We're failing our children

This is something that has been bugging me for a while. I've seen it around a bit, but the most profound examples of how we are failing our children seem to come from my sister who teaches high school in Oklahoma. Over a third of the senior class in her high school are flunking out. OVER A THIRD! And from the tales she has told me of so many of her students, it's not a surprise. The kids just don't care, and their parents don't care, to put even the slightest modicum of work into their education. They won't bring their books to class, they won't even bother to read the questions on tests -- she actually had a student who prided himself on getting through an important test quickly by guessing on every single question. The kids are beyond apathetic and rude and cheating is second nature. I could tell you many stories but I will spare you the gory details. And lest you get the impression that this is just her school or just Oklahoma, I have heard similar stories up here in Idaho. It's appalling. These are the people who are going to be running our businesses, working on our vehicles, helping us in stores, and working on our homes. Not to mention the ones that will be helping us in hospitals, flying us across the country, and other life-threatening situations.
Where do these kids come from? Answer: lazy, apathetic, or self-absorbed parents. I've seen many parents try to absolve themselves with statements like "I didn't teach them that" or "I don't know where they get it from, must be from other kids at school," but the bottom line is the kids learn this crap from their parents. Responsibility, love of learning, integrity, all good things are learned from the smallest age, way too young for blame to be placed on the schools, not to mention that it has been proven in study after study that parents have the biggest influence by far out of any factors influencing children. And many parents are just plain too stupid to realize what they are teaching their children when they do things like get mad at a kid for asking questions ("curiosity and learning is bad") or attempt to justify a dishonest behavior ("as long as I get what I want, it's okay").
Please, people, pay attention to your kids. If you don't HAVE to work, stay home with your kids and love and teach them the things that they need to grow up smart and strong and good. It's hard work. REALLY hard work. If it's not hard, you're not doing it right. But it's worth it. Not even the best schools or daycares can make up for what you are teaching or not teaching your kids right now.

Chuck and What I Did This Summer

Well, first, I have to say that I love the show Chuck a little more each week. The pilot was only mildly impressive to me -- I just thought the premise of a guy memorizing tons of things simply by being flashed images in the course of a few hours, was kind of stupid. But every week the characterizations just get better, and, let's face it, when it comes right down to it I'm a sucker for the romantical. This week's was just luscious on that front; I just find Chuck's character to be so cute (am I a sucker for the geeky or what?) that I feast upon Sarah's hidden liking of him with great delight, and I relish the fact that she now has to fight for him. Woo hoo!

Now, I have to repent of the sorry sin of neglecting an exciting tale of What I Did This Summer. It was only a week, actually, but it was still interesting. I went down to Education Week at BYU in August. Originally, it was primarily to meet friends I had met on the LDS online forum at www.nauvoo.com. But once I got there I was pleasantly surprised to find that the classes offered by BYU were insightful and informative, offering handy items on psychology, teaching skills, scriptures, and gospel topics. It was wonderful! I feel like it was something I was meant to be at -- mostly because of the adventure I had getting down there. First, when I was just past Logan on I-84, I was run off the road by a retard in a little blue car. There were posts on the side of the road, but miraculously I was able to barely (and I mean by INCHES) keep between the posts and the retard who ran me off the road. THEN, when I was in Salt Lake on I-15, in the midst of construction, a huge piece of metal was flipped up from the side of the road and bounced off the top of my car, missing my windshield by less than 2 inches. It being in the middle of construction, there was no shoulder so I couldn't pull off the road, and I really couldn't even slow down from the 65 mph speed limit being in th midst of traffic the way I was. I felt very blessed to make it down to Ed Week with only a dent on the roof of my car to show for my adventures!
That was the biggest adventure of the week, but I had a great time while I was down there, seeing my brother, meeting my online friends, and getting to take some great classes for not much money, it was an awesome trip that I hope to make into an annual trek.

Knitting addiction and catching up

First, let's catch up. I did ok on the GRE. Got a 680 on the verbal, and I only needed a 500 for the program I'm trying to get into, so I think I'm good. Hooray! I won't mention my computational score. It's horrifically embarrassing, esp. for someone who took calculus in college for an easy 'A'.

Otherwise, I'm in a knitting frenzy lately. I keep buying yarn and making stuff with it. The Christmas projects I can excuse, even though I committed myself to too many of them. But every time I see a baby lately I feel compelled to knit them little fruit hats like this one pictured here. And why, yes, it IS pictured on a cute little kitty! So my hands are cramping up from too much knitting. But it's so ding-danged compelling. Look, ma, I made my own material into something cute, just from this piece of string!