NZ girl honoured for warning of tsunami

Nine News ^ | October 14, 2009

[myknowledge]

Kudos to this 10 year old girl, Abby Wutzler who saved a helluva lot of lives on that day the tsunami struck.

And thanks to the lessons taught by her teacher about handling disaster scenarios. These kids would make the survivors proud.

[DoughtyOne]

In this day and age it’s nice to hear about a teacher, teaching something of true value to their students.

Kudos to Abby, I agree. Job well done...

[Quiller]

In this day and age it’s nice to hear about a teacher, teaching something of true value to their students.

Teachers teaching something of value to their students (including grammer) is an everyday occurance. Once we get beyond the sensational headlines and the whining parents, past the micro-managing and publicity-seeking legislators and administrators, beyond the undisciplined students struggling with their sometimes vaguely supportive homelives, parents that want to be their tallest buddy, and uncountered peer and media influences, what goes on is a lot of solid people working to open the future to a lot of solid students, who jointly face the challenge of slogging along in anonymity while the lesser number of students operate on the principle that even bad attention is some attention.

[TXnMA]

Is German your first language?

[DeusExMachina05]

I agree, thank you for that. Contrary to many opinions here, there are many good teachers who do yeomans work each and every day. The vast majority stay out of politics and dont get involved in union activities.
We should be courting them and not slamming their profession or the jobs they do.

[autumnraine]

I remember reading about this when it happened and hoped she would be nationally recognized.

[MrDaddyLongLegs]

before and after pics of samoan tsunami HERE
http://www.virginmarysamoa.com/Before.html

[jwparkerjr]

Wasn’t there a girl who did the same thing when the big tsunami struck a couple of years ago? She had just learned in class how the sea retreats just before the tsunami strikes.

I would think there would be signs all along the coast stressing the importance of heading for higher ground at the first sign of a retreating ocean!

[jwparkerjr]

Wasn’t there a girl who did the same thing when the big tsunami struck a couple of years ago? She had just learned in class how the sea retreats just before the tsunami strikes.

I would think there would be signs all along the coast stressing the importance of heading for higher ground at the first sign of a retreating ocean!

Forty plus years ago I was new director of a radio station in Mobile, AL. Mobile is the home of Spring Hill College. Spring Hill College has a pretty well known seismographic center. At the time it was one of the few in the South. Anytime there was an earthquake or the possibility of a tsunami I would call out to the school and try to get a sound byte from the priest who ran the center. He was always a pleasure to talk with, a veritable wealth of knowledge on all things seismographic, and most willing to educate the caller. But the one thing you didn’t want to say to him was “tidal wave”! He would come unglued at that term. Then you had to listen to a 30 minute lecture on the difference between a tidal wave and a tsunami.

[DoughtyOne]

“Teachers teaching something of value to their students (including grammer) is an everyday occurance.”

Sorry, no sale. Not even tempted to buy into that swill.

Our teachers are looking the other way as they implement the game plan of the United Nations and the NEA. Any attempt to paper over that problem, just gets the paper hanger filthy.

Check out the special report on textbooks at this link. How many teachers have had the character to object to any of this? Well, until they do, I stand by my comment. The teaching profession has turned into one of the most corrupt in the nation.

http://www.hulu.com/foxnewsspecialreports

[DoughtyOne]

Sorry, here’s the correct link:

http://www.hulu.com/fox-news-specials

[Quiller]

Our teachers are looking the other way as they implement the game plan of the United Nations and the NEA. Any attempt to paper over that problem, just gets the paper hanger filthy.

No disagreement about textbook quality going downhill. I think the better ones were written before 1967.

But teachers frequently have little choice about what textbooks are being used. That decision generally comes at the district level and gets tied up in politics, economics, and the perks a publisher can offer. The district also takes into account pressure from the public.

Which is where you come into the picture constructively. I just wish that everyone who had something to say about textbooks had done all the things you've obviously done -- researched the replacement cycle of the local school district's textbooks, read the selection that's available, found a suitable text which meets state standards, researched the costs, and (where necessary) identified and secured funds to make up the difference between the 'bad' ones the district wants, and the 'good' one you want.

You know, the constructive things which stand a chance of furthering your noble quest.

Because doing less, such as indiscriminately putting down every teacher for a problem they have little control over, really just comes off as whining.

Sure, teachers could take a stand on principle and just walk off the job. (By the way, have you noticed the unemployment stats out there?) Which would accomplish little, other than putting a new teacher in the job next year. Or they could do one of two things.

