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Dog will help pupils deal with alcoholics



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Published Date: 12 January 2009
A DOG, neglected by its heavy-drinking master, is to be used to address the harm caused by alcoholic parents to their children. Primary pupils in West Lothian are being given a resource pack telling the story of Rory, a fictional pet.
The pack includes a digital music player, storybook, games and worksheets. The materials explain how Rory fails to understand why his owner mistreats him – until someone explains it is because he drinks too much.





The full article contains 83 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 12 January 2009 12:41 AM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 12/01/2009 10:05:28
Oh I really can't believe how stupid people can be. How the f**k do you "explain to a dog" that someone is drinking too much??

For christs sake lets start growing up... PLEASE!!! Why does everything have to be at bl00dy nursery school level nowadays?
2

Vincent-W,

12/01/2009 15:45:09
A(H-O)FH,

In this case you're spouting absolute codswallop.

Allegorical fables have long been a very effective way of communicating ideas to all ages. In this instance I can see a number of very interesting and powerful ways the message can be told.

Think about it - you know I'm right. I reckon you must be having a bad day!
3

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 12/01/2009 17:07:49
#2:

Vincent,

Unfortunately I can just picture it in my mind now---and the thought doesn't look pretty to me.

Fables had their place and still do. I remember studying Aesop's Fables when I was a kid and various concepts sinking in. However, as with anything, they are not an answer to all ills.

Increasingly nowadays everything is dumbed down to nursery school level---even for adults. I firmly believe that this approach is not working and is in fact having a rapid detrimental effect on the average intellect of the population.

For once can they not just tell it like it is, without dressing it up in pink fluff and setting it in fairy-tale land? This is a damn serious, worthwhile message and it should be presented as such---without the aid of a dog that understands English and can get his head round the concept of excessive drinking.

Far better to get this message across by showing pictures of what can happen due to excess drinking and relating the accounts. Some of them are quite horrific I can tell you, but they would certainly open the eyes more than a sad little dog would.
4

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 12/01/2009 17:10:56
In any case, Why would you want to educate primary school pupils in the evils of excess drinking? That kind of subject matter can wait until they are old enough to understand it and it actually means something to them.

This is just blatant brain washing and should be outlawed.
5

Vincent-W,

12/01/2009 18:23:52
ADHD,

A few questions for you:-

1. How do you know it is based at Nursery level? Actually it's far more likely to be aimed at P6/7. Hardly nursery!

2. How do you know it's dumbed down? Allegorical tales can be complex and thought provoking - for example Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Paradise lost and Moby Dick.

3. You're intelligent - why can't you see the parallel between the innocent ignorance of a dog and that of a young child? Surely you can understand how using a dumb animal to convey a story carries great weight.

4. Why do you refer to fairy tales and pink fluff? This is a damn serious subject and using a variety of diffrent media makes it more likely that the message will stick.

5. Surely you can see that children brought up in an environment of a heavy drinking parent may need help in recognising how that can lead to neglect or worse? There is most likely to be a message of how that child can then go on to help themselves.

6. Don't you know that patterns of parenting tend to repeat themselves? This sounds like an age appropriate attempt to break the cycle.

I agree intensely with many of your rants against overprotectiveness - but in this instance I feel you are merely being deliberately antagonistic and contrary.

Lastly it is nothing like blatant brainwashing - that's a stupid term.
6

Vincent-W,

12/01/2009 18:37:40
Actually your suggestion that it is "Far better to get this message across by showing pictures of what can happen due to excess drinking and relating the accounts." Is wrong - such shock messages and brutal reality have been proven to only have short term effectiveness, however well meaning. It is far more effective to use allegorical tales.
7

Vincent-W,

13/01/2009 08:01:39
A(H-O)FH,

Just a few more examples of the use of allegory. The 'trick' of allegory is that it is not the literal truth but appeals to the imagination, which is why it is often more effective than brute exposition of facts. Many of the examples below are not all childish despite their literal subject matter:-

Aesop – Fables
Plato – The Republic (Allegory of the Cave)
Plato – Phaedrus (Chariot Allegory)
Book of Revelation
Martianus Capella – De nuptiis philologiæ et Mercurii
The Romance of the Rose
Piers Plowman
The Pearl
Dante Alighieri – The Divine Comedy
Edmund Spenser – The Faerie Queene
John Bunyan – Pilgrim's Progress
Jean de La Fontaine – Fables
Jonathan Swift – A Tale of a Tub
Joseph Addison – Vision of Mirza
Modern allegories in fiction include:

William Golding – Lord of the Flies
George Orwell – Animal Farm
Arthur Miller – The Crucible
Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials

 

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