Teachers should stop using red pens to mark schoolwork: Government Report

A paper distrubuted to teachers in the Australian State of Queensland tells teachers to stop using red pens when marking schoolwork because it might upset students.

Teachers using red pen to mark students’ work could be harming their psyche as the color is too aggressive, according to education strategies in the “Good Mental Health Rocks” kit according to Reuters.

“Don’t mark in red pen (which can be seen as aggressive) – use a different color” is the helpful advice.

Also recommended is apologizing to students when necessary and asking students to conduct a “personal skills audit” where they focus on their individual strengths rather than their weaknesses.

Thankfully though there is some sanity in Queensland, with deputy opposition leader Mark McArdle* calling it “kooky, loony, loopy lefty policies.”

There’s a nanny state joke here, but this is just beyond anything I’ve ever seen.

(disclosure, a long time ago I worked with Mark McArdle’s mother, and I have probably met him.).