Teaching our children in schools that the fairies will take care of them, wtf?

DunnoKidz

Where can I get one of those?

Every little bit helps, even if it's only imaginary.

Picture a kid in a bad living situation, without anyone to talk to.
They can leave their worries on the wall and feel a moment of peace and protection, in a world filled with turmoil.
Brava to moments when they get to feel free enough to just be a kid (even for a moment)... and feel safe.

I bet de-stress increases their learning capacity (like being hungry distracts from learning, their focus is elsewhere).

Academic

I think it's fine for children ages 4-5: no different than Santa Claus.

It begins to seem a bit odd to me if they're much older than that. (Similarly for Santa.)

Tom Mann Centuria

DunnoKidz wrote: »

Where can I get one of those?

Every little bit helps, even if it's only imaginary.

Picture a kid in a bad living situation, without anyone to talk to.
They can leave their worries on the wall and feel a moment of peace and protection, in a world filled with turmoil.
Brava to moments when they get to feel free enough to just be a kid (even for a moment)... and feel safe.

I bet de-stress increases their learning capacity (like being hungry distracts from learning, their focus is elsewhere).

Heatons, dare say the pound shops will be knocking them out soon

Noveight

Academic wrote: »

I think it's fine for children ages 4-5: no different than Santa Claus.

It begins to seem a bit odd to me if they're much older than that. (Similarly for Santa.)

You think kids older than 5 believing in Santa is odd..? :eek:

LightlyGo

anna080 wrote: »

If it makes even one child think that her problems are being taken care of then I'm all for it. Sometimes it's nice to let kids just be kids, and not expect them to have the intellectual or verbal capacities of an adult and communicate their worries.

What about if one kid learned that you could tell a parent or teacher if you were stressed and they could talk to you and comfort you, and you developed that skill of reaching out for help when you need it because that's what you'd always done.
Then if that kid has that skill as a teen wouldn't it be much more positive than them feeling quietly suicidal or that it's shameful to be overburdened, something children rely on imaginary beings for?

The truth is that while most people grow out of this magical thinking there are sadly a minority who don't, who are using angel cards and psychics and crystals to attract what they need in life etc. Why on earth would we chose to teach our children such ways of dealing with problems when we could be teaching them powerful tools that could save their lives later on?

Are Am Eye

Ipso wrote: »

Yeah, but feck all happened in the Iron Age in Ireland

Celtic culture and language came to Ireland in the Iron Age.

Not when you said it did.

Cheerful Spring

Are Am Eye wrote: »

I agree with you that the bell beaker had a huge and wide ranging influence in Europe.

But that influence isn't what we would call Celtic.

What was originally mistaken as an invasion here that led to the introduction of Celtic language i.e Irish Gaelic, and that distinctive metal work and art etc And is now more correctly known as an integration or movement of ideas, influence and language assisted by some migration, maybe an occasional skirmish.......well that was an Iron Age thing.

In the Book of Invasions. The Christen church claims the last Invasion involved a group called the Milesians ( they came from Spain) and they later came known as the Gaels ( modern Irish) This is were it gets weird ( according to the church) the Milesians drove the Tuath de Dannan away as they were so few of them and they left the Earth and went underground forever. Leprechaun and fairy legends all stem from this event.

Strange thing about this book is from the 11th century and strangely enough the Irish are genetically similar to people from the Basque region of Spain. This is modern science hundred years later confirming this, but this book was telling us in 11th century the modern Irish came to Ireland from Spain.

jimbobaloobob

Puppets are used by teachers a lot to teach many subjects at primary level. Children are great at engaging with it and learning. Not much different to the fairies and sure what harm.

Ipso

Cheerful Spring wrote: »

In the Book of Invasions. The Christen church claims the last Invasion involved a group called the Milesians ( they came from Spain) and they later came known as the Gaels ( modern Irish) This is were it gets weird ( according to the church) the Milesians drove the Tuath de Dannan away as they were so few of them and they left the Earth and went underground forever. Leprechaun and fairy legends all stem from this event.

