TED Community » Joseph Ulrich

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• A reply on Conversation: Why should listening be taught as a skill in school?

  Aug 23 2011: I agree that it does need to be taught at home as well; and it seems as though parents aren't facing that responsibility. As far as the last paragraph, it could be written into a screenplay :] however it is quite likely that something quite like that could happen. I mean, look at history. Had children not been strong enough or had the skills to survive, far more people would have died in the Holocaust, Israeli Conflict, Genocides in Sudan. Listening is a survival skill.

• A comment on Conversation: Why should listening be taught as a skill in school?

  Aug 22 2011: My mother runs a daycare out of our home, and probably the biggest challenge with the children is their listening skills. You can tell them something and they simply will not have any idea of what you had said a minute before. Perhaps they are just rude, but I doubt it, they most likely haven't acquired a good listening skill yet.
  Listening is a skill; an art. It is so valuable, that human life depends on it. Children should be taught proper listening skills in pre-school and kindergarten. Not only will this help them academically, but socially as well. Listening is clearly associated with problem solving and being able to retain knowledge.
  Everybody needs to know how to listen. In a world crisis, which is quite possible, people will need to be able to listen and understand simple commands like "quiet"! An 8 year old child should know to listen to adults, because one day, if their country is being invaded, or life is being threatened; when somebody puts their forefinger to their lips and says "shhhhhh" you need to listen or else you and everybody else is dead. Listening is a vital and effective defensive mechanism.

• A reply on Conversation: If you could be anywhere in the world where would that be and perhaps why? :)

  Aug 22 2011: My goodness! That truly is an amazing thing to do. To become in touch with nature, your roots, yourself, and in return; THE WORLD! Have an amazing time. Maybe you could share your experience in another post?
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  A reply on Conversation: How important is your ancestry to you?

  Aug 20 2011: I agree to an extent. My ancestors don't provide a destiny for me. I am not destined to become a farmer or great military man, my life is completely in my own hands; However I do feel that in knowing that my family is traced back to the dukes of Swabia, it gives me a sense of pride, and as Cathy Dai states earlier, "a sense of belonging in this world". I have a presence in history through them, and they have a presence here and now through me. Without them, I would not exist. Every choice that they made affected whether I am here today, my brother, parents, grandparents and so on, all became of the choices that my family and early kindred have made for a hundred years, and if you really thought about it; all the way to the dawn of man itself.
  
  It definitely gives me that spark within to make something great of my life, and to continue to spread that admiration of family history on to my children for generations.

• A reply on Conversation: why protests don't work in the long run

  Aug 18 2011: I 100% agree. Look at protests with Gandhi and Martin Luther King; they have a defined leader and both were successful. Whereas the London riots and conflicts in Egypt have no defined leader. Perhaps this is because the protests involve crime ie. arson, firearms, vandalism. Who would want to be a leader in a protest that demonstrates with crime? A fine rhetorical question that is, it all depends on leadership and the type of protest.
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  A comment on Conversation: If you could be anywhere in the world where would that be and perhaps why? :)

  Aug 18 2011: I would like to visit Bavaria, the land of my ancestors. I would backpack from the Rhineland to the Borderlands of Eastern Europe. I would then learn how divine the land really is, and how blessed I am to be part of the culture.

• A reply on Conversation: If you could be anywhere in the world where would that be and perhaps why? :)

  Aug 18 2011: By reading your passage here, I would say you are not far from it. You've grasped the language very well. Keep up the good work and studying. English is one of the most difficult languages to learn, and you are doing very well.

• A comment on Conversation: Is giving Junk food to kids child abuse?

  Aug 17 2011: This is a wonderful topic, Tsepang.
  
  I am a resident of Michigan, one of the United States' most obese states. Many of my fellow peers that I've gone to school with are obese or have other health problems that can be associated with their diet. This is because of the food that is provided for them is unhealthy.
  It all goes back to funding and government subsidies. Many soda pop companies and chip companies have deals with the school districts that provide lunch for our young children. Frito Lay and Pepsi companies are actually subsidized, meaning that they are given money to make more of their product. My old high school actually has a contract with Pepsi, stating that the only beverages that can be sold by the school can only be Pepsi products. This is an outrage. These contracts and subsidies make the product cheaper to buy.
  With that, Frito corn chips are cheaper than apples or asparagus. Soda pop is cheaper than milk. Any family stricken by poverty really has no choice but to buy what is affordable to them, in this case, the unhealthier foods. I grew up in an inner city district, a lot of my fellow peers grocery shop at the Dollar General Store; their supper consisting of Faygo brand grape soda and Doritos.
  Back to your main question. Is this abuse? I would definitely have to say no. However, I would greatly consider it to be neglect. Abuse is on a far greater level. Somebody has the choice to abuse or not ie: physical or verbal abuse. But when ones financial abilities are cut short from poverty, they really have no choice but to provide the unhealthy and more affordable food for themselves and their children.
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  A comment on Conversation: What's your short story in 6 words? Go!

  Jul 7 2011: Oh no, I soiled my pants.

• A comment on Conversation: Can one live their life without any negativity?

  Jul 7 2011: Would you agree that with every "bad" thing that happens, there is something "good" that comes out of it?