Letter of the week

BUCKETS OF MEMORIES Some people may remember the Ice Bucket Challenge, but some people may not know what a famous meme it was. I learned about it on Facebook and Istagram. At first, I saw many singers, actors and actresses splash water on themselves. I didn't learn until later that it was a challenge to help raise money for and awareness about ALS research. Whoever was dared had to put ice water in a bucket, dump it over themselves and donate money. I think that it was a good idea. Lots of teenagers loved it and had a good time with it. The most important thing was that it helped other people. Thanawan Haruthaisuksan, Udon Thani The Ice Bucket Challenge seems to have happened such a long time ago, Thanawan. It's hard to believe that it was in full swing just a few months ago. That's the way things go on the Internet. They pop up one day, and we're on to something new the next. I do agree that it did raise a lot of awareness about a terrible disease, so that's a great thing. — Editor

 

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STEM SELL

Recently Professor Vasinee Issarasena na Auythaya shared her idea of how to improve Thailand's low education ranking within ASEAN with STEM. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

She also added that America believes that STEM will build a generation that is more ready to cope with new situations that will arise in the future. Because I am a public primary school teacher, I hope that her dreams will come true.

Supoj Jaraswimol,
Rayong

I agree that focusing on the basics of education can be a good thing, Supoj. I'm not sure that the American system is one to emulate, though. The "No Child Left Behind" initiative has been an unmitigated disaster in my home country. It seems to me that a lot of kids are slipping through the cracks with this approach. Educators end up teaching to the test, rather than teaching young people critical thinking skills and a more holistic approach to learning. Not to mention that there is a woeful lack of humanities and arts education. There needs to be more balance in overall education. STEM may solve some problems, but it has the potential to cause a whole set of others. — Editor

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ROAD RAGE

I recently heard a story about a lorry crash. The lorry was full of beer, and a lot of that beer fell out onto the roadway. This is not unusual because there are many road accidents in Thailand every day.

What was unusual is that many people stopped and began to take the beer that had spilled. There seemed to be nobody who was helping the driver of the lorry, who was injured.

This story makes me sad. We should care more about people and less about things — especially things like beer.

Eddie,
via email

I just read about that story in the newspaper, Eddie. It certainly is a sad state of affairs that doesn't reflect well on people in general. I think that it's important to remember that these kinds of incidents actually get a lot of attention because people see or read about them and are offended. Most people also agree that this kind of behaviour is not appropriate. If people saw this and there was no reaction at all, that would really be a problem. — Editor

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