What's wrong with our society?

[sweeps]

What an athiest doesn't realize or agree with is the idea that Christians believe that as we remove God from our Country God's blessings also are being removed.

So are you suggesting that God is punishing our country because of atheists?

[zakity]

What an athiest doesn't realize or agree with is the idea that Christians believe that as we remove God from our Country God's blessings also are being removed. God has blessed this country immensely. Too bad he gets no credit from the athiest community.

How can they give credit to something they do not believe in?

(Isn't it Athiests that don't believe in a higher power at all?)

[Angio333]

Moral Relativism, lack of responsibility, absent fathers, and kids being sheltered from failure.

[maat55]

Moral Relativism, lack of responsibility, absent fathers, and kids being sheltered from failure.

I hear you. I wish we could turn back the clock.

[disneysteve]

kids being sheltered from failure.

This is a great point. This trend drives me nuts. The powers that be have worked to remove competition from all aspects of a kid's life. They play games and don't keep score. They pick teams randomly, rather than based on skill. They make sure everyone who wants a part in the play gets one, rather than having real auditions. They grade on a Pass or Fail basis, rather than actually rating performance. We don't want little Johnny to be upset when he gets a C and Suzy gets an A. This way, they both get a Pass and feel good about themselves.

I think this does our children a huge disservice and doesn't in any way prepare them for the real world. They get out in the job market and have no clue how to compete, how to make themselves stand out, how to perform in an interview situation where they need to highight themselves.

[JanH]

I've had retiring and new school teachers tell me the parents are getting worse along with the kids. If you misbehaved in our day, you'd also have to deal with your parents' wrath. Now, the parents side with the kids. The teachers have a much harder time with kids who won't do their work or disrupt classes. They don't get disciplined at home about it. And a conference with the parents doesn't produce anything but things against the teacher and for the child. Don't get me wrong, I've known a teacher or two that I'd never have wanted my kids to have. But, overall, I think the teachers are having a tougher time in the classroom. And, I agree with the predominance of bad news everywhere. This has been a topic around our household. First we had newspapers, then radios, then television, and now satellite coverage. What used to take awhile to get to you in now in your home pronto. While that is not that bad, being informed is not a bad thing, the emphasis is almost always on the bad. And, then it is rehashed over and over and over. And, then other bad stuff is predicted and rehashed before it happens. All this negativity is mind numbing. Sometimes, I wonder if it is self fulfilling.

[disneysteve]

I've had retiring and new school teachers tell me the parents are getting worse along with the kids. If you misbehaved in our day, you'd also have to deal with your parents' wrath. Now, the parents side with the kids.

This is SO true. Teachers can't do anything about a misbehaving child because the parents support the kid no matter what.

I have a friend who is a 3rd grade teacher. One day this year, the kids got out their bags for snack time. The teacher helped one kid, opened his little cooler and there was a cold, full can of beer in his bag. She opened the bag herself and saw the can.

Of course, the father was called. Without hearing any details, he immediately made up a story to defend the kid saying, "Oh, he didn't bring a can of beer to school. He must have seen an empty can on the ground on the way to school and picked it up and put it in his bag." The story made no sense, of course, since the can was sealed, full and cold when the teacher found it. But this is the kind of nonsense teachers face today. The parents' attitude is "My child can do no wrong, and if you accuse him of anything, I'll make sure you pay for it." There are many stories of parents suing a teacher, a school, a school district for disciplining their child.

Just recently, there was a case around here. One school made it crystal clear that for the prom, all students attending had to arrive between 7pm and 9pm. During those hours, there would be a check-in procedure at the door to make sure everyone entering belonged there. There was a bag check and other security measures. Everyone was told repeatedly that if they arrived after 9pm, they would not be admitted. The building would be locked down at that point until the end of the prom. Hundreds of kids followed the rules and arrived on time. One couple showed up at 9:30pm and wasn't allowed in. The kids had no excuse. They weren't delayed for any good reason. They made no attempt to contact anyone to let them know they'd be late. They just didn't show up on time. Their fault 100%. Rather than the parents sitting them down and saying, "Sorry guys. You really screwed up. Mabye you'll learn a lesson and be on time next time" instead they raised hell and hired a lawyer to sue the school. What does that teach the kids? That the rules apply to everyone but you?

[maat55]

I think it is a lack of trust. Parents need to except that most teachers are there to do a good job and they need to be trusted and backed by the parents. Many parents think they would be disloyal to their child to take the word of a teacher over their child. I think the chance that the child is in the wrong is much more likely than the teacher.

[disneysteve]

I think it is a lack of trust. Parents need to except that most teachers are there to do a good job and they need to be trusted and backed by the parents. Many parents think they would be disloyal to their child to take the word of a teacher over their child. I think the chance that the child is in the wrong is much more likely than the teacher.

That might be part of it, but I think the bigger problem is that parents no longer teach their children about personal responsibility and consequences for one's actions. Of course, that is mainly because the parents no longer take personal responsibility for their own actions. People feel the rules don't apply to them and they shouldn't apply to their kids either. They don't discipline their children at home and don't think the teacher has any business disciplining them at school either.

[rob62521]

That might be part of it, but I think the bigger problem is that parents no longer teach their children about personal responsibility and consequences for one's actions. Of course, that is mainly because the parents no longer take personal responsibility for their own actions. People feel the rules don't apply to them and they shouldn't apply to their kids either. They don't discipline their children at home and don't think the teacher has any business disciplining them at school either.

You are so right, Steve! Yet, look at our own adults. Who anymore accepts responsibility for anything? Former President Clinton twisted words saying he didn't have sex with that woman, our former Illinois governor claims he had nothing to do with the scandal of trucking and being paid off, and the list goes on. I'm not picking on any one particular political party, either. The first was a demo and the second was a repub so don't get me wrong. How refreshing to hear someone say, "Hey, I blew it and shouldn't have done that." But we don't. I can tell one of my students, "Please don't kick that other student." and that kid will look me square in the eye and deny he/she did it although I had just witnessed it. It's frightening that we, as a society, would rather make excuses than own up to stuff.

As for a couple previous posts that said that kids are not allowed to fail. Yep, right again! My own principal set the rules for a contest and when every kid didn't get a prize, she sneaked a prize to the kids who didn't do what they were supposed to do to earn it. The lesson taught to those kids was do whatever because it doesn't matter, you'll still get rewarded. Sure will be a shock when they as adults enter a contest and don't win, won't it? They'll probably sue for unfair practices or something.

[maat55]

That might be part of it, but I think the bigger problem is that parents no longer teach their children about personal responsibility and consequences for one's actions. Of course, that is mainly because the parents no longer take personal responsibility for their own actions. People feel the rules don't apply to them and they shouldn't apply to their kids either. They don't discipline their children at home and don't think the teacher has any business disciplining them at school either.

Your right, when we were kids we didn't question that our parents and the teachers were on the same side, so we knew we had better respect our teachers. I remember the first time I played hooky, I got spanked by the principle, my big brother and my mother. I didn't do that again for about 5 years.

[disneysteve]

I can tell one of my students, "Please don't kick that other student." and that kid will look me square in the eye and deny he/she did it although I had just witnessed it. It's frightening that we, as a society, would rather make excuses than own up to stuff.

Exactly. Even when caught in the act, kids deny doing something that you just watched them do. And the parents do the same, and defend the kids when presented with the facts.

[OverSaver]

human nature, freedom of choice for starters....