>WOW, WHAT A WAKEUP
>
>Dear God:
>
>Why didn't you save the school children at ?. .
>
>Moses Lake, Washington 2/2/96
>
>Bethel, Alaska 2/19/97
>
>Pearl, Mississippi 10/1/97
>
>West Paducah, Kentucky 12/1/97
>
>Stamps, Arkansas 12/15/97
>
>Jonesboro, Arkansas 3/24/98
>
>Edinboro, Pennsylvania 4/24/98
>
>Fayetteville, Tennessee 5/19/98
>
>Springfield, Oregon 5/21/98
>
>Richmond, Virginia 6/15/98
>
>
>Littleton, Colorado 4/20/99
>
>Taber, Alberta, Canada 5/28/99
>
>Conyers, Georgia 5/20/99
>
>Deming, New Mexico 11/19/99
>
>Fort Gibson, Oklahoma 12/6/99
>
>Santee, California 3/5/01
>
>El Cajon, California 3/22/01
>
>Red Lake, Minnesota 4/21/05
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Concerned Student
>
>-----------------------------------------------------
>
>Reply:
>
>Dear Concerned Student:
>
>I am not allowed in schools.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>God
>
>----------------------------------------------------------
>
>How did this get started?...
>
>-----------------
>
>Let's see, I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare complained she
>didn't want any prayer in our schools.
>
>And we said, OK...
>
>------------------
>
>Then, someone said you better not read the Bible in school, the Bible that
>says "thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbors as
>yourself,"
>
>And we said, OK...
>
>-----------------
>
>Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave
>
>because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage
>their self-esteem..
>
>And we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we won't
>spank them anymore...
>
>------------------
>
>Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our
>children
>
>when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member
>in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't
>want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued.
>
>And we accepted their reasoning...
>
>------------------
>
>Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want, and
>they won't even have to tell their parents.
>
>And we said, that's a grand idea...
>
>------------------
>
>Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and
>they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they
>want, so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell
>their parents they got them at school.
>
>And we said, that's another great idea...
>
>------------------
>
>Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn't matter what we do in
>private as long as we do our jobs.
>
>And we said, it doesn't matter what anybody, including the President, does
>in private as long as we have jobs and the economy is good...
>
>------------------
>
>And someone else took that appreciation a step further and published
>pictures of nude children and then stepped further still by making them
>available on the Internet.
>
>And we said, everyone's entitled to free speech....
>
>------------------
>
>And the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that
>promote profanity, violence and illicit sex... And let's record music that
>encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes...
>
>And we said, it's just entertainment and it has no adverse effect and
>nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead...
>
>------------------
>
>Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they
>don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill
>strangers, classmates or even themselves.
>
>------------------
>
>Undoubtedly, if we thought about it long and hard enough, we could figure
>it out. I'm sure it has a great deal to do with...
>
>"WE REAP WHAT WE SOW,"
>
>------------------
>
>Pass it on if you think it has merit! If not then ?

This vantage seems focused on blame. It also sidelines the wisdom of educators and specialists in how we best learn and adapt. It's a classic black and white conservative stance that many hold dear. I don't share an appreciation for this.

Teaching is an art form. Old fashioned methods got some of the job done but left in their wake, a lot of other unresolved issues.

A nostalgic longing for "the good old days" seems thin to me. I don't see them as "good old days". Much remains to be done and entrenching into narrow rule sets seems counter intuitive to me now.

I've been gifted with a child that is oppositionally defiant. This means that any force I might apply to conflicting positions is counter productive. My nature and how I was brought up would be to administer force in one way or another. This created in our family a big problem. While the other girls and my wife got busy learning other ways to meet the needs of them and our youngest, I clung to traditional values and continued to make the situation worse.

I've since had to come down off my high horse of confidence to comprehend in real ways what it takes to live in a grey world where the only one I can change is myself. In doing this my child and our family have benefited immensely.

People have different ways of adapting to change. Frustrations voiced in this piece are understandable to me, but it's divisive in tone. It doesn't document an understanding based on any empathy or compassion. I have a hard arsed brother that walks this line very closely. His daughter tried to commit suicide this year and very nearly got the job done.

He has no practical knowledge of the power of empathy or compassion, but those are what's needed to help his kids understand some of what will help them to be more at one with the world around them and at peace with themselves. My brother instead has written a big book or rules that they are to live by. I'm betting on more trouble ahead. It's just not as simple as black and white rules.

When it comes to how people learn and how change comes about in fundamental ways is full of grey areas. We would be wise to try and teach something to someone that did not want to learn what we had to teach before jumping to such simplistic conclusions as are presented here. It's just not as easy as it's made out to be in this piece.

This is typically a male perspective in my opinion and historically I don't find men to have balanced our need for control and influence very well with our feminine counterparts views that tend to be more prone to nurturing.

If there is a lot of energy around this, maybe you all could take it to the debate forum where I think it would be more appropriate if debate is to follow.

Can a mod move this to a debate forum ?

Just open a thread there Dave. I'd like this to stay. We are trying not to cannibalise the main board for the sake of the debate forum and I think our policies are reflected well here.
Thanks for your help in this. I appreciate your efforts.
Cheers!