Teachers

Today, because I have more guts than sense, I'm opening a whole new can of worms on my blog. If you are a teacher, or married to a teacher, or know a teacher, then you are probably going to be really, really pissed at me after reading this. I'm sorry in advance.

I realize that the educational system in this country is lacking. It's all about teaching the students how to pass the standardized tests so that the school districts get the money. They teach the kids how to pass the TAKS test. Or whatever the abbreviations are this year. Realistically, because they aren't actually allowed to "teach" they are glorified babysitters. Ouch. Sting much? If I were to get pregnant, I would homeschool my children. Period. They have to know the material for the tests, but they also still get a quality education. They would get to learn about things that schools aren't teaching anymore because of their political correctness factor.

I hate that teachers are losing their jobs. But then again, I hate it when Engineers, Doctors, Lawyers, Grocery Sackers, pool boy's, and ear wax remover's lose their job too. It's hard, no matter what field or area you work it. But the question remains...why should teachers be immune? Why shouldn't they have the same worries as everyone else? Why should they have job security when the rest of the country doesn't? Why do they get better benefits? Better retirement? Why shouldn't an engineer or a doctor get the same benefits? Why are teachers "better" than everyone else?

They aren't. Pure and simple. Yes, the job they do is tough. Yes, they have 30 kids that they have to corral and try to teach them. I agree that their job is hard, but so is a rocket scientists' job. I hate that schools are having their budgets cut and that they are losing money, that programs will be cut, that jobs will be lost. I hate that for anyone, teacher or not.

We put such a high value on education, yet we forget to teach. History is important so that we don't repeat the same mistakes. By teaching the kids how to pass the tests so that their district gets the most money, what are we really teaching our kids?

How to milk the system? How to get the most reward for the least amount of effort?

It's sad that teachers have the greatest opportunity to shape our children, yet they have the least amount of control to do it. They have someone standing over their shoulder telling them that the holocaust wasn't important, so they share that message with our kids. Which is to bad, we need to learn from the mistakes of the past to avoid making those same mistakes in the future.

~A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. ~Henry Adams


~The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book. ~Author Unknown

Choices

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are my own. They are my thoughts, my beliefs, and my understandings. They are in no way accurate or meant to offend anyone. So please don’t crucify me for the following comments.




We have recently learned that my stepsister is a lesbian. She currently has a girlfriend, and while I’m still a little unclear of the details, until the last few days, I was pretty sure that she was straight. She is after all married to a man, has 2 children, and has never thought about women in that capacity.

Which brings me to my next point, and probably the one that will piss off so many gay people. I believe that gay is a choice. I don’t think that God screwed up and gave you the wrong parts, or the wrong feelings or anything else like that. God doesn’t make mistakes. Period. I also still believe that the bible is accurate and should be used for guidance, if you want to follow in God’s footsteps and get to heaven. I was raised that gay is immoral, and wrong.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with gay people. I have a good friend on facebook who is gay. He is funny, smart, has great taste, interested in some of the same things that I am, but he prefers men to woman, and always has. He is also an atheist, and we both agreed a long time ago to not discuss religion. He thinks that God is capable of making mistakes and that the bible is outdated and unrealistic to use for guidance in today’s world. So we don’t talk about it, I don’t tell him he is going to hell, I just let him have his own opinion, and his own choice, even though I believe, based on my own morals that he is incorrect.

I think that Debbie made a choice. She is still married, and in my opinion, she is committing adultery as well. Which I believe is wrong too. Do I still love her? Absolutely. Do I think that she is making a huge mistake? You bet. Is it my choice? Absolutely not. Do I think that she makes a huge mistake when she feeds her kids junk for dinner instead of vegetables? You bet. But it’s her choice. And whether or not I agree with the choices that she makes or not is beside the point. I’m pretty sure that there are choices that I have made in my own life that she wouldn’t agree with. But she respects me enough to not tell me what an idiot she thinks I am.

I’m not going to shove my religion down her throat; I’m not going to tell her that she is wrong. All I’m going to do is love her. Even though I believe that the choices she is making are bad ones, choices that will put her on a different path spiritually as well as mentally from the rest of the family. I’m sad for the hurt that this choice has inflicted on her children and her husband.

She is family, and whether or not I agree with her choices, I have chosen to respect them. I’ve chosen to remind her children that she loves them and that sometimes, even adults make choices that hurt other people, and that life isn’t always fair. It probably won’t hurt that I’m going to send lots of prayers to her, as she is going to need strength, because no matter what, this isn’t a choice that she can walk away from without changing someone’s life. No matter what, whether I agree or not, she deserves my respect. The Bible tells me so.