Strange thing about this book is from the 11th century and strangely enough the Irish are genetically similar to people from the Basque region Spain. This is modern science hundred years later confirming this, but this book was telling us in 11th century the modern Irish came to Ireland from Spain.

They just have high instances of the same male haplogroup (it just tracks a direct male lineage), Basques and Irish fall under different sub groups of R1b-P312 with Irish and British in the same subgroup. On an entire genome level Irish people are closest to British people.

Cheerful Spring

Ipso wrote: »

They just have high instances of the same male haplogroup (it just tracks a direct male lineage), on an entire genome level Irish people are closest to British people.

Our closest relatives are found in various parts of Galicia and the Basque country according to genetic studies led by Prof Dan Bradley of Trinity College Dublin’s Smurfit Institute of Genetics. He presented his research over the weekend at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Chicago.
He was joined by Queen’s University Belfast archaeologist and linguist Prof James Mallory who talked about efforts to link these DNA studies with the transmission of languages across western Europe.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/genetic-studies-show-our-closest-relatives-are-found-in-galicia-and-the-basque-region-1.700877

Get a grip op, it's not the same thing as teaching about religion at all.

Like anna080 mentioned, not all children of the intended age group would be able to verbalise their anxieties. And like another poster also mentioned,the unfortunate truth is not all children have parents who would take the time to listen to those worries either.

Not to mention that even small children have a right to privacy. They don't have to tell their parents every little worry that crosses their mind. Maybe they have their own reasons for seeking out a neutral ear to share them with, be if the family dog, an imaginary friend or fairy.

Believe it or not, even a small child likes the feeling of fixing a problem for themselves and just talking about a problem or worry can help them to see the solution. It's a very empowering feeling and contrary to what you believe, this in turn makes them more resilient not less. Your parents fixing every tiny issue or patting you on the head for each little insecurity only teaches a child to be reliant on others and not how to cope if they find themselves temporarily alone in something.

Of course I'm not saying a child shouldn't feel safe turning to their parents or shouldn't seek help from adults. Just that it can also be good to have other outlets. I hardly think a worry plaque is going to completely replace the role of a parent or trusted adult. But it's ok to have options.

LightlyGo

Noveight wrote: »

Imagine you'd a 5 year old who started Junior Infants last week and at the parent teacher meeting (in November or February or whenever) their teacher was trotting out lines on giving your child cues about how best to deal with life.

Yeah, you'd be right to tell that teacher to catch a hold of themselves. Young children should have their world filled with fairy tales, legends and all things wonderfully imaginary.

Of course they should, dolls and cowboys and indians and whatever they can come up with. They should be playing games all day, their lives should be full of imagination.
They should not be taught that those imaginary play things are what's available to them to deal with their troubles though. That's what parents and teachers are for.

In the video a teacher says it was helpful for a childhood who was afraid of dinosaurs.
Wouldn't it be much better to tell that child that dinosaurs are extinct? That they're great fun to play games about but that he has no need to fear them or anything else because he has parents and teachers to protect him?

Ipso

Cheerful Spring wrote: »

Our closest relatives are found in various parts of Galicia and the Basque country according to genetic studies led by Prof Dan Bradley of Trinity College Dublin’s Smurfit Institute of Genetics. He presented his research over the weekend at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Chicago.
He was joined by Queen’s University Belfast archaeologist and linguist Prof James Mallory who talked about efforts to link these DNA studies with the transmission of languages across western Europe.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/genetic-studies-show-our-closest-relatives-are-found-in-galicia-and-the-basque-region-1.700877

Those studies are out of date.
Ireland and British males mainly fall under the group L21 with Iberia falling under DF27. One of the reason Ireland has high instances is down to a Genghis Khan effect within gaelic chiefdom.
Again this is just a male lineage, across the entire genome Irish people are more closely related to British people.

LightlyGo

Deleted User wrote: »

Get a grip op, it's not the same thing as teaching about religion at all.

Like anna080 mentioned, not all children of the intended age group would be able to verbalise their anxieties. And like another poster also mentioned,the unfortunate truth is not all children have parents who would take the time to listen to those worries either.