One -- do what I think many do, and tolerate the beating, and eventually get to the point where they just don't care, and say, "Okay, if that's what you say, then that's what I'll do." The burn-outs. The ones who just put there head down, put the book in front of the kids, and say, "Read pages 18-21, do the worksheet, don't break anything." Sure, some are like that, and I've known a few.

Or two -- use the textbook for limited references, dig around and find better quality material, challenge the students, and turn out kids who have 'learned something' more useful on a regular basis, than a one-in-a-billion chance of being on a beach when the ocean begins receding.

I know some of those, too.

And I'm sure as well, that you've pushed other initiatives to improve the teaching profession, such as pressuring your legislators to pass laws which restrict the portion of school budgets which can be spent on anything outside the classroom. Or laws to identify and fund quality teachers -- you know, the ones you want to keep, but know will leave the classroom soon, because the pay scale for teachers tends to run a bit lower than other professions with comparable education requirements, and good teachers figure out quickly that they can make more money, work fewer hours, and have to put up with a lot less finger-pointing, at a job somewhere else.

Then who's left? The ones who are there because they want to make a difference for the students and can afford to stay, and the ones who don't have as many options.

Keep up the unproductive beating, and guess which ones you'll wind up with more of.

[DoughtyOne]

Quiller, to put it mildly, your presentation troubles me.

Who is the hands on person here? None the less it’s the rest of the public and me you look to, to correct this situation.

What other profession do you know of who when confronted with problems, tells the public it’s all their fault?

I worked in a hospital. I didn’t demand the public fix our problems. The administration, the managers, and co-workers jumped in to fix things. We didn’t send letters to the community telling them they had to fix things for us.

If you’re telling me the teachers haven’t got any power, I’m going to respond that right there is the problem.

If there aren’t enough teachers out there who object to this stuff to the point where they will walk out as a body and tell the community why, then no amount of community dissatisfaction is going to fix things.

The community members do get upset. They do approach teachers and administrators. What they get in return is some holier than thou disgusted look that immediately translates to, “We’ve got another live one idiot, we’re going to have to deal with.” And then they proceed to lie to you or tell you that you are powerless to change things.

Where is the uprising from the school administrators? Where is the march on state capitals, or even one state capital?

I’ve been living in my community for 40 years. During that period of time I have not seen one teacher stand up on this issue and tell the community what is going on.

Don’t tell me this is my problem. It is my nation’s problem, my state’s problem, my community’s problem, my and my children’s problem. It is YOUR PROFESSION. You are a part of that problem, no matter how well meaning you are.

I have never seen a business that blames everyone else more for it’s problems than the teaching profession. When I address it, and mention teachers, I am constantly hit over the head with the idea that it’s my fault, not theirs.

It’s so bad people are opting out to home school at great financial impact on the family.

None the less, all our poor teachers out there are doing a bang-up job. Don’t blame them for what they are teaching.

Good grief.

[Quiller]

I've reviewed my post to try to figure out where I said teachers weren't part of the problem, and find it nowhere.

I've reviewed my post, to try to see where I said there were no bad teachers, and it just isn't there.

I've gone through, line by line, to try to find the point at which I said it was all the public's fault, and have yet to find it.

Your hospital has problems, and everyone jumps in to fix it. Wonderful. Good on you. That's a great thing to do. Kudos to you and all the wonderful people you worked with.

But in many cases, the teachers who try to move things in the right direction run headlong into the very resistance you describe. You want the good ones to walk out? Be careful what you wish for, because when the good ones walk, what you're left with will be the ones you don't want, but can't get rid of because of state employment guidellnes.

I didn't start teaching out of need for a job. I retired from one, and walked away from another fairly good one because I saw a need in local schools that I could fill. Not by bitching about things that other people weren't doing, but by getting into the trenches.

Inside, I see the inertia, the institutionalization, and the party-line mentality you're talking about. I and my like-minded colleagues have worked agaisnt it here. We could raise the banner, march forth, and demand change. And next year, the rest of the faculty would wonder why we didn't come back.

If you really want to make a difference, don't go to the teachers. Don't go to the administrators. Go to the school districts, who DO make the decisions. I believe that IS in my post.

And I've never given anyone a "holier than thou" look when they complained about the quality of the material. But then, that just goes to the broad generalization you use to justify every comment you make.

