Some Results of an Esteem Based Education

While doing my usual Facebook browsing today I noticed that there are many individuals who do not know how to write prices properly.  It appeared that each posting with an item for sale the price reads 150$.  The $ sign after the number instead of in front of the amount, $150.  People write as they talk, it makes sense until someone else sees the price.  All around us in stores the prices are written $4.99 or $350.00 so why when they put an advertisement for an item they have for sale the price will look like this 150$?  Is it just that people no longer review what they write or that they are no longer taught in school how to write? 

I know that in the 1980's the red pen was removed from teachers use, they could no longer mark their  pupil's school  work with red pen showing a child their errors, because it will hurt their self esteem.   Then they began giving children an 'A' just for handing in homework.  It does not matter whether the work is correct or not, just that they did the homework, again it had to do with the children's self esteem. 

As Richard and I chatted we began talking about the flu shot and what it covered.   When I first came to Canada I noticed that flu did not necessary mean influenza as they call gastroenteritis, stomach flu.  Over the 40 years of living here things have not changed, you have to ask if a person means respiratory flu or stomach flu.  With the out breaks of H1N1 people are being advised to get a flu shot more so this than in the past.  After getting the flu shot many individuals who get gastroenteritis complain because 'they had the flu shot' and yet they still got the 'flu'.  This would never be an issue if they realized that flu is short for 'influenza' and that stomach flu is actually gastroenteritis.

This week I was informed that H1N1 was 'stomach flu', that is correct, my first thought was they are just teasing me, but no, they were serious.  H1N1 is a respiratory illness, a strain of influenza, that is why people are ending up with pneumonia and a few die.  In this years flu shot they have added the H1N1 virus to help individuals, who come in contact with this illness, to hopefully, not catch it or if they do, will not have a serious case.

So for anyone still reading this; the flu shot covers respiratory illnesses, influenza, that can lead to pneumonia and in some cases death, it does NOT cover stomach flu, gastroenteritis, so if you have had the flu shot you can still get stomach flu.  I have a better idea why don't we just start calling stomach flu, gastroenteritis and flu, Influenza; but that would take factual based education.