Not to mention that even small children have a right to privacy. They don't have to tell their parents every little worry that crosses their mind. Maybe they have their own reasons for seeking out a neutral ear to share them with, be if the family dog, an imaginary friend or fairy.

Believe it or not, even a small child likes the feeling of fixing a problem for themselves and just talking about a problem or worry can help them to see the solution. It's a very empowering feeling and contrary to what you believe, this in turn makes them more resilient not less. Your parents fixing every tiny issue or patting you on the head for each little insecurity only teaches a child to be reliant on others and not how to cope if they find themselves temporarily alone in something.

Of course I'm not saying a child shouldn't feel safe turning to their parents or shouldn't seek help from adults. Just that it can also be good to have other outlets. I hardly think a worry plaque is going to completely replace the role of a parent or trusted adult. But it's ok to have options.

Well if options is the answer maybe we should firstly have the fairy plaque for younger kids and then later issue them all with a rabbit's foot and a bottle of holy water.

I guess it's true a society gets the education system it deserves and the mental health services it deserves. If some of the posts in this thread are indicative of what we feel we deserve from schools in terms of promoting positive mental health strategies and development then we are seriously sunk.

jimbobaloobob

LightlyGo wrote: »

Well if options is the answer maybe we should firstly have the fairy plaque younger kids and then later issue them all with a rabbit's foot and a bottle of holy water.

I guess it's true a society gets the education system it deserves and the mental health services it deserves. If some of the posts in this thread are indicative of what we feel we deserve from schools in terms of promoting positive mental health strategies and development then we are seriously sunk.

Would you become a teacher and change it?

Cheerful Spring

Ipso wrote: »

Those studies are out of date.
Ireland and British males mainly fall under the group L21 with Iberia falling under DF27. One of the reason Ireland has high instances is down to a Genghis Khan effect within gaelic chiefdom.
Again this is just a male lineage, across the entire genome Irish people are more closely related to British people.

How can genetic studies be out of date? I don't doubt we share some lineage with British people.

LightlyGo

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

Would you become a teacher and change it?

I actually work in something not completely unrelated to the area of education and mental health, I'd rather not be specific here. I've come to feel very passionately about it though. The statistics bear out that we need much more from our education system in terms of teaching children, who'll later be teens and young adults, to deal positively with their problems. Lives are lost every year because we have young adults unable to reach out to friends, family, services who would listen. I really believe we have to start developing those skills early and encourage children to develop a fluency with expressing emotions to others, to recognise that talking helps.

Ipso

Cheerful Spring wrote: »

How can genetic studies be out of date? I don't doubt we share some lineage with British people.

Advancement in technology, more testing, testing ancient DNA etc
Google R1b-L21, this is the big male lineage found in Ireland and Britain, it and the one found in Iberia are a sub group of R1b-P312. Britain has another group called R1b-U106 in high numbers and this group along with P312 falls under R1b-P311 which seems to have spread from the Pontic Caspian Steppe with the Yamnaya culture.

Academic

Noveight wrote: »

You think kids older than 5 believing in Santa is odd..? :eek:

Yep. I'm Scrooge.

retro:electro

LightlyGo wrote: »

I actually work in something not completely unrelated to the area of education and mental health, I'd rather not be specific here. I've come to feel very passionately about it though. The statistics bear out that we need much more from our education system in terms of teaching children, who'll later be teens and young adults, to deal positively with their problems. Lives are lost every year because we have young adults unable to reach out to friends, family, services who would listen. I really believe we have to start developing those skills early and encourage children to develop a fluency with expressing emotions to others, to recognise that talking helps.

It's also important not to pack too much onto the shoulders of an infant, and expect them to be able to clinically explain their problems and worries.
There are certain pressures and situations that children don't need to analyse. Life is sh|tty enough as you get older. You don't physically/intellectually/emotionally have the skills to express worries as a child. There is a reason we develop these skills as we get older. To expect too much from a little child isn't good for their mental health either. Handing them a fairy and letting them imagine their problems away and believing it is true is a perfectly child appropriate age to deal with stressful situations.

jimbobaloobob

LightlyGo wrote: »

I actually work in something not completely unrelated to the area of education and mental health, I'd rather not be specific here. I've come to feel very passionately about it though. The statistics bear out that we need much more from our education system in terms of teaching children, who'll later be teens and young adults, to deal positively with their problems. Lives are lost every year because we have young adults unable to reach out to friends, family, services who would listen. I really believe we have to start developing those skills early and encourage children to develop a fluency with expressing emotions to others, to recognise that talking helps.

