Finally, proponents of the “self-esteem” school of educating have admitted what the rest of us have known all along: that “self-esteem” is a racket. Read this headline from a story in the Sunday edition of the Washington Post: “Teachers trying to curb ’empty praise.’ ” The following passages are from the body of the story:

“For decades, the prevailing wisdom in education was that high self-esteem would lead to high achievement. The theory led to an avalanche of daily affirmations, awards ceremonies and attendance certificates, but few, if any, academic gains.”