For My Dear Students

 The Christmas Party

 The following is an extract of the book The Optimistic Child (Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania) The Self Esteem Movement  We were surprised by what we saw in the public schools, though we probably should not have been, because what we saw just reflects the way most American parents of the boomer vintage are now raising their children. Armies of American teachers, along with American parents, are straining to bolster children's self-esteem. That sounds innocuous enough, but the way they do it often erodes children's sense of worth. By emphasizing how a child feels , at the exense of what the child does - mastery, persistence, overcoming frustration and boredom, and meeting challenge - parents and teachers are making this generation of children more vulnerable to depression. Here is a smattering of what we saw in the Aemerican classrooms: "Building Self-Esteem with Koala-Roo" contains an exercise with "YOU ARE SPECIAL" written fourteen times on on...

 "Now this here place," said the bandy-legged little guide, "is Dead Man's creek, being so named for tragedy in '98." Dr. Haledjian and the other dudes on the Wild West tour gazed blankly upon a muddy stream. "Doc Holloway's cabin stood right there," continued the guide. "I guess Doc was the most popular fellow in these parts. "Well, one afternoon Doc is patchin' up a peddler when Jim Sterling busts in. Jim says he was in town when a lone desperado with a pair of fancy six-shooters cleaned out the bank. In all the fuss and shootin', Jim is mistaken for the gunman and has to hightail it to save his hide. " 'The bandit done dropped one of his sixes,' says Jim. 'Iffin I ever see the mate, I'll have me the the real culprit.' "There was no time for playin' detective just then. A posse was comin'. Doc believed Jim was innocent, and so he puts on Jim's shirt and hat. Doc figures to lead the p...

 "The whole force is looking for Izzy the Balloon Man who kidnapped little Denis Farrell," Inspector Winters said to Dr. Haledjian. "Doesn't anyone know where Izzy hangs out?" "Nobody knows anything about him," replied the inspector. "Once a week he stops his old truck by the Farrell estate and gives out popcorn and mouse-shaped pink balloons. The kids love the funny faces he makes  as he puts the ballons to his lips and huffs and puffs. "Las Thursday Izzy made his usual stop and drove off - or so it appeared. Later, Sam Potts and the Reverend Bevin were in Sam's backyard, which abuts the Farrell property. Sam noticed one of Izzy's balloons stuck high on his oak tree. "Since there was no wind to blow it loose, San got a long ladder and climbed into the tree. From that height - about twenty feet - he could see over the  Farrell's twelve-foot wall. "Sam says that as he released the balloon he glanced into the Farrell yard ...

 Motoring through Ashe City, Dr. Haedjian decided to drop in on his old friend, Carl Messner. At Messner's home he was shocked to learn that three days earlier his friend had hanged himself. "Carl Messner was in excellent health and spirits when I heard  from him last month," Haledjian told the sheriff. "I can't believe he committed suicide." "He did - I investigated it myself," replied the sheriff. "Here's all there is to the case. "Archie Carter, Mr. Messner's manservant, was returning to the house late that night when he noticed a light in the attic. As Carter got out of his car, he saw through the open attic window Mr. Messner knotting a rope around his neck. The other end of the rope was tied to a rafter. Then Mr. Messner calmly kicked away the small stool he was standing on, and that was it. "Carter found the house door locked. He had forgotten his key so he ran to a neighbor and telephoned me. He reported to me exactly...

 "Jack Alden's account of the attempted strangling of Mrs. McHenry is pretty farfetched ," Inspector Winters told Dr. Haledjian. "Yet he passed a lie detector test. "Alden drives a delivery truck for Best Cleaners," explained the inspector. "At five minutes before noon Tuesday he drove to the McHenry House and stopped the truck in the driveway. "He spent about two minutes filling out his delivery reports for the morning. Then he got out with a dress and two suits. "As he closed the cab door, he noticed his front wheels were parked on the garden hose which ran from an outlet by the garage around to the back of the house. Alden claims he got back into the truck and drove forward a few feet so that his engine was in the McHenry's empty garage. "Here he noticed the door between the kitchen and the garage was open. He saw Mrs. McHenry lying on the floor by the stove. "He rushed to her, he says, and was trying to revive her when Mr. M...

 Hawkins, the marine, stared in amazement at Inspector Winters. "I never heard of a restaurant called Pasquale's Pizzeria," he objected. "I wasn't ever in it, I didn't rob it, and I certainly didn't shoot anybody." "A marine answering your description wounded the owner and cleaned out the cash register," said the inspector. "You didn't know?" "Am I supposed to?" protested Hawkins. "There must be several thousands of marines in this town." "But only one was running along 42nd Street five minutes after the hold-up," snapped the inspector. "Sure I ran," retorted Hawkins, "Look, I was standing idly in a doorway wondering what to do when this fat guy wearing a white apron and chef's hat comes charging at me. He's waving a butcher knife and he's screaming, 'He shot the boss!' So I ran." "You were innocent, but you ran?" "He had that big knife....