Posted on 03/01/2007 7:00:19 AM PST by shortstop
I just watched the Southpark episode where the teacher got a sex change operation and then was furious to find out he couldn't get pregnant. Then Kyle's father gets a dolphinoplasty to become a dolphin. Then Kyle gets a negroplasty to become a tall black kid so he can make the basketball team (the coach has previously told him jews can't play basketball.) They find out that the dolphin dad can't swim, and the kid can't play basketball without his knees exploding. It's all appearances. It doesn't change the reality.
And when we get to the retirement home, they'll make GREAT caretakers. Oy vay......
I think lots of young adults/teenagers are self absorbed but some of your examples are bad.
First, kids never being on a bus. There is no way I would let my kids ride these days. We live in San Jose, California, and it is way too dangerous for them to ride on a bus. When they were little, their school district had bus service from near our house to school. My kids rode that bus. However, then the district changed it so the bus stop was over a mile away and the pick up time was 2 1/2 hours before school (6:30am). My kids were 6 & 8 at the time, and the school was only 3 1/2 miles away. I preferred us waking up at 7:30 and me driving them to school.
Two hours of homework for little kids is too much school work! Maybe in high school, 2 hours is okay but not 2 hours for elementary school kids. (I never had more than 1 hour of homework until high school back in the 70s.)
As far as backpacks go, lots of kids are having problems with heavy packpacks. My niece severely injurred her back when she was in high school. (I never had to carry so many books to and from school.)
I think kids never going to Church/Synagogue has a lot to do with their self-esteem problems. If kids know that they are sinful, and they know that God is greater than themselves, then it helps them to have a better perspective.
Parents are also self-absorbed these days and send kids to daycare all day long. Parents then can't role model good behavior. Simple things like making cookies for the new neighbor or helping a sick friend.
" There are many of us who are trying to make a difference in a broken system. "
Thank you! I believe that taking back the education system, or at the very least providing strong alternatives, is something we must do if we are going to right this ship. Thank you for holding the fort in your classroom everyday, proving to your students that there is another side to every story, and that they will be better off if they learn to look for it, and then decide for themselves.
tatt
I think we're talking about YOUR kids, Spikey.
l have two Granddaughters who are exactly what you wrote about.My Daughter has kept them in a cocoon.The older girl is in University and has never been on a city bus.lt isn't safe for her to travel anywhere alone.The girls have never done a chore.Even putting their clothes away after Mom has done the laundry is just too much for them.l don't know how they will ever be able to take care of themselves.Another thing, they have never been critized.l can't ever imagine either of them in the workforce.The first negative thing spoken to them will have them in tears.l get so frustrated with my Daughter but there is nothing l can do.The damage began when the girls were young children .
You're doing the RIGHT thing....good luck. Your son will be much stronger in life because of it!
My friend called the school and asked them why they assigned the kids homework that they couldn't possibly do without help of their parent. The answer was "we think it fosters quality time between parent and child." She answered that the time she spent helping her child with her schoolwork was NOT quality time, it was tense, frustrated time, and besides how DARE they try to manipulate her and run her life through her child! Didn't do any good.
Ha....I taught my grandson how to play ping pong....he started when he was about 4.....he got REALLY good and could almost beat me by the time he was 10....and I'm VERY good for a "girl"......I NEVER let him win.....I told him I was his COACH! I know I helped him, considering his mother and her child raising ways (My DIL - long story).
If I'm not mistaken, narcissism is a mental disorder mentioned in the DSM IV. Besides narcissism, our society is breeding sociopaths like flies.
Yeah, but we didn't make your music suck so bad.
Before we all dump on and write off this generation (of which I am not a part) we need to remember our airmen, sailors, soldiers and marines leaning into our enemies as we speak.
I am willing to bet they do not suffer from an over inflated sense of self and lack of humility. They are the next generation of leaders. The rest will be mugged by reality at some point. The USA isnt finished by a long shot.
Actually this generation is better than mine in many respects, I dont see massive student participation in anti-war rallies. Its the blue hairs from the sixties.
Schools and it's minions are not to be argued or trifled with. I teach my children that in general those institutions are full of morons. That they should do only what is required of them by the morons. You should take your childrens minds to a higher ground, and teach them what the intended purposes of schools are and what the reality is. Schools and it's employees can control everything but the free will of your child to choose. The real teaching should be done by you - and that is teaching the child to learn on his own, reading books about history, getting them into Computer programming, mathematical tutoring. Your kid can learn more quickly and more adeptly if he knows this. This idea of one size fits all learning and cramming kids through a broken system with moron mentors is complete buffoonery.
There's alot of good ones in your generation too. I know quite a few of them and some have their heads on straighter than I did at that age, and I was a pretty serious person.
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