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I have an opinionPosted Wednesday, February 10, 2010, at 1:23 PM
I am very lucky. As a child, my parents always encouraged me to reach my highest potential, whether it was in the classroom or at the pool. I knew that as long as I worked hard and did my best, they would be proud of me. To this day, they log onto this very website and tell me how wonderful I'm doing. Regrettably, not all children are as fortunate as I was or am.
Recently, I've had a lot of e-mails and phone calls regarding the graduation rates story I wrote, titled "Graduation rates continuing to rise." So I called the principals and I asked more questions. I immersed myself in the Indiana Code and if I wasn't familiar with the Department of Education website before, I am now. I began trying to piece together a story that would be beneficial to the readers, entertain them as well as bring to light the information that I discovered. I became so fixated on the story, I would think about it while cooking dinner and burn my meal or I would shampoo my hair twice and forget to condition. There was one time I even forgot to clean out the litter box. Needless to say, my cats were not happy about that. What wasn't printed in the story was my feelings, how I felt after receiving phone calls and e-mails from people who have the best intentions at heart but didn't know the best way to convey what they wanted. Usually I received e-mails and phone calls from people telling me that I didn't do my job and I was missing the full picture, but they were not willing to go on record. Everyone was willing to complain, but didn't want to be the person to stand up and say why things were wrong. I was told on my first day that I was not allowed to let my personal feelings get in the way when writing a story. It is something I have held on to, and I try not to let people get to me. People always ask me if I care, of course I care! But I am not paid to have an opinion, so that is left out of the story. Well, this time I have one. Here is the deal, no matter what teachers, principals or administrative staff do, it inevitably comes down to parents. If a child is told by mommy or daddy that they will never make it anywhere in life and they are worthless, then the child will grow up believing they are worthless. No one will ever be able to change it. I'm not saying the system is perfect believe me, I know it isn't and I lived in an entirely different county. But it really comes down to the parents and in the end; you just can't make someone be a supportive parent if they don't want to be. Comments Showing most recent comments first [Show in chronological order instead] |
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Cy - After reading your post, I see the flaw in my analogy. While you cannot change the nature of the wood from pine to oak, these children can change and be changed.
I don't know if the "gangsta wannabies" are getting younger and meaner or I'm just getting older and noticing the meaness more. I sat down with a man today and talked for a couple of hours. I consider him a young man, but he has to be close to thirty-eight as he is nearly finished with twenty years in the National Guard. That means I was 17 - 18 when he was born yet we hold a lot of ideas in common.
I think that the improvement in communication technology lets us notice what makes the news more and as it is said "if it bleeds, it leads". Crime is always news.
Leo, I like your analogy of the table. But there might be a slight flaw in your final estimate.
My late husband was a carpenter and I spent a lot of time with him while he built furniture as a hobby.
The point is to build a quality table (IE: educating a child to become a contributing member of society) while the type of wood (IE: career path/life choices) is only a part of what the table becomes.
Along the building process for that table, there are MANY contributing influences along the way. The greatest, is the job of the creator/artisan (IE: in order of importance parents/guardians/family members/mentors-teachers). It's their job to make sure the wood is of good quality and prepared/cut right for the completed task.
The parents, guardians and family members are the first and best influence on children. They always have been, always will be.
Video games, cellphones, computers, televisions and anything else that is used by children to occupy hours, if not days, of their time with mindless activity is "dumbing down" our children and making it easier for the adults in their lives to ignore their responsibilities to their children and the future.
That really makes me feel old, but please believe me when I say I'm not against technology. I believe it is becoming the "bane of existence" for many who can't survive without their precious electronics.
Many families don't even interact with each other on a daily basis, preferring the company of electronics and technology to spending time with the people they should care about. This is happening in good households.
In the households where there are drugs, alcohol, criminal activity and physical/mental/emotional abuse is occurring, the problems are amplified beyond understanding and reasoning.
Parents can't build tables when they're high as a kite, in jail or just don't give a damn!
Whether people care to agree or not, it's happening right here in our community. Is it just me, or are the faces of the "little gangsta wannabees" on the front page of this paper getting incredibly younger and meaner than their predecessors?
Education is important in life, but when a child only knows the tragedy they live in and a future that is slowly fading away for reasons they can't control, sometimes it is easier to assimilate into the "hell you know" than to struggle, fight and claw your way up a 90 degree mountain on the way out.
Kimberly, you and your fellow reporters hold your heads up. You ALL do a good job keeping your personal opinions to yourselves. And considering the subject material of some of the stories, it has to be difficult to say the least.
I pass the soapbox on to someone else now. I've been on it WAY TOO LONG. But hopefully, I made some kind of sense.
Kimberly, I'm going to both agree and disagree with you. I agree that parents have the biggest influence on their children and their education. Our schools, however, are our society's educational tool; formed to educate citizens to a minimum standard.They put a lot of time and effort into doing just that, but they cannot overcome the negative influences of a few parents, the free-will of some students to go down the wrong path, or just plain laziness coupled with a poor attitude. Try as they might and as much as we could invest in education, the only way to affect education is by educating parents, students, and society as to what society is going to demand of the individual and the consequences of failure to attain the minimum standard. Our schools do this, constantly. Some people just don't care.
It doesen't matter how good the tool, when you build a table out of white pine wood it will never be an oak table.
As a reporter, your job is to report the facts, not your opinion. Quite frankly, you do that very well as I never see your opinion showing through in your reporting. I don't think I could do your job as well as you do as I would unintentionally slant stories when I held strong opinions on the subject.
Kimberly you have a job and you did it.With your chosen career path, you are seeing the ugliness of others both by phone and in text. For such a sweet woman, it is difficult to digest knowing that you face such challenges. However, those who choose not to place their opinions in text are less than heroic and those who do open themselves to less than favorable opinions as well.
Kimberly, you're a tough chick. You can and will withstand any flack that has come and is to come. You rock both professionally and personally!!! Keep going with your grand self!
Amen, LifeObserver! Thank you, Kimberly!
Don't know much about school teaching, but do have some minor experience being the preacher in a small church.
One day we were having a children's program. When this one child's part was finished I could see her mother standing in the back very angerly mouthing the words "let's go!". The little girl had to walk down from the stage and exit. She never came back. In this and most everything else in life I never found a way to overcome the parent's attitudes.