~It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are. ~Roy Disney

~When one bases his life on principle, 99 percent of his decisions are already made. ~Author Unknown

~The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn. ~David Russell

Welfare and Cell Phones

I swore when I started this blog that I wasn’t going to post anything controversial on it. I was going to keep everything funny and upbeat and simply thought provoking. Yet today, I’m going to stir the pot, and probably piss at least some, if not most of my few readers off.

This article started it all. Please read it first before you go any further on my post.

http://www.blogher.com/so-you-think-people-welfare-shouldnt-own-cellphones#comment-form

I think that welfare is a wonderful tool. Unfortunately, I think that there are people who are on welfare who seriously abuse the system. Then again, my opinion is seriously biased.

My dad had a heart attack at 51. He wasn’t planning on it, it just kinda happened. A few weeks later he had a 2nd heart attack. He was told that he was retired, permanently, and whether he wanted to be or not. He was the sole income provider for him and my mother. While my mom manages a family farm that she inherited from her parents, any farmer knows that sometimes farms cost more money than they are worth, she doesn’t work. With my dad traveling for his job, it worked out to their advantage, because they were able to spend time together when he was home, and I think that my mom is part agoraphobic anyway.

With their only source of income suddenly retired, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, they could no longer afford to put food on their table, or pay their bills. So, while they weren’t dancing a jig in the street about needing food stamps, they filed for assistance. They weren’t picky, they would gladly take what they could in order to save their house, pay for my father’s $900+ monthly regime of medications, as well as put groceries on the table, not to mention things like electricity and water. For a few months, they were able to receive food stamps, in an amount, that I’m still not sure how they managed to use it alone to pay for groceries, considering that I spend that amount plus some at least twice a month for my own family. They managed to get an electric bill paid by the county as well. Then someone decided that they could just sell the farm that has been in our family for several generations and that they would be fine. Apparently they didn’t get the memo about the recession.

While they weren’t proud of that fact, they needed the help, and at the time didn’t want to need family or friends to bail them out. Thankfully, it did provide them with some assistance, but in my opinion, not near what it should have.

Yet, on the other hand. I know someone of a couple who, once again, in my opinion abuses the system. They have two kids, one parent works, while the other stays home. Neither of them have a college education, so they wouldn’t be making oodles of money either way. And when both kids were young, and would have required full time childcare I can understand the need for a parent to stay home, instead of putting their entire salary towards daycare. As the children have aged, and are both now in school, and have been for several years, the family is still on assistance. Do they go without things to provide necessities? Absolutely. Could they both find a higher paying job, or a job at all? Because yes, even though both children are in school from 8-3 daily, one parent is still unemployed; could the other parent get a job? Absolutely. They could even find a job that let them be home in the afternoons when the kids get home from school.

My husband and I even applied for assistance. At the time he worked for an ice company, and their job is very seasonal. Things are much slower in the winter than in the summer. And one winter was particularly bad. I worked for the local newspaper delivering papers. We were not getting by. Yet, we were told that we didn’t even qualify for temporary assistance. We couldn’t make our house payment and buy groceries, we had $4 dollars in the bank, and they told us that because we owned 2 cars, (one was a 1993 Oldsmobile, and the other was a 2000 mini van, and this was in 2002.) that we could sell a car. Hmmm, we still owed money on the mini van, and how much do they think that a 1993 Oldsmobile was going to go for? But we both had a job, and apparently things like electricity and water were optional, we could do without those to buy groceries and make our house payment.

Yet we have all seen someone who is standing in line at the store with a Gucci bag and paying for their groceries with food stamps. Then we watch them walk out and get in their brand new Cadillac Escalade, while we are standing behind them with clothes from Wal.Mart on, and a handbag that should have been thrown out in the 70ies, and we drive a car that wasn’t made in the last 10 years.

As far as the original article goes, cell phones are kinda a necessary evil; especially if home phones aren’t an option. I don’t think that all people enjoy being on welfare; I do think that some people use it as an opportunity to better their own situation, and then there are others who take complete advantage of the system.

I also agree with one of the commentors, yes, the clothes could have came from goodwill, and the car borrowed, but, on the other hand, that makes so many of us "assume" things about them, and the welfare situation.

All I'm saying is that some people take advantage and some people don't. But then again, doesn't the majority of things in life work out that way too?

What do you think? Do you think that Welfare should have more restrictions and requirements to qualify? Or do you think that everyone should be eligible, whether they need it or not?