Alden S. Blodget

Teacher, administrator 

I grew up in a town where alcohol was like oxygen: ubiquitous and taken for granted. Every day’s cocktail 'hour' pushed dinner later and later. On weekends, Bloody Marys preceded lunch.

Preventing Underage Drinking By Educating Parents About ‘Social Host Liability’

I lay in bed moaning and vowing never to drink again, but a couple of morning screwdrivers fixed me right up. This cycle of euphoria and pain became the pattern of my life, and I followed it blithely into adulthood.

What’s The Harm? On Having A Drink Then, And Now

Alden Blodget: "Adults continue to throw parties, to drink with the young, to chuckle over the cuteness of a two-year-old taking his first sip, to reinforce the iron connection between booze and fun." (Classic Film/Flickr)

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Health

Life

Opinion

I have seen...passivity in students. Their behavior in the classroom -- the lack of engagement, the willingness to yield to authority, the lack of skepticism -- reflects a deeper, more fundamental submissiveness.

Millennial Generation Searches For Meaning

At some point...it’s up to children to engage in their educations and become active learners and thinkers. But the adults in their lives have the responsibility to teach them how. 

Where Are They Going? Helping Our Students Find Their Way

It's up to students to engage in their educations, and it's up to the adults in their lives to show them how. (Lori Greig/flickr)

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Education

In the classroom, the one doing the talking is the one doing the learning. That means that teachers get the best educations, while students get quality time with their iPods or text messages.

Educators need to explore how to design teaching strategies and school structures to reflect the needs of learners, not the needs of teachers.

Lesson From A Tuned-Out Classroom: Talking Isn't Teaching

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Propriety expects us to want to stay alive at all costs. Any talk about alternatives to suffering -- suicide, death with dignity, euthanasia -- is considered almost obscene.

It seems that the grief generated even by the thought of death prevents us from considering the feelings and needs of the dying.

Who Wants To Die? Not Me — But Can We At Least Talk About It?

We need to move beyond our embarrassment and anger and let people talk about death without the platitudes and panic. (Pollobarba/flickr)

Alden S. Blodget

Recently published

What’s The Harm? On Having A Drink Then, And Now

Cognoscenti

Where Are They Going? Helping Our Students Find Their Way

Cognoscenti

Lesson From A Tuned-Out Classroom: Talking Isn't Teaching

Cognoscenti

Who Wants To Die? Not Me — But Can We At Least Talk About It?

Cognoscenti