That's not a bad concept LightlyGo would you think of developing a pilot programme that maybe becomes part of the Curriculum maybe through SPHE or does something exist along the lines of your thinking in the SPHE curriculum already but its targeted above the ages of the fairy fixers?

Cheerful Spring

Ipso wrote: »

Advancement in technology, more testing, testing ancient DNA etc
Google R1b-L21, this is the big male lineage found in Ireland and Britain, it and the one found in Iberia are a sub group of R1b-P312. Britain has another group called R1b-U106 in high numbers and this group along with P312 falls under R1b-P311 which seems to have spread from the Pontic Caspian Steppe with the Yamnaya culture.

R1B is highest in Celtic countries. The Milesians were Celts ( says the church) so they would have had the R1b, they were not a distinct separate race of people. And i believe Irish men with Gaelic surnames match more closely with the basque people. There is going to be changes in genetics depending who you are testing and what is their background.

Ipso

I have a gaelic surname and I'm not R1b, I fall under haplogroup I. So by that logic I am not closely related to Basques, despite being Irish.
YDNA haplogroups are a different kettle of fish than entire genome analysis.
R1b is also found in Cameroon.

RoisinClare6

They are kids. They'll be worrying about monsters under their bed not how will they pay the mortgage.

They are at that age of magic and wonder and fairies etc is something you believe in. If they feel like they can tell their fairy then surely that is a good thing? Essentially getting to them to talk about it.

As for the dinosaur example. I used to have terrible dinosaur nightmares. My parents told me they were not around anymore but I was still petrified. It's like a child thinking theirs a monster under the bed, you check tell then there is nothing there..most of the time they are still scared. So if a worry plaque helps so be it.

I understand where you are coming from but they're are small children. The age of magic doesn't last very long so let them cherish it while it's still around.

They won't be going around at 25 still doing the same thing.

Cheerful Spring

Ipso wrote: »

I have a gaelic surname and I'm not R1b, I fall under haplogroup I. So by that logic I am not closely related to Basques, despite being Irish.
YDNA haplogroups are a different kettle of fish than entire genome analysis.
R1b is also found in Cameroon.

We kind of stuck if its true, the Milesians came to Ireland thousands of years ago,? It be great if we could take samples of their DNA and check the similarities with the Irish today, but that ain't going to happen.

LightlyGo

anna080 wrote: »

It's also important not to pack too much onto the shoulders of an infant, and expect them to be able to clinically explain their problems and worries.
There are certain pressures and situations that children don't need to analyse. Life is sh|tty enough as you get older. You don't physically/intellectually/emotionally have the skills to express worries as a child. There is a reason we develop these skills as we get older. To expect too much from a little child isn't good for their mental health either. Handing them a fairy and letting them imagine their problems away and believing it is true is a perfectly child appropriate age to deal with stressful situations.

No one is expecting them to clinically explain anything or treatise on the subject.
Simple example
Child : I'm sad /scared etc
Parent : that's OK, you did the right thing telling me, you can always tell me when you feel bad. What are you scared of?
Child : a monster /dinosaur /school etc
Patent : explains why these things aren't a threat and that they're being protected, suggests that sometimes it's good to play a game or read a nice book when you feel like that and give it a little while to see if it goes away.

Child learns they can speak to someone close to help them and learns strategy for coping liking distract themselves and self soothing with a relaxing activity when stressed . Positive skills useful throughout life.

