Ed likes losing because in a school of winners, losing makes Ed different. Ed says losing is “interesting.”

        “Let's hear it for losers!” he tells a classmate.

        Ed is the main character in a story in my daughter's reading textbook. The story, “Losers Take All,” was written by someone named Avi. Yeah, just Avi. Avi is identified as an “award-winning author” though what award he won is unclear. Avi believes “each person has a way of looking at the world.” That look is to be respected. Even if it's idiotic. Like Ed's.

        When a teacher says to Ed, “It's important to win,” Ed responds, “Why?”

        Ed thinks that because he isn't good at soccer, he doesn't have to try. Ed believes he shouldn't be accountable for his losing. Ed says he's good at other stuff. Ed's big speech wraps up the story: “I don't like sports. I'm not good at it. I don't enjoy it. So, I say, so what?”

        I would take this book and personally plant it atop Mount Rumpke, except I'd only have to replace it with one just like it. Instead, when I finish reading about Loser Ed, I have to de-program my daughter.

        Sorry. But why do schools have our kids read this stuff? Isn't there a better way to bolster our little ones' precious self-images than by telling them losing is cool?

        The problem with Avi, and the legions of self-esteemers who agree with him, is that winning is important. Trying to win is important.

        Blowing off something because you're not good at it is unimportant. So is the sadly cynical manner in which Avi tells his tale.

        “Mr. Lester gave us some timely pointers,” Ed says. “Not that anyone listened.” Mr. Lester, the anti-PC coach, is encouraging his players to win. Before a game, Mr. Lester pumps his fist, a gesture Ed decides is “pathetic.”

        Instead of rallying around each other and working to reward the teachers and classmates who have tried to support them, the cynical little losers agree to keep on losing. They engage in some modern psycho-babble to validate themselves:

        “Maybe a loser makes them think of something they lost,” one says. “Like Mr. Tillman not getting into pro football.”

        “He needs us to win for him, not for us,” another player suggests.

        Assent all around.

        The story concludes with the entire team agreeing it's OK to lose: “It was a complete vote of no confidence.” Isn't that special.

        Thanks to Avi and his ilk, we have kids now who are told it's not what they achieve. It's how they feel. You can flunk science if you're good at the cello. If you don't like algebra, if you're not good at it - if you don't enjoy it - it's OK. Or, in Ed's words, “So what?”

        View the people who want to help you as out of touch. Laugh at those who encourage you. Walk around in a cocoon of self-satisfaction. And, if you don't excel at something, don't work at it.

        But this school of thumb-sucking and hand-holding might be on its way out. According to the New York Times last week, researchers have found that high self-esteem has little to do with good behavior. Some of the biggest louts think highly of themselves. Neo-Nazis, researchers suggest, believe they're pretty darned good.

        Studies show high self-esteemers were more likely to use drugs, be racists and drive drunk than those who thought less of themselves. Research proves no obvious link between low self-esteem and stupid behavior.

        Says Dr. Roy Baumeister, a professor at Case Western Reserve University: “We had optimism that high self-esteem would cause all sorts of positive consequences. The data have not borne that out. Self-esteem isn't really worth the effort. Self-control is much more powerful.”

        I closed the book on Avi's face, instead of feeding it to the dog. Score one for self-control.

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