the pussification of american kids continues

hearingimpared · October 2006

DarqueKnight wrote:

I don't know if today's kids really have it that easy. Sure, they may not get to enjoy the amount of outdoors physical activity and revelry that I enjoyed as a child, but I think they have other equal or greater challenges. Consider that I (and most other "baby boomers") did not have to deal with:

1. The possibility of being shot at school (or anywhere else).

2. The possibility of being stabbed at school (or anywhere else).

3. The possibility of being sexually assaulted at school (or anywhere else).

4. The possibility of being kidnapped by a near neighbor and one or more of numbers 1 - 3 above being done to us.

...and so on and so forth. The world is a lot different now.

I'm not totally in agreement with all that. In the late 60s when the racial riots were in full force there were a lot of stabbings and shootings in my community, maybe not in the school but just outside of it. When I was 16 (1971) I was jumped and stabbed in the shoulder by some black guys, three of whom I was pretty good friends with. It was a sign of the times. It all had to do with the changes the country was going through at that time. I think the horrific violence that is occuring now-a-days seems so much worse because it seems so senseless plus the news coverage today is much more dynamic and pretty much instantaineous. When something occured when I was a kid, you didn't hear about it until dad was watching the 6:30 news that night and maybe not until the next day.

I agree the world is a lot different now but it is different in a lot of good ways too.

danger boy · October 2006

MSALLA wrote:

We had rock wars and threw rocks at each other. We had BB gun wars and shot each other.And like someone else on here we threw darts at each other (and we were like 16 not 10) We got cut from the rocks, holes from the BB's (digging those out was fun) and had darts sticking out all over the place.
We also healed just fine and all act like civil adults today with family.
What happend to the saying "boys will be boys"

Hey it's only fun till someone gets an eye poked out... seriously.. did that ever happen to anyone going up?

hearingimpared · October 2006

danger boy wrote:

Hey it's only fun till someone gets an eye poked out... seriously.. did that ever happen to anyone going up?

In my childhood, I never remember anyone getting seriously hurt or maimed doing the stupid and fun things we used to do. The only thing that I can remember that really stuck was the guy from Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show loosing and eye due to the "Moe Eye Poke.":)

Skynut · October 2006

My friend shot his brother in the eye with the BB gun. My friend grew up with a one eyed brother knowing that it was his fault.

hearingimpared · October 2006

EDIT to post 97: In my childhood (teen years) there were a lot of shootings and murders that involved guys I knew but it was all drug related. None of this stuff had anything to do with the stupid and fun things that kids do. Come to think of it I don't ever remember these murders or deaths making the local Philadelphia TV news I could be wrong. I do remember reading about them in the Delaware County Times. We are talking about the 60s & 70s a time when things were "kept quiet."

Sorry for the typos my freeking dog keeps nosing my arms to make me pet him.

Johncan · October 2006

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks youth risk behaviors including injuries and school violence. Here are some stats on youth injuries:

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/injury/facts.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/yrbs/pdf/trends/2005_YRBS_Violence_School.pdf

Violence in schools has decreased from 1993 to 2003, but the number of kids who do not feel safe at school or on their to and from school has increased from 1993 to 2005.

It is a different world that it was 20 years ago.

jdhdiggs · October 2006

Here's some more to piss you off from Boortz.com:

OK .. Your child brings home a report card. It's all "A"s. That's good, right? His sister brings home all "D"s. That's not so good, is it? For as long as most of us can remember that's the way it has been. But no longer. Government schools across the nation have been working to find ways to tinker with the grading system so as to mask how their inmates are really doing. Some schools have done away with red ink for grading papers. It upsets the students. Others have moved from the A,B,C,D,F system to one involving symbols ... triangles, squares, circles.

Well ... we have to give the prize to the infamous Gwinnett County Government Schools in Georgia. They have completely turned the grading system on its head.

Every single week Gwinnett "teachers" in grades K through 5 send home something called the "Weekly Folder" with each student. This document is supposed to grade the student's behavior in class for every day of the week. Each student is graded for each day with either an A, B, C or D. Sounds normal so far, doesn't it. But ... oh you're just going to love this ... here's the good part. D is the best grade you can get! A? Well, an A is the absolute worst grade! Right there at the bottom of the grading sheet you will find "D=Exceeds Standards C=Meets Standards B=Does Not Meet Standards A=Significantly Does Not Meet Standards

A parent writes that the school excuses this grading system by assigning words to the letters. Hold your breath ... here we go:

* A = Anarchy
* B = Bothers
* C= Cooperative
* D = Democracy

So .. what do we have here. These kids go through their first five years of school thinking that Ds are good and As are bad. Now that really sets them up for the reality of government education when the learnin' gets serious, doesn't it?

shack · October 2006

danger boy wrote:

Hey it's only fun till someone gets an eye poked out... seriously.. did that ever happen to anyone going up?