How is this preferable?
Child :I'm scared
Teacher : tell it to the hunk of plastic and fairies will fix it

retro:electro

LightlyGo wrote: »

No one is expecting them to clinically explain anything or treatise on the subject.
Simple example
Child : I'm sad /scared etc
Parent : that's OK, you did the right thing telling me, you can always tell me when you feel bad. What are you scared of?
Child : a monster /dinosaur /school etc
Patent : explains why these things aren't a threat and that they're being protected, suggests that sometimes it's good to play a game or read a nice book when you feel like that and give it a little while to see if it goes away.

Child learns they can speak to someone close to help them and learns strategy for coping liking distract themselves and self soothing with a relaxing activity when stressed . Positive skills useful throughout life.

How is this preferable?
Child :I'm scared
Teacher : tell it to the hunk of plastic and fairies will fix it

Why does it have to be an either or? I'm sure most parents talk to their children like that if the child says they're scared. But it's important to note that not all parents do. Nevertheless, I still don't see the harm in letting a child have some ease in thinking their problems are being handled, even if it is by artificial means. Sometimes when you're a kid the idea that some magical being is taking care of your problems can be more valuable than your mother telling you it's okay mommy is always here. Never underestimate the importance of peace of mind, for a child or an adult.

LightlyGo

RoisinClare6 wrote: »

They are kids. They'll be worrying about monsters under their bed not how will they pay the mortgage.

They are at that age of magic and wonder and fairies etc is something you believe in. If they feel like they can tell their fairy then surely that is a good thing? Essentially getting to them to talk about it.

As for the dinosaur example. I used to have terrible dinosaur nightmares. My parents told me they were not around anymore but I was still petrified. It's like a child thinking theirs a monster under the bed, you check tell then there is nothing there..most of the time they are still scared. So if a worry plaque helps so be it.

I understand where you are coming from but they're are small children. The age of magic doesn't last very long so let them cherish it while it's still around.

They won't be going around at 25 still doing the same thing.

There's plenty 25 year old relying on crystals and Angel cards and going to psychics and doing Reiki to engage dead spirits to heal and help them.

The idea that everyone just naturally evolves into mentally healthy people who can positively deal with their problems just isn't true, there's plenty statistics to bear that out. Lives are lost because if it. They are skills that need to be taught, skills that we have failed dismally to impart so far.

Also more and more children are suffering from clinical depression and mental health issues like anorexia etc. They're baring the brunt of a whole range of issues from overstressed parents, family breakdown to bullying. Fairies won't help with any of those worries. Positive strategies for self expression might help them find stress relief that would work.

I've no problem with kids having vivid imaginary lives.
I have a problem with them learning at school that a fairy will fix their worries or that's where they can legitimately turn when stressed, particularly when there are other things they could learn that would help long term.

gctest50

RoisinClare6 wrote: »

..........

I used to have terrible dinosaur nightmares. My parents told me they were not around anymore but I was still petrified.

..........

They lied, you were right ( petrified though )

Birds are dinosaurs more or less ( archaeopteryx thingys )

nice claws for picking things up :





- an eagle could easily take a child :

LightlyGo

anna080 wrote: »

Why does it have to be an either or? I'm sure most parents talk to their children like that if the child says they're scared. But it's important to note that not all parents do. Nevertheless, I still don't see the harm in letting a child have some ease in thinking their problems are being handled, even if it is by artificial means. Sometimes when you're a kid the idea that some magical being is taking care of your problems can be more valuable than your mother telling you it's okay mommy is always here. Never underestimate the importance of peace of mind, for a child or an adult.

I agree, sometimes that's fine, pretending you can protect them when you're not sure you can is necessary too.

Teaching them in school fairies will handle problems is absolutely not fine.

retro:electro

LightlyGo wrote: »

I agree, sometimes that's fine, pretending you can protect them when you're not sure you can is necessary too.

Teaching them in school fairies will handle problems is absolutely not fine.

Until a child reaches the age where they develop the capacity for critical thought, I'm happy for them to ease their minds and unload their problems in as innocent a way there is to make them happy.

jimmycrackcorm

LightlyGo wrote:

My friend who is a teacher has told me most teachers in her school are using the plaque and finding them brilliant for young kids with anxieties in school who all mostly have a Fairy Door at home and do now believe in fairies anyway.