Way off thread now, no point in going further in trying to open a closed mind.

[TankerKC]

Grammar.

You were saying?

[DoughtyOne]

You don’t want me to consider you part of the problem, but if I suggest you and the other Conservative teachers need to take a public stand, you tell me I’m all wet.

Okay, in your mind it’s not fair for me to group you all together. So who is taking a public stand on this? Well, nobody. 100% of the teachers accept the materials given, the programs implemented, the propaganda presented, and do nothing about it.

You mention that some teachers don’t use the assigned books, and use outside materials to teach their children decent things. What seems to escape you is that there are many teachers out there who use the prescribe materials. And for some reason, the abuse leveled on those kids is okay with you. It is reasonable to you that those kids get shafted. Hey, you’re doing what you can right?

You should know better than anyone what outrageous things are taking place in our schools. Do you object loudly in public? Why no, you allow it to continue. It may not be continuing in your room, put you satisfy yourself that it really doesn’t matter, if it happens in a lot of other rooms.

And you don’t consider yourself part of the problem? Good grief, where do you folks get your moral thinking caps?

[Quiller]

100% of the teachers accept the materials given, the programs implemented, the propaganda presented, and do nothing about it.

Again, wrapping yourself in the certainty of your generalizations. An error I have been pretty successful in teaching good students not to do.

And for some reason, the abuse leveled on those kids is okay with you. It is reasonable to you that those kids get shafted.

Again, ascribing statements and motives to me which have no basis in anything I have said. An error which I have been pretty successful in teaching students not to do.

Do you object loudly in public? Why no, you allow it to continue. It may not be continuing in your room, put you satisfy yourself that it really doesn’t matter, if it happens in a lot of other rooms.

Why yes, as a matter of fact, I have complained loudly. As a teacher in the classroom, and as a citizen to the school board. I found that whle excoriating teachers might win you a little, "I sure gave them a piece of my mind," satisfaction, it's the actions taken at a political level that have success. Because ultimately, it is a political decision. I suggested to you the course of action which has the best success. But it takes a lot more effort than posting a diatribe and a link, so it just won't get done.

Good grief, where do you folks get your moral thinking caps?

From the same book which I manage to introduce into my classroom, for purely academic purposes, of course.

I apologize, I should have noticed the signs in some of your earlier comments. Teachers and administrators with "holier than thou" attitudes. The "here comes a live one" comment. I understand your rage better, in review.

You have spent years raising a wonderful child (sure, some of the relatives outside the immediate family don't care much for the child, but you don't care for them, either) who deserves everything you've given him or her. The child is a free spirit, very creative, and does many wonderful things. But those darned teachers. It seems that every one of them is incompetent, or has it in for your child specifically. And of course, the child has perfectly reasonable complaints about the succession of teachers who have targeted him (or her) for unfair treatment, beyond what any other student receives.

There are so many bad teachers, that from year to year, or pressuring the school to switch the child from one teacher to another doesn't matter, you still get nothing but bad teachers, because they are ALL bad. And that darned school. How unfair! Your child has to suffer the indignities of school discipline because the administration is just as bad, and takes the words of all those bad teachers who have it in for your wonderful child. Early on, you accepted the word of the teacher, but your child has learned that "No" the first time the child asks means "No," but after the fiftieth time, "No" becomes, "Oh go ahead." Because it just isn't right to punish the child for the teacher's shortcomings. And Of course the student won't do his or her work -- who would, for such bad teachers?

So even after years of putting up with such poor excuses for professionals, and maybe even finding that ADHD, or ADD, or ODD, or some other alphabet soup of learning affliction (which requires some moderate drugging, and has absolutely nothing with how the child was raised) you take action. At this point, you might have actually tried the home schooling route. But all it did was pull you away from work you could not afford to miss, and you couldn't be home to do the work, and besides, it isn't your job to make up for those terrible teachers.

So private school becomes the final solution. A school which is profit-motivated, and its high cost supports a comfortable 12:1 or 15:1 student:teacher ratio. You've finally found the "good" teachers, who accept your wonderful child just the way he or she is, and have learned (through careful guidance by the school's directors) never to suggest to a paying parent that his or her raising of a child might have some bearing on what the child is. Because if the parent pulls the child, the school doesn't get paid. It might have even taken a couple of moves to find the "good" school.

