Not Fair, I Say...

...so, today's LARP involved solving runic script and a floor tiled more gaudily than Juilin's shirt with no mobs in sight, suggesting more puzzles to solve?

Sods law runs wild on the LARPs I miss once again.

SHIT.

Not fucking fair, I tell you.

If I were a betting man, I'd put money on Sod continuing to mess with my head, and a out and out hack and slash fest in a fortnight's time, where (if I get to play) all I'll be is thirty-two Heal Life 20s and a limb breakage liability. I would give so much money to just to know to be present on those games where niche skills might make a difference...

EDIT - 8pm: They've just timed out after seven hours, meaning the last two games I have missed have cost me thirteen and a half hours game time and approximately twenty-seven character points. Anyone want to give me a price on the game on the 24th being affected by rain and lasting about three, or by some co-incidence just not being that long a game, and coming out at around four?

This News Story Came At The Wrong Time...

...there is a move to scrap SATs for under 16s.

*Incoherent scream of rage*

What. The Fuck. Next.

The GTC believes that to alleviate "added stress" among pupils and teachers, tests should be scrapped, and replaced with alquot monitoring of pupils.

At some point, do you not think it's a fairly good idea to put just a modicum of pressure on schoolchildren to do something that will actually benefit them in the future? At my primary school, I was tested every week in maths. At my middle school, I was tested every week in maths and every fortnight in french. At RGS, I was tested on every subject I took at the end of every year. It is possibly for this reason that I quite enjoy exams - I learnt how they fit in with the education process and how pressure can be used to motivate yourself to do better.
I enjoyed the tests I went through in primary school - One to Ten was a mental arithmetic game that we kept records of so we could watch our progress improve over time. It was also slightly competetive (well, a little competetive). In middle school (years five to seven), we had Thirty by Twelve, a set of thirty questions on the one to twelve times tables that we all started at the same time, and got to say "Stop" when we finished, at which point the teacher would give us our time. Our improvement was obscene - first time we did it, I was the first to stop the clock on 3:45, scoring 29/30. By the last week, we had four of us down under a minute, with a guy called Nick top of the class at 0:57, and to have anyone in the class getting less than 30/30 was almost unheard of. It was great fun, but it put us under pressure - our own pressure which the teachers quite sensibly did nothing to prevent, save to make sure it didn't get out of hand. We also had various language games in French (normally girls vs. boys - we were that age) where speed of thinking and getting it right were prized and rewarded. It put pressure on us, and it was great. We responded by launching ourselves at it and getting much better in order to do well. Without the kind of sensible pressure that the teachers seemed to have half an idea of how to impart upon their pupils, we wouldn't have been half as good as we were.
At RGS we were taught an independant curriculum, so the teachers were able to set their own exams. However, we had been taught the value of revision timetables, keeping good notes, learning throughout the year and avoiding cramming by the time we were twelve - for those who listened, by the time the official exams came round at sixteen, it was second nature to us and I'll guarantee we piled into the GCSEs with more fervour than a great many pupils. The pressure they put us under got us into the right mindset to get good grades from the moment we showed up, and it was brilliant.

Do the education authorities think that the world of work isn't going to put people under pressure when they grow up? Do they not think that kids might enjoy a little competition in their lives in order to get better? Do you not watch them out on the playgrounds, competing like bastards?

Put them under some damn pressure and see what squeals. If someone drops the ball, help them pick it up and keep going. When I got something wrong and someone else didn't, it pissed me right off and I made damn sure I got it right next time. This was good for me, and it came about because there was pressure on me to get it right. Today, I set high standards for myself, and I thank God I do, because if I didn't there's no way I would have got the grades to get to Bristol, or to come to Bath, or to be heading for a PhD. I have some natural skill, and putting it under pressure made me use it.

Might it not be a good idea to impart some pressure towards actually succeeding in what they came to school to do? As opposed to taking all the importance out of education in favour of making making sure that their schooling doesn't get in the way of those important social pressures, like who is friends with who, who's listening to what band and who has the best clothes?

Fucking hell people, sort it out before I have to inflict what you call an education system on my children.