Upon reading about the school that took lunch trays, literally out of the children's hands and thrown away, two thoughts immediately came to mind.
One prompted me to call the local school to donate lunch money. The second thought was that of the "old days" when the school bully took a fellow student's milk or lunch money. In all the "anti-bullying" awareness, we seem to have overlooked something very fundamental. By old school definition, these children were bullied by the staff! Public education is a place of learning. What did all the children learn that day?
Retractions, mea culpas, and promises of policy change don't hold a candle to the example that was set that day and the humiliation some of those children endured. Laws against children bullying other children, I guess are all well and good, if the parents aren't going to teach their children any better, but this report has raised a new question. Since this is just one headline over a major issue of taking food out of the children's hands and sending them back to class hungry, how much more bullying are some children enduring at the very hands of those who are teaching?
Legislating against bullying while publicly teaching it, seems a real double message in the programming of what we call public education.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Realization
Some very strange "coincidences" have occurred in the last couple of years, that are totally unrelated, but seemingly similar. Due to very different circumstances, there was a break down or hiatus in interactive communication for a time. Then when the connection was somewhat reestablished, a strange realization washed over me. I realized how much I hadn't missed the communication in the down time . . .
Now, realizing this sounds vague, please let me explain. Often we find ourselves in situations in which we simply don't know how to stop. Some may feel they will eventually find a way to make their point understood. Others may simply be hoping for a positive interaction. While still others may find themselves hoping to say or do just the right thing to be accepted, or their message accepted. In the past several months, I've learned a new perspective.
We all drift away for various reasons at different times in our lives, from people and circumstances we thought would always be there. People get busy, work hours change, marriages and divorces change social circles, children and their activities change social opportunities, closing some and opening others. The reasons don't have to be a negative thing at all, but once circumstances have reallocated priorities, we gain a different and often a distant perspective.
Through circumstances beyond my control, a forums board became inaccessible for a time. As it turns out, when it did become available again, it was so easy to see a pattern that I didn't choose to participate in again. A breakdown or time space in family or friend communications can also result in a new awareness, when the regathering takes place. Sometimes relationships are simply too high maintenance to maintain. We don't have to be cruel about it, but we are not obligated to willingly enter bondage or psychological servitude.
Sometimes we simply realize, it's all been said and done, and the parties involved really don't share common interests. It's okay to move on. It's not hard hearted or calloused to realize how much we DID NOT miss some interactions. Sometimes that decision will save us from words of regrets and empty expectations.
Now, realizing this sounds vague, please let me explain. Often we find ourselves in situations in which we simply don't know how to stop. Some may feel they will eventually find a way to make their point understood. Others may simply be hoping for a positive interaction. While still others may find themselves hoping to say or do just the right thing to be accepted, or their message accepted. In the past several months, I've learned a new perspective.
We all drift away for various reasons at different times in our lives, from people and circumstances we thought would always be there. People get busy, work hours change, marriages and divorces change social circles, children and their activities change social opportunities, closing some and opening others. The reasons don't have to be a negative thing at all, but once circumstances have reallocated priorities, we gain a different and often a distant perspective.
Through circumstances beyond my control, a forums board became inaccessible for a time. As it turns out, when it did become available again, it was so easy to see a pattern that I didn't choose to participate in again. A breakdown or time space in family or friend communications can also result in a new awareness, when the regathering takes place. Sometimes relationships are simply too high maintenance to maintain. We don't have to be cruel about it, but we are not obligated to willingly enter bondage or psychological servitude.
Sometimes we simply realize, it's all been said and done, and the parties involved really don't share common interests. It's okay to move on. It's not hard hearted or calloused to realize how much we DID NOT miss some interactions. Sometimes that decision will save us from words of regrets and empty expectations.
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