Yes, both of them...but it was because I was running with scissors in my hand.

bikezappa · October 2006

jdhdiggs\

Another example of the world of double speak predicted by George Orwell in 1984.

bobman1235 · October 2006

bikezappa wrote:

Another example of the world of double speak predicted by George Orwell in 1984.

This whole thing is doubleplusungood if you ask me.

Johncan · October 2006

Here's some more to piss you off from Boortz.com:

I live in Gwinnett County, GA and have two kids in the school system. One is in 1st grade and the other is in 3rd grade and I have never seen what is described on the Boortz web site. Are you sure this is not an urban legend?

John

jdhdiggs · October 2006

Johncan wrote:

I live in Gwinnett County, GA and have two kids in the school system. One is in 1st grade and the other is in 3rd grade and I have never seen what is described on the Boortz web site. Are you sure this is not an urban legend?

John

From what I can tell, it's something they are starting next semester. Neil been all over it all day. He's usually very accurate covering stuff in the Atlanta area.

Johncan · October 2006

I will look into it. Gwinnett County has what are considered to be some of the better schools in the Atlanta area. We will see what is true and what is rumor. The community in general is considered by many to be "conservative" so I doubt the school would do too much in the way of ruffling feathers. I have been an Atlanta resident for almost two decades and I take what Boortz says with a grain of salt... after all he is an entertainer and not a journalist

Currently, they do get weekly reports on their behavior. My kids are rated on the following scale:
E for excellent
S for Satisfactory
N for needs improvement
U for Unsatisfactory.

John

jdhdiggs · October 2006

Journalists are also entertainers, but your point is taken...

hearingimpared · October 2006

Here's some more to piss you off from Boortz.com:

Quote:
OK .. Your child brings home a report card. It's all "A"s. That's good, right? His sister brings home all "D"s. That's not so good, is it? For as long as most of us can remember that's the way it has been. But no longer. Government schools across the nation have been working to find ways to tinker with the grading system so as to mask how their inmates are really doing. Some schools have done away with red ink for grading papers. It upsets the students. Others have moved from the A,B,C,D,F system to one involving symbols ... triangles, squares, circles.

Well ... we have to give the prize to the infamous Gwinnett County Government Schools in Georgia. They have completely turned the grading system on its head.

Every single week Gwinnett "teachers" in grades K through 5 send home something called the "Weekly Folder" with each student. This document is supposed to grade the student's behavior in class for every day of the week. Each student is graded for each day with either an A, B, C or D. Sounds normal so far, doesn't it. But ... oh you're just going to love this ... here's the good part. D is the best grade you can get! A? Well, an A is the absolute worst grade! Right there at the bottom of the grading sheet you will find "D=Exceeds Standards C=Meets Standards B=Does Not Meet Standards A=Significantly Does Not Meet Standards

A parent writes that the school excuses this grading system by assigning words to the letters. Hold your breath ... here we go:

* A = Anarchy
* B = Bothers
* C= Cooperative
* D = Democracy

So .. what do we have here. These kids go through their first five years of school thinking that Ds are good and As are bad. Now that really sets them up for the reality of government education when the learnin' gets serious, doesn't it?

But this isn't the only reason to get twisted. Imagine the amount of time the teachers have to spend doing this extra work "grading" each childs behaviour instead of quality teaching or planning time, they have to waste their time first learning the ridiculous grading system and then incorporating it into their "work" day. My father was a teacher and my sister is a teacher. I know my father spent much more time at home back in his day as a teacher than my sister does at home with her children now due to all this additional politically correct BS that these school districts dump on teachers.

When I was in high school we had a teacher who had a "special" red ink pen for the Fs on a report card. It was special because the ink was so red and bright that no matter how adept we became at changing an F to a B you could always see the red behind it. Now they are using purple, it is a piece of cake for any kid these days to change their grade on their report card and get away with it.

exalted512 · October 2006

ha, when i was in high school i would make my own progress reports for my parents. 100% identical to the ones the school gave out, but with the grades a little bit higher:D
-Cody

the pussification of american kids continues

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