Go to Hot and Cold from Me and You
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- Go to As Ariala Said to Me, "I Learned a Long Time Ago Not to Make Promises".
I find I'm in agreement with you re. your thoughts about public education. There is an old saying in education that goes something like this "mediocrity breeds mediocrity". I was never sure when I was in education whether the administrators were weak and spinless because of the district administration, parent pressures, pressures from the state board of education or whether education acted as a magnet for those who were weak in the first place. I spent almost twenty years in public education as a teacher, counselor and psychologist. In all those twenty years I can only remember two Principals who were strong and stood their ground with parents, community and incompetent teachers. I finally left the field being totally burned out and no longer having any faith that I was helping anyone. I can remember my first year as a teacher when an older teacher who was advising me said to me "you'll never make it, you'll be gone into some other career within a few years". At the time I was offended, feeling that she was inferring that I was not a good teacher. Many years later I believe she was complimenting me on my strength and forthrightness. Those who say what they believe, especially if its not a popular point of view are usually scapegoated in any large group. You either continue to say what you believe and take the risk of being scapegoated or you bury your head in the sand, keep your thoughts to yourself and walk around "stoned" without the benefit of marijuana.
I do, however, believe change is possible. It is like a large ship turning around. If you're on the ship it doesn't feel as if its moving at all.
Paz
posted by
Wetzel
on March 24, 2005 at 1:10 PM
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People who care are usually also the ones that find a way to make a difference...
posted by
DarrkeThoughts
on March 24, 2005 at 8:23 AM
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1973, 1977, 1978, The Mid-1980s, The Present, The Future...
In 1973, I received the bad news that the powers-that-be had decided that we just couldn't live without capital punishment--and so I responded by creating a petition and trying to get people to sign it. I got quite a few signatures--even though I also ran into some people who believed in the death penalty. They were perfectly-nice people and not some sort of creeps--just didn't share my opinion.
In 1977, I woke up crying on the morning of January 17, because I knew that, while I was sleeping, the world had changed and not for the better.
In 1978, I was sitting on the floor of our family room doing what is now called "multi-tasking."
Part of me was focused on working on the crafts that I was making for our upcoming church bazaar; part of me was focused on the thought of calling a good friend and inviting him to come to Anderson for the bazaar; and part of me had my ear to the TV where the local five-o-clock news was just coming on.
The first story that came on was about my friend:
a friend who had, less than a year before, undergone successful by-pass surgery, coming out of it with flying-colors;
a friend who had traveled all the way to Africa at a dangerous time to serve as a goodwill ambassador of sorts and promote healing in a war-torn area and had returned home safe and sound;
a friend who had, after being such a survivor, been shot to death in Indianapolis, the city where he had made his home for many years, while waiting for the light to change.
Someone had senselessly deprived me of the chance to call my friend and invite him to the bazaar--and of so many calls and visits I could have been enjoying with him in the years to come.
Someone had senselessly broken my heart--not to mention the hearts of his widowed mother, his young son, and the other friends and relatives who loved him so much.
So, it should follow that I would change my views on the death penalty--even to the point of volunteering to pull the switch.
Yet, this wasn't what happened.
In the mid-1980s, I wrote a poem that basically said that, because we were "just," we executed; because we were "merciful," we would legalize euthanasia; and, because we were "practical," we would kill off people who had become "useless" in our eyes.
In the present, part of what this poem predicted has been coming true.
What does the future hold in store for us?....................
Note: This comment has definitely turned into a piece...
Peace!
AJ 
You are cordially invited
to visit my new website
which is called
Just Another Website By Ainsley Jo Phillips.
It contains all kinds of great
links and is still growing,
so come back again and again!
Don't forget to
sign my guestbook!
posted by
Ainsley_Jo_Phillips
on March 24, 2005 at 1:34 AM
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One must learn to care without internalizes everything around them...
posted by
Ariala
on March 23, 2005 at 6:13 PM
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