Bean In The Nose

I remember the first time I read about a child putting a bean in his nose. It was probably 10 years or so ago. It was an awful tragedy. All I remember was that the boy had to have surgery to remove it, but what struck me most was where in the world he got the idea in the first place. When I was in grade school no one I knew ever mentioned such a thing.

Well this year I am teaching typing using a program called Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. It is a terrible program from the start but I had my biggest surprise last week when I was observing my students typing the practice lessons. I was walking around the room making sure that everyone was observing good posture, hand position, etc, when I noticed that one student's practice lesson, had the sentence, "My mother was angry with me for hitting my little brother, but what was I supposed to do when he put 10 beans up his nose?"

Terrific! Two lessons here from Mavis in one sentence: hit your little brother when he is endangering his well being, and put beans up your nose.

There's the answer. Even ignoramus Mavis Beacon can't just teach children to type without exposing them to harm. And hers is the top typing program for at least five years running!