Somehow I think you're going to be the type of person who tells their kids that there is no such thing as Santa.

gctest50

LightlyGo wrote: »

I agree, sometimes that's fine, pretending you can protect them when you're not sure you can is necessary too.


Teaching them in school fairies will handle problems is absolutely not fine.

it works fine, the lights change color n stuff

be a bit like this too :

http://rubberduckdebugging.com

RoisinClare6

LightlyGo wrote: »

There's plenty 25 year old relying on crystals and Angel cards and going to psychics and doing Reiki to engage dead spirits to heal and help them.

The idea that everyone just naturally evolves into mentally healthy people who can positively deal with their problems just isn't true, there's plenty statistics to bear that out. Lives are lost because if it. They are skills that need to be taught, skills that we have failed dismally to impart so far.

Also more and more children are suffering from clinical depression and mental health issues like anorexia etc. They're baring the brunt of a whole range of issues from overstressed parents, family breakdown to bullying. Fairies won't help with any of those worries. Positive strategies for self expression might help them find stress relief that would work.

I've no problem with kids having vivid imaginary lives.
I have a problem with them learning at school that a fairy will fix their worries or that's where they can legitimately turn when stressed, particularly when there are other things they could learn that would help long term.

I never said that they will naturally evolve to positively deal with it but do you still believe in santa, the easter bunny or tooth fairy? No, I highly doubt it the older you got the more you realised that all things magical weren't real just like fairies. So I doubt it's something that they will forever cling to.


I think you are viewing it as if it's the only thing they have that it's the only support they are being provided with which I highly doubt is the case. It seems to be an extra tool. How do you that these parents are not having a conversation about what the kids might be telling the fairy? Hoe do you know that they are not sitting down and having conversations with their children?

You are assuming that this is all they have. You are assuming that they are being left to their own emotional devices.

retro:electro

LightlyGo wrote: »

There's plenty 25 year old relying on crystals and Angel cards and going to psychics and doing Reiki to engage dead spirits to heal and help them.

The idea that everyone just naturally evolves into mentally healthy people who can positively deal with their problems just isn't true, there's plenty statistics to bear that out. Lives are lost because if it. They are skills that need to be taught, skills that we have failed dismally to impart so far.

Also more and more children are suffering from clinical depression and mental health issues like anorexia etc. They're baring the brunt of a whole range of issues from overstressed parents, family breakdown to bullying. Fairies won't help with any of those worries. Positive strategies for self expression might help them find stress relief that would work.

I've no problem with kids having vivid imaginary lives.
I have a problem with them learning at school that a fairy will fix their worries or that's where they can legitimately turn when stressed, particularly when there are other things they could learn that would help long term.

Adults being into tarot cards and sh|t has nothing at all to do with this. They are grown people, capable of thinking critically and accessing services. If you are saying that this logic is extended from playing make believe and fairy wishing as a child, I think you're wrong. Make believe is a part of childhood. Children believe in Santa, tooth fairy, Easter bunny. Some children believe in god and grow up to reject religion once they've developed how to think critically and analyse all we have been told. I think you're being overly hysterical. Not every child has an approachable parent. Not every child has the skills to verbalise. Not every child is able to verbalise at all. Not every child has the skills to analyse. Not every child has to open up if they don't want to. For someone who supposedly works in a similar area your attitude is very insular.

FanadMan

Kids believe in Santa, the Tooth Fairy and imaginary friends. If there is something that lets them get rid of their anxieties, then I'm all for it. I wish I had something like that when I was young - would have made school a hell of a lot nicer for a very nervous and timid child like I was.

Don't worry OP, they'll grow out of the whole lot soon so there'll be one less thing for you to be offended by.

ThisRegard

LightlyGo wrote: »

I actually work in something not completely unrelated to the area of education and mental health, I'd rather not be specific here. I've come to feel very passionately about it though. The statistics bear out that we need much more from our education system in terms of teaching children, who'll later be teens and young adults, to deal positively with their problems. Lives are lost every year because we have young adults unable to reach out to friends, family, services who would listen. I really believe we have to start developing those skills early and encourage children to develop a fluency with expressing emotions to others, to recognise that talking helps.

