LP>> I've noted a similar attitude in our kids.  The greediness, I
LP>> feel, has come about as a result of discipline programs such
 DJ> I think the problem is much wider- meet the entitlement
 DJ> generation. I have two teenagers at home and at times I wonder
 DJ> who their parents are! The change in the kids at the high school
 DJ> level during the last 15 years is amazing (yeah, I know we old
 DJ> ..... have been saying this forever). It seems that the
 DJ> determinate of behavior is how it makes the individual feel at
 DJ> that instant.
I'm surprised when I see children in public with their parents or
children of my friends *demanding* that the parents buy them an
expensive item.  Then I'm astonished when the parents actually *buy* the
item.  I don't know which I find more reprehensible, the children's
actions or the parents' reactions.  I then get kids in the classroom
treating me to demands & they get a taste of being told NO.  Many of
them think they can change my mind by ragging on me & ask several more
times.  I'm really happy with our new discipline plan, because now I
behave differently in a similar situation.  Where I used to just repeat
no, no, no, then ignore them, now I say no once & if they ask again, I
ask them what they are doing, is that okay, and what they think will
happen to them if they keep it up.  If they keep it up, they are sent to
PRC until they show me a plan outlining how they will cease nagging me
in the future.
I suppose when I have a kid & am subjected to the nagging daily &
all-year round, I, too, will succumb & buy their silence.
Usually they are agitating for a party or to have the TV turned on or to
have MTV on the TV if we've viewed a video.  I noticed that around
November they caught on & started taking it seriously.  Next year, I aim
to have them take me seriously by September.
LP>> We had at least 4 all-day, sports sponsored activities this
LP>> year; that's not counting the half-day ones.
 DJ> I tend to support whole school activities that
 DJ> allow kids to showcase their talents.
If only the activities *were* showcasing the students' talents.  I am
not talking about or counting track 'n' field day here.  That doesn't
strike me as having pro sports' involvement.  At my school, it is
organized by our PE dept & run by special area teaching stuff.  (That's
not to say that I approve of losing another instructional day while I am
required to measure long jumps or record times; I was lucky this year &
sprained my ankle the day before--it was worth the pain to take a sick
day.)
What I am referring to here is the NFL Experience & NBA Stay in School.
The NFL brings in various pieces of equipment & runs students through a
mini-version of their theme park.  Each grade missed a half day of
classes to participate, but I teach mixed 7th/8th grade classes &
therefore lost a whole day of teaching because 1/3 to 1/2 of each class
was missing.  The other half of the day is wasted because the afternoon
kids who did the NFL program in the morning were too tired to do much &
the morning kids who were going to do it in the afternoon were too hyper
to focus.
There was little showcasing of talent there, mostly just running off
energy.
The other programs were a part of the Stay in School project; kids
watched a tv program in the morning before being sent to the gym for
several hours.  They were lectured to by a former NBA player, Frank
Johnson.  Frank's speech, which should have been inspiring, positive &
up-beat, came off to the kids as being depressing, negative &
judgmental.  Our kids don't need anybody telling them how "bad" they
are.  Most of 'em are pretty good, with a small percentage borderline
bad & a tiny percentage being truly bad news.  It goes to the idea of
living up to expectations.  There were two of these assemblies.
After that, the Suns' Jam was held in March.  The majority of the
student population was bussed over to the America West Arena where a
live band played songs from the 70's (I was SO happy when disco died the
first time, I'd like to pulverize the bright spark who has brought it
back,) & the Suns' players gave motivating speeches about staying in
school & how they liked school.  The master of ceremonies, David Spade
(who is from Scottsdale, AZ,) bombed with the teachers & the kids when
he attempted funnies about being in school.
Outside of pro-sports, we also had staff/student volleyball & basketball
tournaments.  They were held on early dismissal days when many of
teachers prefer not to teach. (I count early dismissals as regular
school days, just shorter.)  Only a handful of students were able to
participate in these (the boys' basketball team & a handpicked group of
boys to make up a student volleyball team [Uh, oh, more sexism there.])
so I don't count them as student showcase activities.
 DJ>  All day is too long.
Even half a day is too long when it interferes with the rest of the
school day.
LP>> This is something I would like to see stopped.  Professional
LP>> sports are openly being allowed to do what the tobacco
LP>> industry has been accused of doing secretively:  hooking kids
LP>> on their product while they are young.
 DJ> Interesting. I never thought about it this way. I knew there was
 DJ> a reason I liked reading your stuff . I will have to ponder
 DJ> this one a bit.
How embarrassing.  That kind of comment
usually is because I reamed someone.  I've been trying not to do that
even when provoked by displays of true stupidity on the part of the
terminally blinkered.  (I still say give me college students, lots &
lots of them, because I've never read about a case of professors having
to break up date rapes during class.)
 DJ> My 9 year old is a Michael Jordan fan. Just got a coffee table
 DJ> book entitled _Rare Air_. Interesting book and good role model.
 DJ> Now I have to try to put this all together thanks to you. Guess
Maybe I'm just attitudinal because Charles 'I am not a role model'
Barkley lives here in town (maybe for another month or two, heh heh
heh.)  I kinda think he's right.  He's not a role model & shouldn't be
just because he can shoot hoops & mug for the camera.  He should be
admired as a role model for finishing school.  Last year, Dan Majerle
told our kids at an assembly that he has a teaching degree & that after
pro basketball ends for him, he wants to teach/coach high school b-ball.
("Yeah, RIGHT!"  everybody's thinking.)  Admirable sentiment, but we'll
see, won't we?
 DJ> I have to go fishing......
Do you need a reason?
Leona Payne
... "Yee-oo-nee-forms! Quick, Jimmy Bob, get the guns. The commies are 
acomin'"
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