What Color is a Mistake?

An Australian report recently indicated that teachers using red pen to mark students' work could be harming their psyche, as the color red is too aggressive. It is part of a government initiative that is attempting to address the problem of adolescent depression and suicide. Apparently, 14% of Australian children are suffering from some sort of mental illness.

I laud any attempt to deal with the serious problems of depression and youthful anxiety, but I am a little chagrined that teachers are actually being urged not to use a red pen to highlight or indicate student errors.

The argument that ‘red’ is too aggressive a color is nonsense in my opinion. Teachers have been using red pens for a century to mark student papers because it stands out from the blue and black pens that are usually used in written schoolwork. Many red pen marks indicate many mistakes. This is a simple reality. The red pen has become the scapegoat, rather than addressing the real issue –namely, poor spelling, bad grammar, or marginal student effort. Good students who do not experience many red marks on their work are also susceptible to mental illness and stress. Many students who experience problems with learning may get a lot of red marks and not develop depressions or anxiety. The color is not the problem; school success or failure is the underlying issue. If teachers had used yellow pens for a century to indicate errors, I would assume that yellow would be banned because it was too aggressive a color!

These kinds of recommendations do education more harm than good. People who are not educators will ridicule the notion of outlawing the red pen and not be amenable to other more relevant educational reforms or initiatives. They will remember the bizarre notions and not pay favorable attention to more valid practices such as positive reinforcement, educational counseling and student therapy. The red pen issue is really a red herring issue!

Perhaps there is a market for a rainbow pen that will leave a multicolored rainbow mark. Who could be offended by a rainbow?