Have you ever seen the primary ciriculum and how it deals with personal issues? I guess not given how you're ranting on about this.

Cee-Jay-Cee

LightlyGo wrote: »

In the last few days there's a video on facebook from the Fairy Door Company featuring Irish school principals talking about how great use of the Fairy Worry Plaque is in schools. Over 5000 people have commented in the hope of winning a plaque for their school. Among them I see many of my friends whose kids are in Educate Together schools who purposefully did not want their kids receiving a religious education but are willing to fill their heads with this nonsense.

Here's a video of what a Fairy Worry Plaque is https://youtu.be/1BLxwNlh708

Here's the video of Irish school principals waxing lyrical about how great they are : https://www.facebook.com/TheIrishFairyDoorCompany/videos/670991263103207/

A Worry Plaque is a piece of plastic rubbish a child places their hand on and sends their worries to the fairies to take care of. A light flashes to indicate that the fairies have received your problem and are now taking care of it.
Sound familiar at all ??(...minus the flashing light which a prayer rarely produces!).

My friend who is a teacher has told me most teachers in her school are using the plaque and finding them brilliant for young kids with anxieties in school who all mostly have a Fairy Door at home and do now believe in fairies anyway. I asked a few friends with small kids and they do indeed seem to be big fans of fairy doors and talking to their kids about fairies.

Is it me or is worrying that Irish school principals are advocating use of use such a concept ? And that grown adults are feeding their kids this utter nonsense?
Would we not be so much better off trying to relate to our children in a way they could talk to us and not pieces of plastic or statues or tiny wooden doors? How has this evolution of the fairy even happened in our present culture?
So what do you think boards? If you have kids are you ok with Fairy Plaques?

You obviously don't have children, when you do come back and tell us the same thing.

You are probably also one of those people who would rather children didn't believe in Santa or the Easter Bunny but like I said, you don't have children and clearly have zero understanding of how children's minds work.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

LightlyGo

anna080 wrote: »

Not every child has an approachable parent. Not every child has the skills to verbalise. Not every child is able to verbalise at all. Not every child has the skills to analyse. Not every child has to open up if they don't want to. For someone who supposedly works in a similar area your attitude is very insular.

That's precisely why we need to actively teach those skills in school from an early age, so every child can express themselves to the very best of their capabilities. The best educational tool for children with those issues is experience, not learning theory but from practical application when they are anxious or worried. Those moments are opportunities to learn important lessons for life.
Here's a chunk of plastic, tell fairies might be ok for lazy parents at home. It shouldn't be part of formal education.

If you consider being ambitous for us to have evidence based best strategies for long term mental health in our schools "insular" that's your business. I'm not interested in exchanging insults with you. We were just going around in circles anyway so I guess I'll leave it there.

Samaris

I'm okay with it, so long as it's not enforced and I doubt it is. (You MUST believe in the fairies, and a fairy-teacher is coming around later to check that you do).

Different things work better with different children. I'd have enjoyed a fairy door/fairy plaque when I was that age. Mind you, when I was that age, I sewed little dresses out of flower petals for "the fairies at the bottom of the garden*" A child that is inclined to it may get something out of it, others won't. It may even help in terms of long-term mental health to be encouraged to use imagination without it being drilled in that this is absolutely true once you've started questioning it/growing out of it.

It is something that will be grown out of for the most part, I think. I would be a lot more concerned about the effects of insisting to children that teachings of various religions are implicitly and explicitly truthful than I would be about fairies. I'd change my opinion if it became mandatory!


*I found it rather annoying at the time that the flower fairies could wear clothes made out of flowers, but my ones shriveled :P

OU812

LightlyGo wrote: »

How does it positively educate on dealing with issues like anxiety that later go on to be fatal for too many young people?
Should that not be the purpose of education? To lay the foundation at an early age for positive mental health in later life and give kids the tools for developing that as soon as we can? To teach them that we don't hope spirits and talismans will protect us from the darker sides of life but that we learn to deal better with those aspects of life?

