DEJA VU BLOGFEST
Here's how it works…
In the words of one of the organisers: On December 16th all of those taking part will re-post their favorite blog offering, or one that never received the exposure it should have. Then as the day unfolds and everyone hops from one blog to another, what they will be reading is the best of the best (as determined by you). That day the blogosphere will be chock full of past writing brilliance! Encouragement, enlightenment, knowledge, bared souls, stimulation, hilarity, insecurities, success stories! All on display…the very same day…like no other time before. Some of them will no doubt be familiar, well-deserving a second read, but a good many will be the first time you’ve seen them. And it couldn't be any easier to take part…no writing necessary! You can find more info HERE
When I last checked there were about 168 bloggers signed up for this awesome blogfest!
THE CHEWING GUM CONUNDRUM
The scientists really need to make up their minds. There was a time when coffee was bad for the health. And then it was okay (consumed in moderation, of course …) And the same on-again, off-again policy has applied to numerous other food types including tomatoes, peppers, ginger… I think they really enjoy baiting us plebs. Not that it's intentional. It's all in a days work.
It was late last year when the centre stage was dominated by the 900-year-old …wait for it… *drum roll*… chewing gum (though it's not really a food type). Nevertheless, to cut a long story short, a certain head teacher (somewhere in Germany) decided to introduce active chewing of gum in schools because recent scientific investigation revealed that the chewing of bubble gum has multiple benefits which meets emotional, educational, social and psychological needs… blah! blah! blah! It aids concentration/focus and helps learners to de-stress and relax… and so on and so forth… Learners feel content and less fearful.
The scientifically-proven value of chewing gum aside, it seems to me like plain old bribery. A ploy to lure lazy, stubborn kids to school. Make it seem like a "cool" place. What are the learners fearful of? Is it fear of order and discipline? Fear of rules and regulations?
So while the scientific world is on a roll, extolling the virtues of chewing gum, and the educational fraternity have jumped on the bandwagon, we may as well all join in and take it to the max…
The year is 2020…(or thereabouts). The world is in a frenzy!!! Scientists, professors, academics all abuzz with the ongoing scientific discovery… WORLD HEADLINES: We are witnessing an educational transformation on a grand scale! The world has never seen anything like this! The All-In-One-Solution-For-The-21st-Century-Learner! Forget about poor concentration and lack of focus, feelings of fear and stress, of discontentment… These are fading away, fast and furiously, as the fabulous "Wonder Solution" takes over… All you educators, teachers, learners~~ watch carefully as your fearful, unfocused, stressed out, bored learners are transformed by this miracle solution. You'll be amazed at the results. It is being hailed as the educational breakthrough of the century!!!
Yeah… right… we wish… and I'm not even gonna go into the negatives… which would be chewing gum pollution on a grand scale… unlike anything the world has ever seen…
Fast forward… a decade or two later… the year 2040…(or thereabouts). WORLD HEADLINES: Scientists have recently made a breakthrough discovery which has serious ramifications for the educational world. The chewing of bubble gum (believed to aid focus and concentration) has come under the spotlight. A brand new, one-of-a-kind research technique has revealed that the chewing of gum is actually quite detrimental to the emotional and psychological development of the young learner. This has caused widespread panic and resulted in the banning of chewing gum in all educational institutions across the globe! *giggles*
Aaaaah, well what can I say… and thereafter the scientists will move on to a new product and be busy "extolling the virtues of a new discovery" …
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(The above post was taken from the Blogging from A to Z Challenge which took place in April.) And now I'm off to visit some of the other participants!
Hello from a new follower! Yes, I've stopped listening to these warnings or benefits of foods. What was good for you last year is now bad for you. So now I just eat what I like. 🙂
LOL!! So true! I'm sick of hearing what's all of a sudden bad for me, then well, maybe not really bad. Way I see it, if it feels right to me, I'm not changing it. We have to listen to our bodies and be aware of what they tell us. People say the sun is bad for us too, yet my body craves it every spring and it feels like heaven on my skin. All about moderation.
But I kind of agree with the chewing gum for concentration. I've noticed this myself. For those of with 2 track minds, it holds our attention on the more important focus. 🙂
Hi, Mish! I'm here from the Déjá Vu blogfest. 🙂 This post is hilarious because it's too true. What's fantastic today is detrimental tomorrow and vice versa. What are we to do?? Hakuna Matata, I say! Hope you have a terrific weekend!
what a world we live in, eh?
everything in moderation, i always say!
great replay =)
I've known for ages that chewing gum keeps me awake. If I'm at a conference and especially if it's after lunch I pop a stick of gum to make sure I don't doze off. FYI, my daughter's middle school now encourages the kids to bring mints to suck during standardized testing. Research has supposedly shown that sucking on candy improves concentration. LOL
LOL!!! Chewing gum gives me headaches, what's that say about me? If I listened to the scientist more often I'd be changing vitamin supplements weekly and my diet daily. 🙂
Great re-post! Thanks for taking part in the blogfest and helping to make today so special!! 🙂
And after chewing gum, it'll be like, drinking water. LOL!
