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Article: Of bagpipes, boys, barbarism and christmas. (Letter from the Publisher).
- Article from:
- Alberta Report
- Article date:
- December 17, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 United Western Communications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Lyle Oberg, Alberta's education minister, got himself in trouble two weeks ago by saying that boys in Grade 9 are too "goofball" to know what kind of education they need. Of course he was right, and of course his careless insensitivity earned him a thrashing from Liberals, teachers and like-minded dispensers of political correctness. To his credit, Mr. Oberg ignored them all.
"Goofball" is, however, imprecise. What adolescent boys enjoy most, to be brutally frank, is barbarism: rap music, hockey, bad English, youth gangs, violent movies, speeding and unsupervised parties. The question is not whether adolescent males will pursue barbarous enthusiasms. The only ...