are elective and what percentage are medically necessary. What you said had to come from somewhere. I’ve read enough of your posts to know you are a person of informed opinion.
A plastics procedure, simply by virtue of its cosmetic nature, would not, and does not, constitute it as ‘entirely’ elective.
It’s not ‘data’. I meant what I said.
Patty,
I’m going to have to call you on your data for that one. I’ll stipulate that ASPS members do perform a lot of legitimate re-constructive surgeries (as opposed to elective surgery, required surgery – burns, animal attacks, etc.), but as a layman the impression is indeed that the bulk of their business is made up of elective surgery.
‘…Gyges post is correct in that high school culture is difficult for anyone falling outside what that particular high schools culture determines to be the norm and destructively so but I can refute (in a convivial and respectful way)the statement “Your argument assumes that by nature girls will tend to demure to what boys society wants.” with very few words: Rhinooplasty, liposuction and boob jobs for high school girls happen every day.’
—–
As a physician, I take exception to the last sentence.
If you intend to suggest even most rhinoplasty, breast surgery, or even liposuction, performed on teenage girls AND boys in the US by ASPS practitioners are, by their very ‘cosmetic’ nature, not only random, frivolous, and therefore, entirely elective, you are quite mistaken.
It’s simply not so.