After cheese bread, learning begins at Wellstone Elementary, St...

[Peter]

Just a happy-go-lucky story where the underlying problem is really serious. Where's the OMG, look at the rise in kids from families that are so dysfunctional they can't even feed their own kids? Not a peep about where this growing social problem is coming from. Nope, it's all just fabulous. I wonder what share of this growing social problem was simply imported. What's coming from the recession? What's coming from illegitimacy and carefree irresponsible breeders? Nope, not a peep, just warm fuzzies, it's all good.

[Incredible70]

ZenBirdist wrote:

<quoted text>For what it's worth, I wish everyone had your fortitude, willingness, and ability to provide for their children. Since that's far from reality, I believe we need to have a program like this to help ensure that all students have at least a fair chance to succeed academically. If we want to stop the cycle of welfare and illiteracy, we need to reach the kids, don't you think?

The vast majority of kids in the cycle of welfare and illiteracy are not going to get out regardless of how much money we throw at them, because they are taught every day that working hard is for suckers. I know plenty of kids that I went to school that were 'poor'. Heck, for that matter, I was 'poor' by today's standards. But there was a huge difference between then and now:
Our parents wanted us to have more than they did. They not only wanted but demanded that we work hard, and succeed. Not working hard meant repeating grades, and the SHAME that went with it. Mouthing off to teachers meant detention at school, and that was the best part of our day, because coming home meant a lecture, and punishment. Being out past curfew meant a few months without the car, cleaning the bathroom every day, and possibly painting the garage a few times. Not going to college was looked at as a failure in our first real steps as adults.
I made my own cereal for breakfast. I packed my own lunch. I rode my bike or walked to school. My parents both worked to keep a roof over our heads, and food on our table. I came home after school (right after school) and helped make dinner and maintain the house.
My parents didn't cry for the school to feed me because they were 'poor' or because they were too busy to do it. My parents didn't get paid to sit on the couch. My parents didn't have more kids than they could afford, and didn't get a dime for the ones they had. We didn't tell the teacher to ban peanuts because it made my bother sick...my brother was taught to just say 'no thank you' when something was offered that might make him sick. The teachers taught us to read, to write, and to do math, and to be good citizens. We didn't have classes about 'preserving our Mother, the Earth'. We had sex ed for a few weeks...they told us how it worked, but the main lesson was that if you got pregnant (or got someone pregnant) you were screwed for life, so don't have sex until you are ready to have kids. And my graduating class of 400 put 350 of us (at least) into college or tech school, without No Child Left Behind. I bet any of the inner city high schools would kill for those numbers now.
Certain facets of our society has lost their way with our children. We no longer dream for them to be better than us. We no longer demand that they work as hard as they can in everything they do. They look at MTV and in their own neighborhoods and see that crime and sloth DOES pay. They look at the athletes in the pros, or at places like the U, and they learn that breaking the law and fighting the cops doesn't even cut into their playing time. In fact, they are taught that the police are 'out to keep them down' and not be trusted. Our children are taught that they deserve handouts.
And Zen, until we fix that, we will never break the cycle, no matter how much money we throw away into the bottomless pit that public education has become.