I find it astonishing that some educators could have failed for so long to observe how important phonics is to learning to read and spell, and how long they remained infatuated with the high-blown theories of “whole language” when so many children were so obviously floundering under it. What is worse, this is only one of the “sounds nice” techniques whose rationale educational theorists seem to have found appealing, but whose actual results have been dismal.

As for parental child-rearing practices, I believe a widespread shirking of the duty to impose discipline (apparently because it didn’t “sound nice” compared to the “innovative” and “non-coercive” methods that have been given so much attention in the popular press) has resulted in an epidemic of bratty kids. I believe it’s time for parents to wake up to the fact that they’re not doing their children any favors if they raise them to be people who the rest of the world can’t stand.