Maybe it's just parents and teachers happy to abdicate the responsibility of talking to your child about their worries to a chunk of plastic.

it reinforces the point that it's ok to unload your worries, albeit to an imaginary being (kinda like religion but without the icky guilt part). but that it's ok to unload & not dwell on them.

I'd prefer if it was wood rather than plastic though.

RhubarbCrumble

OP, why are you so angry about something that's helping small children and making them feel better?
You seem to have a massive chip on your shoulder about something and you're coming across as being very bitter.

7 Seconds...

I love the idea, I am even now wishing It used when I was in school. I would have loved it. Sadly not very childhood is a happy one, but very child is important, so even if it was only to help one child I would still be all for it. It's not hurting anyone, no child is being force to use but it is there if they want, be it now or the future.

Children are only children for short period of their lives and if believing in fairies makes a child's life, happier, easier, nicer, more enjoyable than so be it.

_Whimsical_

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Oh that poem always gives me a shiver. It's not as sweet as it sounds, it's the narration of a fairy who lures a child away to another world, to death basically.

Back in the 1800s they believed that children were at risk of falling under the enchantment of a fairy and being lured away to another realm. It was how they understood death or a child going missing and never returning home. They also used it to explain a child becoming disabled etc through illness, they believed the fairies took their healthy baby and left an other worldly changeling in it's place if the child changed in appearance or temperament. Boy children were more at risk of being "stolen", also more at risk generally of genetic illness, being kidnapped as slaves as they could work harder than girls on a farm and mischief that might get them hurt.

In Connemara and rural parts of the west those notions were thought to be so pervasive that fairies might steal your son that parents dressed their young boys in girls dresses to fool the fairies into leaving them alone. There are several pics if you search, this is one.
https://www.facebook.com/IrishChildhood/photos/a.348415355244388.88396.348410565244867/437772586308664/?type=3

It's not nearly as benign a tradition I had always thought myself. That picture really stayed with me.

gitzy16v

Terrible idea,my lad is already getting indoctrinated with the religious bull but he's too smart,way too smart for the fairy bull.

He told me about this fairy thing they were doing in school and came home saying "dad,fairies arent real are they!.They wont help with my problems.God will wont he?"

I told him he's got to sort his own problems out and if he cant Ill help him.

The best came later that week when his tooth fell out:):):rolleyes:....guess what happened next...."tooth fairy will bring me money wont she?"

Too smart,way too smart.:D

_Whimsical_

gitzy16v wrote: »

Terrible idea,my lad is already getting indoctrinated with the religious bull but he's too smart,way too smart for the fairy bull.

He told me about this fairy thing they were doing in school and came home saying "dad,fairies arent real are they!.They wont help with my problems.God will wont he?"

I told him he's got to sort his own problems out and if he cant Ill help him.

The best came later that week when his tooth fell out:):):rolleyes:....guess what happened next...."tooth fairy will bring me money wont she?"

Too smart,way too smart.:D

Fair play to him I think believing in the tooth fairy might be more beneficial than not for him, don't blame him on that one .

What age was your son when he was being told the fairy stuff in school ?

Ipso

Anyone lese notice that The Children of the Forest in Game of Thrones are very similar to the Sidhe?

gitzy16v

_Whimsical_ wrote: »

Fair play to him I think believing in the tooth fairy might be more beneficial than not for him, don't blame him on that one .

What age was your son when he was being told the fairy stuff in school ?

I could see in it his face when he said it...the little fecker remembered the conversation earlier it the week:pac::D
It was last year in Senior Infants...he's 7...started 1st class just this week.

_Whimsical_

gitzy16v wrote: »

I could see in it his face when he said it...the little fecker remembered the conversation earlier it the week:pac::D
It was last year in Senior Infants...he's 7...started 1st class just this week.

I like his style, I heartily endorse the tooth fairy personally:D.

I wouldn't be so comfortable with school teaching 6 year olds that a fairy is real, could be leaned on for emotional support or is dealing with their problems though. At 6 - 7 I'd expect more from a school in those terms.