Time to dust off the old blog for something important.

Time to dust off the old blog. For sometime now, I've been thinking about the possible ways to salvage certain aspects of the American way of life. I've come the awful conclusion, that it just isn't going to happen. I respect many of my friends who believe in becoming more politically active, or just speaking their mind on issues at hand. Here's the problem. We are a society that is the decline. I'll say it again, American society is in decline. It's from some "liberal nonsense" as being described by conservatives, and it's not some "backward thinking" by what liberals are saying.

The simple point is this. Most of our society is aging, and as baby boomers pass onto their twilight years, like every aging generation, they become increasingly concerned about their mark in the world. Like some existentialist child, they take their last gasps to try and imprint on our society, the values they once had in their 20's and pass along their knowledge. The problem is, their arguments, line of reasoning, it's all flawed. Most people aging have already lost touch with the actual society as a whole.

Compound this with a younger generation that is more concerned about "the situation" on Jersey Shore, and what some debutant is doing, than doing what is right. They are not learning or finding employment themselves. Most coddled youngsters don't even think they need a job, and much less doing one that's feasible or helpful in anyway.

There are 3 things that I think need to happen. I will focus on one topic over the next few days. As most people can guess, I'm some what of an anarchist. In the sense that I think the old system has be destroyed, rather than heap more and more and more on a problem. Build something from the ground up. That's the way to go. Here's the most pressing situation on our society today:

Education Reform

Ever since my father was in school, it's been pretty much a rule that kids should be in school. However, that system is over worked, and the time has come to just overhaul it. Here's the main point #1.

• If a student doesn't want to be in school, don't require them to be in school.

Many people will probably agree with this to some extent. The problem is that I'm realistic. No one will want to go along with this proposal because what does it do? It puts responsibility back on parents for how their kids behave and act. Thus, naturally causing them (parents) to do more work, which they do not want to do. It's a self-perpetuating exercise in ego-centrism and futility. The people with most of the responsibility for the drain, don't want to fix it themselves, and just want the problem to go away.

Let's use this for example. You have a 10 year old boy who's decided that he doesn't like his parents forcing him to go to school. What does that student do while in class? They act up, they don't learn. They cause others to not learn. They take education for granted. What are the impacts of making this kid still go to school?

1. Over blown class sizes. One less desk, means more money divided up per student for someone else to get a better education. This will cause no one to get lost in the system.



2. People don't want to BE a teacher. Teaching is a lost profession. Rarely are there any good ones left. Mostly, it's just people who can put up with the most shit, and don't necessarily excel at anything. I don't have a very high opinion of most teachers. Most honestly feel like it's an over glorified baby sitting job. However, I know a really smart guy. This guy took a job teaching Junior High, and he didn't last the term. I thought that it might be an isolated case. However, I've only recently learned that several people I'm familiar with have had similar experiences over the last year. All of which, had to deal with really bad students. Students who didn't focus, and just plain didn't want to be there. If we had smart, and good people WANT to be teachers, this wouldn't be a problem.



3. The child may learn even more destructive behaviors by people in his same socio-economic background, or even habits that may not improve his development anyway. Such as bullying/gang activity, drugs, and other destructive behaviors.

What I would propose is a more rigid example that educators and parents follow. For example, a 3 strikes policy. If a kid gets tossed out of class 3 times within a semester, that kid will then either A) be forced to get a new course, or B) Be suspended from school for a whole 6 months and those credits will not be counted. Some of you might say that it's harsh. However, let's look at impact.

Anyone Junior High age and below can tell you, being suspended sucks. The only times that I've been suspended, I had no social interaction. All my friends were off at school, and I was utterly bored. Imagine if this transpired for 6 months, an eternity for a young mind. This puts some pressure back on the parents to make life at home as dull as possible and to recognize the teaching opportunity. The child has to have every fun thing in their possession taken away and realize the consequences for what they've done. You have to make that child's life a living hell during that time. If you have anyone who doesn't appreciate their education, this will probably correct it pretty quick.

Now, for anyone in High School, this is probably not going to work. Many students have been in the system for so long, that yes...they will miss the social interaction. However, they've usually been accustomed to most of the non-interactive joys of life such as reading, or just lounging in the park, and a parents' control over that is going to be somewhat limited. However, again...this puts all the pressure back on the parent to correct. A teacher cannot discipline a child nearly as good as a dedicated parent can.

The problem is that I know every one of my friends with kids is now saying, "Terence he just doesn't understand what it is to be a parent." For the most part you're right, I don't. Which makes it far more easier to see when a system is broken, and what needs to be done to fix it. I can be dispassionate and not involved in those consequences. How it affects me doesn't enter into the equation.

The problem with every education reform put up by the left or right boils down to one thing... Throwing more money at the problem. Whether that be involved in taking money from some schools and giving to others in the form of vouchers, or just raising the taxes that schools get on education. It's simply disguising the problem. Some kids just don't want to learn. The system was broken when I was going through it several years ago. If you've got a child, and education reform isn't at the top of your list of "problems that need fixing", then I just don't know what to say.