Official Off Topic Discussion Thread #1

[skjl47]

But the guy who wound up with a knife in his gut was the subject of several long tear-jerking articles that detailed his sad upbringing, the terrible way that society had failed him and eventually drove him to make the poor choices he had made. We heard all about what a "good boy" he was, well-liked by neighbours and friends, dearly loved by family, smart, full of potential, the victim of a system that was stacked against him from birth, blah, blah, blah.

One of my co-workers knew this "poor lad" and his family. According to him...the guy was a dangerous antisocial POS and the world was a much better place with him deleted from it.

Spin doctors rule the world.

Hello; This story strikes a common chord. Know of such too many times. Saw the equivalent happen in the public school classrooms over a few decades. I taught from 1970 to 2004. By 2004 the discipline in the schools was near to nonexistent. I had worked out a pension so went home.
More to the point was the way the "trouble makers" became coddled and the well-behaved kids became ignored victims. Wish i could recall the exact wording the various principals and school bosses used when justifying the policies that became standard. But some of it matched your post about the upbringing and other blah, blah.
There were a number of things which happened but let me post one example. I had six classes each school day. In each class there were three to five troublemakers who disrupted pretty much every day. (edit -every day they attended) Their antics too often took up much of the class time. I suggested we put all the troublemakers into one class. That way in the other five classes we could actually work with the better behaved and maybe get something positive done. Each teacher would have to deal with the troublemakers for only one class period. A chore to be sure but better than each and every class all day long. My suggestion was not accepted of course.
I would ask students why they acted the way they did. Among the responses one stood out. That being the threat of their government checks being stopped if they kept skipping school. On another note, at a high school in NC I confronted a student in the hallway for ignoring the second tardy bell (yes second tardy bell. Also not like he was the only student ignoring the bells.) I thought he was going to challenge me but finally he moved on. Later a teacher warned me to leave him alone. Reason being he was out of jail after being charged with murder. The judge decided he needed to be in school. Same school where a senior football player threatened me after he got a failing grade because it might hurt his college ball scholarship. I gave him the failing grade anyway, but the principal called me in and informed me he was changing all the failing grades.

The last many years I see the culture of the public schools mirroring the general society. Not clear to me which drives the other.

 

[jjohnwm]

Many schools, in Ontario at least, did not have "fail" as a grading option. What most folks would categorize as a "fail" became...I'm not making this up!...a "deferred success".

In most cases, those that received this dubious rating tended to continue to "defer" their success until they were old enough to leave school entirely...at which point they began to defer their success at living in a civilized society. Others around them tended to suffer, both in school and in adult life.

 

[skjl47]

at which point they began to defer their success at living in a civilized society. Others around them tended to suffer, both in school and in adult life.

Hello; One of the things I have been fascinated with is how students I worked with who were clearly failing in basic skills by any reasonable standard. Not the social promotion standards of public schools to be sure. Those students who could not write or read to a real standard wound up with a drivers license. I do admit the license tests were not all that hard to be sure. In my younger teaching days I felt some of my high school students would never get a drivers license. But they did.
I am old enough to have seen the welfare state evolve into the lifestyle it has become for so many.

Had a fellow renting a house nearby. Never went to work but had cigarettes & beer all the time. He was on a check along with a child. He sent the child around the neighborhood to bum milk and such. He showed up with a car one time. I watched him work hard one day shoveling snow so he could drive. No reason he could not hold down a job after that exhibit of stamina. But he was apparently comfortable in the welfare lifestyle.
One day he saw me unload a five gallon jug of gas for my push mower. I put maybe a quart into the mower. He sounders over and asks to get some gas. He was empty. I said sure he could have the rest of my jug for $20 and I could get some more later. He became visibly upset that I asked him to pay. And so it goes.