Wake up, DOh -- schools are generally what society has made them, because political decisions are what drive the school. If you want to get something done, it will have to be accomlished on either the political level (which you're not going to do), or on the personal level (which is beyond you also). My school is routinely #1 in its district, which is rarely lower than #3 in its state. In international competitions, we have had students that ranked within the top 20 of 5,000 competitors at their level. And that is because there are some of us who have not accepted the problem, but have learned that solving it by getting in there and bailing out the boat will get more done than expecting the public to do anything more than whine about the failure of the pumps. Your syllogism that no good teacher would tolerate the situation, and not tolerating the situation would demand an exodus, therefore any teacher who is in the classroom is a bad teacher (or immoral, or whatever other insults you have hurled to bolster your self-image) is foolish.

As I said -- W-a-a-a-a-y off thread topic now, and pointless to carry this further. You are wrapped in the security of your generalizations, shielded by your ignorance (as I've said in class, ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of, if you are honestly trying to fix it, but willful ignorance is self-destructive) and I've got too many papers to grade. Ciao.

[Quiller]

Grammar. You were saying?

LOL.

Yeah, I should stop posting after grading a stack of papers and drinking a pot of coffee.

Just after I hit the 'post' button, I did the 'doh' headslap -- then wondered how long it would take before someone came back and pinged me for that one.

But hey, I didn't criticize anyone's spelling did I?

[DoughtyOne]

100% of the teachers accept the materials given, the programs implemented, the propaganda presented, and do nothing about it.

Again, wrapping yourself in the certainty of your generalizations. An error I have been pretty successful in teaching good students not to do.

Your pretty good with the mouth, not so good with the ears.

Are you telling me the leftist materials are not in your classroom or school?  Are you telling me you folks didn't implement any of the leftist programs in your school?  Are you telling me that there is no leftist propaganda presented to your students on your campus?  Are you telling me that you have stopped all that in your school?  If you can tell me these things, then what are you complaining to the school board about?

You are kidding nobody but yourself with your denials.  Your school is under attack by the leftists just like every other school in this nation, and by your own admission you have found it necessary to object.  You just haven't found it necessary to refuse to allow it to continue.

As for you being successful in teaching your 'good students..., it's my take that you have taught them a hell of a lot more than you are aware of.

And for some reason, the abuse leveled on those kids is okay with you. It is reasonable to you that those kids get shafted.

Again, ascribing statements and motives to me which have no basis in anything I have said. An error which I have been pretty successful in teaching students not to do.

In my response above, I asked you if certain things were taking place in your school.  From your comments on this thread, I know damned well most of that is taking place.  So do you.  So why are you prancing around this issue as if it didn't exist in your school.

You state that I am generalizing.  Is it generalizing to realize that you stated yourself that you have had to complain as a teacher and a member of the community, but that you can't stop what is going on, it will have to be done at the political level?

Have you been pretty successful in convincing your good students that none of this was taking place on their campus?  You're sure as hell not convincing me.  And frankly, you're not even buying into it.  If you had to complain, then you acknowedged to yourself those problems existed.

Do you object loudly in public? Why no, you allow it to continue. It may not be continuing in your room, put you satisfy yourself that it really doesn’t matter, if it happens in a lot of other rooms.

Why yes, as a matter of fact, I have complained loudly. As a teacher in the classroom, and as a citizen to the school board. I found that whle excoriating teachers might win you a little, "I sure gave them a piece of my mind," satisfaction, it's the actions taken at a political level that have success. Because ultimately, it is a political decision. I suggested to you the course of action which has the best success. But it takes a lot more effort than posting a diatribe and a link, so it just won't get done.

Okay, you object loudly.  So we agree you have things taking place in your school that are unacceptable.  None the less, you continue to allow those things to continue, as you go about your daily activities at the school.  So who does defend the children in your area from being abused by the public education system?   Well, other than speaking out a few times, you certainly don't.

We have brought this down to the person level, because you objected to my generalizations.  I'm not really interested in disparaging you on a personal level.  I'm willing to accept that you have a number of fine qualities as a teacher, but please quit trying bull s--t a bull s--tter.  We both know there are problems on all of our school campuses these days.  We both know that someone has to stand up and refuse to play along any longer.  Still you simply refuse to take any ownership of bringing this to a head.  How am I supposed to react to that?

