Grading papers with a red pen. What is your opinion about this?
By kgwat70
@kgwat70 (13387)
United States
January 29, 2007 4:49pm CST
Does your child or someone you know have bad self esteem or lack oonfidence because of seeing red marks on his or her paper? I have heard from coworkers and from other adults and websites that red pen can have a very negative effect on a child self esteem and confidence. I never had this problem when I was younger. I think it is easier to find my mistakes with a red pen. Have you heard of this happening to anyone? Do you agree that red pens should not be used for grading papers? I use a green pen to grade papers at work. Here is a link to just one of the sites that talks about red pens.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20041004/news_1m4pens.html
4 people like this
15 responses
@MrCoolantSpray (1005)
• United States
4 Feb 07
My dad is a teacher (high school french). He uses a green pen to grade papers because he hated seeing red on his papers as a student. It's less demoralizing, I think, but if most teachers used green instead of red, then green would be the scary color.
I hate talk about self-esteem. If peopl need better self-esteem and confidence, they shouldn't screw up as much.
2 people like this
@hockeygal4ever (10021)
• United States
2 Feb 07
I never really viewed it as something to belittle the student. It's an easier way to first off make the teachers markings and such quickly viewable. It also keeps students from changing things, because a red pen is simply what the teacher uses and you don't have those in your "normal" school supplies list. I don't see anything wrong with it at all and I think people need to quit over analyzing life!
2 people like this
@kgwat70 (13387)
• United States
3 Feb 07
I never viewed it as being detrimental to a student or their feelings. It is just to indicate what they did wrong so they can see it better and learn from their mistakes. it never affected me. I agree with you that too many things in life are over analyzed. I did a search on the web to see if there was any truth to this and there were some sites.
1 person likes this
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
7 Feb 07
I remember having several papers returned where we would joke that the teacher must have bleed all over it due to the amount of red ink. I don't think though the color has anything to do with the confidince level or self esteem. I think it's more how the teacher grades the papers. If they are sarcastic comments on the paper, ones that nitpick on every single thing and not just the important stuff, things like that can make it hard on a student but not the grading itself or it's color. Red was usually used because the students didn't use red pen, it showed up.
@doncris (637)
• Romania
1 Feb 07
I honestly say that I have never heard of this before and that it seems kind of silly. Are you sure it's for real? I mean, if it is, then it must be psychologically connoted, because how else could anyone explain it? A child "suffering" from this should get in my opinion, an examination right away!
@kgwat70 (13387)
• United States
2 Feb 07
I have been told this is true but never met anyone that had problems with a red pen mark on their paper. It is on several websites out there so there must be some truth to this. When I started my job, my boss told me not to use a red pen but some other color so I am using green.
@Jemina (5770)
•
1 Feb 07
I'm a teacher and I have never observed that from my students. But I guess it depends on what the red mark says like for example a check for correct answer. However I did notice that correcting writing tests does have a negative effect on the students if they see a lot of red inks across the page. But that doesn't mean that I would insist on using red pens. Thanks for sharing this info. I think I'm going to use pink or purple or orange next time.
1 person likes this
@kgwat70 (13387)
• United States
1 Feb 07
The article actually states that purple is the best color pen to use for grading papers. I use a green pen at work and everyone dreads the green pen. LOL I don't think it is just red that bothers students as any color could upset them if they see a lot of mistakes and negative remarks on the paper.
@schoolteacher15 (15)
• United States
13 Feb 07
Language Arts teacher within our district were given an opportunity to read some research to show that red pen had a bad effect on student responses.
It was suggested that teachers use purple pen. I have used this technique and it has worked great over the years. Students do not feel so defeated when they see the comments on the paper from a different color.
Also remarks made on the paper must be positive feedback. When there is something wrong with a students paper, I will ask a question or give a suggest instead of making a negative comment.
2 people like this
@edigital (2709)
• United States
30 Jan 07
Yes I support you, red color is fearful color say red signal stop car, red mark denodes bad remark and error point while we are in engage in many activity. But red color have some gravity to in other meaning i.e. red is symbol of brave revolt, red color on lip for more charming the lip, red bindi for sacred act of marriage in some region. So if we teach our childs about good side of red color they will not be too afraid about red.
@littlefranciscan (18327)
• United States
29 Jan 07
I dont think that red ink is negative.I do know that in traffic red means stop and people associate red with something we should take note of..Read stands out better and so it's easier to take note of what needs to be corrected..I never minded the red ink when I was little..not even when it filled up the page:)+
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
29 Jan 07
I honestly think it is ok. I have never heard of that. It just makes it easier to see.
1 person likes this
@margieanneart (26423)
• United States
31 Jan 07
I think there is nothing wrong with using a red pen. It will stand out, and that is what the correction is about. So, stick with it is what I say. I have never heard anything negative about it, and it didn't bother me growing up at all.
1 person likes this
@kgwat70 (13387)
• United States
1 Feb 07
It does stand out more than other colors and I find it easier to find the mistakes I made when i was younger with a red pen. The other colors may blend in with my work. My mom does teaching and her students do not complain about red pen marks either.
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
30 Jan 07
This is really interesting. I had never thought of it before. I know kids with low self esteem and they tend to not do as good in school so they probably see lots of red marks. I have never heard anyone say anything about the red marks though. I too use a red pen as it is easy to see quickly. I will give this some serious thought. Thanks for starting this discussion.
1 person likes this
@kgwat70 (13387)
• United States
30 Jan 07
I had never heard or thought about it before til I started working this job. It never crossed my mind as I was used to red marks when I got something wrong on my work. I can see where a lot of red marks can be discouraging but if a student does well and only has a few or little then it should not effect them.
@destinycole (827)
•
29 Jan 07
Some teachers will not use red pen, I always graded in pencil because we where told that the red pen is seen as negative, so I always grade in pencil or green pen.
@XxAngelxX (2830)
• Canada
29 Jan 07
I think that is just the buzz now. It's all about giving kids lack of confidence, but what happened to actually correcting them? They won't correct kids spelling in elementary anymore because it will give them a lack of confidence! Whatever, I think that's just false. I got red marks as a kid when I did something wrong in school and it never affected me. Just made me try harder to get less red marks, that's all.
1 person likes this
@kgwat70 (13387)
• United States
29 Jan 07
I got red marks on my papers too and it did not effect me at all and still would not even today if I were to take classes. It makes it easier for me to see my mistakes and know what I did wrong. Having any kind of mark should make us all work harder unless we have a big 100% on our paper. :-)
@rosemary39a (7)
• United States
1 Feb 07
Red is my favorite color and the kids I work with know that I make lots of comments and suggestions both good and negative in red ink. I think it is the attitude the teacher gives the kids not the color of the ink, does anyone agree with me?
1 person likes this
@Lydia1901 (16351)
• United States
16 Feb 07
Well, that is very interesting. I do not think that ever had any effects on me. I really didn't care either way. I just told myself that is how they grade papers and not worry alot about that.
