Hello Ron,
I thought I'd drop a line and hope it isn't perceived as
patronizing and hope it is taken in the proper spirit.
When I stirred things up here with my criticisms of schools
operating in isolation, I didn't expect to touch nerves or act
as if I didn't respect the immense jobs done in dealing with
today's students and changing society.  I just believe they've
grown into small universes of their own and become more and
more detached from the adult community in which they operate.
I've already beat this to death with my prior posts, so I'll
not go on with that discussion here....
I will start another thread however.....  Have you ever
thought about the fact that no one seems to publicly express
a core issue that is impeding student progress?  People are
lazy!  Students are lazy.  Where the perceived carrot is clear
enough, students will put their time in at McDonald's type
jobs, buy some $150 Korean made athletic shoes and whatever
else stirs their longings, but long-term goals of self-improvement and
knowledge are not immediate enough to cause most to exert the
energy.  I even think the short attention spans you must deal
with stem from this.  Youth oriented TV now works in 3-5
second rapid fire bites.  It has to or teens flip the channel.
Is it any wonder their eyes glaze over by the second
paragraph of reading?  It's depressing to watch the morose,
dead-eyed teens leaving our high school each day.  I readily
admit that I'm not made of the stuff that could cope with this
audience every day.
Regards,
-=Craig=-
craigclu@bigfoot.com  
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 þ wsOMR 1.20b þ Atheism doesn't have enough holidays
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