Thanks so much for joining the Blogfest!
Crazy! I'm sure all the dentists would love getting more business from tooth decay and TMJ! Nice repost!
I'm still laughing. Okay, first off, I have a son with sensory issues. Bubble Gum does help him focus. Well, not directly, it just allows him to move without disrupting the class. The teacher thought I was crazy and wouldn't allow it. Can I take your blog post in as proof. 🙂
It is crazy how every ten years they come out with a new study that contridicts the last one.
Hi! I'm a new follower from the DejaVu Blogfest. Nice to meet you!
PS – I now use a MAC and for all the benefits, it means I cannot simply click and copy the pics jpeg URL to put into my blog. I tried saving it and uploading it but it read as error? And you've not included a code. Sorry – I'll put a link of some sort on the post itself unless you can get back to me with the url. X
I saw this posted some time ago, thought what agreat idea – and then stupidly forgot all about it. I had intended to take part. O, Woe is me! Memory, memory, where art thou these days?
Perhaps it would be easier if the newspapers didn't insist on massively oversimplifying scientific studies, not to mention treating small scale studies as the consensus of scientific opinion.
Haha! "Ain't that the way it always is?!" Precisely why Inever give into fads or listen to scientists. I do what I like and like what I do. Good or bad, that's who I am.
Nice to meet you. I'm a new follower via the blogfest.
That's hilarious. Especially since the kids who became adults and banned it would have been the kids who were raised with it.
You make a good point–scientific research often seems to point in one direction one year, and then another the next!
Great post.
Fun post Mish. I love bubble gum. (I only wish this were true.
Very cute post. I can totally see the headlines.
Nice to meet you – new follower here! Great post. I'm wondering what will be considered "bad" for us in 10 years. Eggs used to be considered high cholesterol and should only be eaten in small amounts, but recently they found out that that wasn't true. And I've been hearing alarmists say that there's tons of arsenic in apple juice, but the FDA is arguing that down. Frankly I'm surprised I'm still alive and healthy after eating all this "bad" stuff all my life!
Mish, this is so fun AND so true. It would be nice if they would make up their minds on something. I do think chewing gum might be better than Ritalin for ADD though.
I get TMJ so I can't chew gum 😀
Thanks for coming by on the fest! And nice to meet another Campaigner too 🙂
What's "good" and "bad" seems to change with fads. So silly.
But as for gum, ever since they all have non-sugar/artificial sweeteners, they give me stomach aches. It took me forever to make the connection. Now I can only chew Chicklets, when I can find 'em.
This made me giggle.
The good news is that the increase in gum chewing will lead to an increased need for janitorial services (since people are often too lazy to dispose of gum in proper trash recepticles), thereby creating more jobs.
I always thought the reason they kept chewing gum out of schools is because the janitors got sick and tired of scraping it off the desks and floors. There's a job I don't ever want. It's bad enough picking up after 3 kids, I don't even want to think about cleaning up after 300!
Merry Christmas!
As a teacher, I'm not too pleased about this. I see quite a bit of gum under desks and elsewhere.
I never came across educational breakthroughs when I was a child in school. Now it seems like we're always looking for something.
Thanks for sharing and happy holidays.
A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THE BLOGGERS WHO POPPED IN DURING THE DEJA-VU BLOGFEST AND LEFT A COMMENT. MY ORIGINAL INTENTION WAS TO RESPOND TO EVERY INDIVIDUAL COMMENT… AH WELL, THE NEXT BEST THING IS TO MENTION EACH BLOGGER BY NAME.
SO HERE GOES… IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE …
A THOUSAND THANK YOUS TO :
J.C.MARTIN, PK HREZO, LAURA MARCELLA, TARA TYLER, KIM VAN SICKLER, DL HAMMONS, LYDIA K, LYNN KELLEY, CIARA KNIGHT, MARGO KELLY, SHAH WHARTON, DAVID KING, STU, NANCY S. THOMPSON, DONNA K. WEAVER, THE GOLDEN EAGLE, BARBARA JEAN BYREM, MIRANDA HARDY, JULIE DAO, VICTORIA, SOPHIA CHANG, THERESA MILSTEIN, KAREN PETERSON, VICKI ROCHO, MEDEIA SHARIF.
Hi Mish, nice to meet you! Thanks for stopping by and commenting at the A to Z April Blogging Challenge.
I don't chew gum anymore. I chewed it constantly for 6 years (one must have fresh breath in jr. high and high school) and gave myself TMJ. One orthodontist and a lot money spent later, I'm OK. Though I still sleep with my mouth gard…
<a href="http://kmdlifeisgood.blogspot.com/">Tina @ Life is Good</a>
Thanks for popping in, Tina. Seems like lots of people experienced TMJ through chewing gum… I actually googled it to get more info.
Just stopping by to say happy new year. Happy New Year!