You tell me that you are a great teacher and that there are plenty of them out there, and have told me that I am grosely unfair to generalize.  In the next breath you admit that you have to speak out at board meetings and as a teacher, while defending your school telling me how great the scores are and it's ranking in the state.  So let's boil this down from what you have admitted.  Your school has serious problems along the lines of what I have been addressing.  You have had to speak out at board meetings and as a teacher.  You have accepted and tried to convince me that you are powerless to take a stand.  You are never going to join with fellow teachers and make a stand.  Your school ranks well in your state academically.  My reaction is that as long as test scores are okay, there's no real reason to rock the boat on your campus.  And if moral relativism and dumbing down our kids as to our heritage and values base take place, it's just not worth you declaring enough is enough.

And your conclusion is that I am grosely unfair to you and other teachers.  Well if that is an example of me being grossly unfair, then wow, will I wear that hat proudly.

Good grief, where do you folks get your moral thinking caps?

From the same book which I manage to introduce into my classroom, for purely academic purposes, of course.

Well that sure has fixed everything hasn't it.  You admit that you have to complain loudly, but you and the fellow employees of the school district can't get things fixed.  When I fault you for allowing things to continue down this road without walking out and explaining to the public why, you fault me for being unfair.

I apologize, I should have noticed the signs in some of your earlier comments. Teachers and administrators with "holier than thou" attitudes. The "here comes a live one" comment. I understand your rage better, in review.

Now you stoop to being dismissive.  In the next sentence you quote my 'holier than thou comments', make fun of my 'here comes a live one' phrase, thus proving my point, and then toss in the 'rage' insult.  So much silliness and so little actual comprehension of the matters at hand...  Rage?  Hmmm, why would anyone be upset by what was taking place in our schools, and that educators would allow this downward trend to continue and even speed up?  Aren't I a silly guy for not accepting this.

As for your flailing pseudo appology attempt at an insult, let me remind you that it isn't me you're screwing over.  It's the children of your community that deserve to have people stand up and defend them.  If I am to take you at your word though, you don't think they deserve an appology for what is continuing to take place at their school.  You can't fix anything and so it's just another day in paradise....

You have spent years raising a wonderful child (sure, some of the relatives outside the immediate family don't care much for the child, but you don't care for them, either) who deserves everything you've given him or her. The child is a free spirit, very creative, and does many wonderful things. But those darned teachers. It seems that every one of them is incompetent, or has it in for your child specifically. And of course, the child has perfectly reasonable complaints about the succession of teachers who have targeted him (or her) for unfair treatment, beyond what any other student receives.

Now I see what it takes to make a "good teacher" take a stand.  Why it's that stupid member of the public that has the audacity to stand up to you and tell it like it is.

You know, you're problem seems to be that you have spent too many years in classrooms talking down to people. When someone disagrees with you and nails you to the wall, your only comeback is that you are right and they are wrong.  They should listen to you, because YOU ARE a good teacher.  How dare they state that teachers should march out on the streets of their community and take a stand.  Anyone would have to be a fool to suggest such a thing.

This little diatribe of yours is just getting started.  Lets read more...

There are so many bad teachers, that from year to year, or pressuring the school to switch the child from one teacher to another doesn't matter, you still get nothing but bad teachers, because they are ALL bad. And that darned school. How unfair! Your child has to suffer the indignities of school discipline because the administration is just as bad, and takes the words of all those bad teachers who have it in for your wonderful child. Early on, you accepted the word of the teacher, but your child has learned that "No" the first time the child asks means "No," but after the fiftieth time, "No" becomes, "Oh go ahead." Because it just isn't right to punish the child for the teacher's shortcomings. And Of course the student won't do his or her work -- who would, for such bad teachers?

God, what a blowhard...  let me tell you how some of us lame brain parents see things tiger.

I had one child at 13 that decided she didn't want to do any schoolwork.  She told her school counselor that she was abused at home and this in the school counselor's mind made it impossible to contact the parents and let them know what was going on at school.  He didn't want her to be unfairly punished after all.  He befriended her, because this poor little thing needed some positive adult input.  She obviously didn't get any of that at home.

Other teachers were informed of the situation.  This little thirteen year old manipulated that school's staff like a well tuned fiddle.  The conselor, several teachers, and the school principle devised a policy where the parents would not be notified of her activity.  When she didn't do homework, they kept quiet.  When she skipped school, they kept quiet.  When she was caught smoking off campus, they remianed quiet.  When they found out that she was meeting up with nineteen and twenty year old men at her friends house, they remained quiet.  When asked later why they allowed all this to happen, they explained that she was participating in sessions with the school counselor, and it would have been a breach of confidence for them to disclose any information to the parents.

