Teachers red ink ban: Teachers at an elementary school in London were reportedly told not to use red ink as it supposedly upsets students.
“A teacher contacted me and said I cannot believe I have been instructed by my head to mark children’s homework in particular colors and not to use certain colors,” Tory member of Parliament Bob Blackman told the Daily Mail. “It is all about not wanting to discourage youngsters if their work is marked wrong.”
He said that the move sounds “like some petty edict which is nonsense. It is absolutely political correctness gone wild.”
Blackman continued: “My take on all this is to say children need to understand the difference between what’s right and what’s wrong,” suggesting that red ink on report cards and assignments shows them what mistakes they have made.
But U.K. Education Minister Liz Truss has said that the government has not banned red ink.
“The department does not issue guidelines which prohibit the use of red ink,” she said.
The BBC reported in 2003 that teachers at a primary school were told not to mark students’ work with red ink because it facilitates a “negative approach.” The school then used green ink.
“The color of the pen used for marking is not greatly significant except that the red pen has negative connotations and can be seen as a negative approach to improving pupils’ work,” Penny Penn-Howard, head of school improvement for Sandwell Council, told the broadcaster at the time.
As the broadcaster noted, the red pen was developed in the mid-19th century after ammonia-based dyes became commonplace.