Not once in any of this did it occur to them that they might have a problem child on their hands.  Finally about four months into that school year, they made contact with me because they had finally reached the point where they wanted to kick her out of school, and you can't do that sort of thing unless the parents are involved.

I don't need your lectures butch.

So even after years of putting up with such poor excuses for professionals, and maybe even finding that ADHD, or ADD, or ODD, or some other alphabet soup of learning affliction (which requires some moderate drugging, and has absolutely nothing with how the child was raised) you take action. At this point, you might have actually tried the home schooling route. But all it did was pull you away from work you could not afford to miss, and you couldn't be home to do the work, and besides, it isn't your job to make up for those terrible teachers.

Yawn.

So private school becomes the final solution. A school which is profit-motivated, and its high cost supports a comfortable 12:1 or 15:1 student:teacher ratio. You've finally found the "good" teachers, who accept your wonderful child just the way he or she is, and have learned (through careful guidance by the school's directors) never to suggest to a paying parent that his or her raising of a child might have some bearing on what the child is. Because if the parent pulls the child, the school doesn't get paid. It might have even taken a couple of moves to find the "good" school.

My children attended private school for their first seven years.  Thank God, I might add...  because the local public school was filled to the brim with chilren from another nation who couldn't speak a word of English.  My children spent about 75% of the day reading, while the other students were taught English.  The other kids focused in on my children because they were one of very few white kids in the classroom.  They also began starting fights with them on the playground.  You see, that perfect school just wasn't quite perfect enough for my kids.  And I'm sure you can tell what a lousy parent I was for not accepting this wonderful example of the public education system for my children.  As for the private school, they did a great job.  I did have some problems with them, but by and large, the education my children got during those years was top notch.  Teachers were not afraid to make contact with me and tell me when they had problems.  For the most part they communicated well, often, and worked with me.  So your own generalizations are insipid on the face of it.

Wake up, DOh...

I'm not one of your students.  I'm not going to go sit/stand in the corner.  You can't send me to the principle's office.  You can't dock my grade because I have you pegged for what you are.  And each of your responses has reinforced what I picked up about you in your first post.  Do ridicule me all you like.  It's okay.  I don't expect anything else from you.

-- schools are generally what society has made them, because political decisions are what drive the school. If you want to get something done, it will have to be accomlished on either the political level (which you're not going to do), or on the personal level (which is beyond you also). My school is routinely #1 in its district, which is rarely lower than #3 in its state. In international competitions, we have had students that ranked within the top 20 of 5,000 competitors at their level. And that is because there are some of us who have not accepted the problem, but have learned that solving it by getting in there and bailing out the boat will get more done than expecting the public to do anything more than whine about the failure of the pumps. Your syllogism that no good teacher would tolerate the situation, and not tolerating the situation would demand an exodus, therefore any teacher who is in the classroom is a bad teacher (or immoral, or whatever other insults you have hurled to bolster your self-image) is foolish.

Yep, society made your school what it is.  Politicians, parents, state officials, people in Washington, D.C. are the real culprits.  Obviously the principal, the deans, the counselors, the psychologists, the school nurses and the teachers have nothing to do with it.  Since that's the case, why did you waste your time trying to inform me what a great school you have.  You and every other staff-member that goes to the location of the school each day has nothing to do with what goes on there.  And you call me foolish?  With your thought processes being what they are, I thank you for calling me foolish.  I'd sure hate to think you approved of my take on this, seeing what passes for logic in that brain of yours.

As I said -- W-a-a-a-a-y off thread topic now, and pointless to carry this further. You are wrapped in the security of your generalizations, shielded by your ignorance (as I've said in class, ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of, if you are honestly trying to fix it, but willful ignorance is self-destructive) and I've got too many papers to grade. Ciao.

I agree it's pointless.  Your premise that all the problems with our schools are everyone elses fault but the people who work in them, is preposterous.

Papers to grade?  Why didn't you realize you are powerless?  It's only people outside your school who are responsible for what takes place there.  You don't need to do paperwork.  You're not required to do anything at all.  You can't do anything at all.

Ciao right back atcha.

[Quiller]

Thanks for the wonderful insights. All better now?

Wow. Never dreamed I'd be so on-target with the kid, but then all the catch-phases were there. The false charges of abuse at home -- yes, every parent I've met who has been so acused has assured me the charges were false, so I understand where you're coming from. Sayonara.