Sunday, September 16, 2007
Waxing the Poetic
No Child Left Behind is a Game Boy approach to “leveling up” academic achievement but like a Detecto at the hoagie shop it is a sliding scale. The precious and precocious isolated inside their honors and advanced placement classes are sprinting to maintain privilege. America is an elitist society but the good news is you can’t buy your way in or even earn your way. It is already too late. Legacy is not a Subaru but rather riding on the coattails of great granddaddy. “You ain’t got the name you ain’t in the game’!
All kids need adversity in their lives, to learn to take responsibility and to not blame test scores or losses in a sport on the closest adult who is not meeting their needs. Sometimes your ass just gets beat-or beaten-so shut up about it.
I have always been a reverse snob. I love smart people but can’t stand anyone who identifies themselves as advanced or honorable. And now this has crept into youth and high school sports. Getting stomped, waxed, housed and humbled happens to all athletes.
I played in a summer league basketball game in Philly where some old fat black guys hung 105 on us and a local grocer went baseline by me then threw a two handed reverse slam in my face saying,” You’re an All Catholic player but not today young man, not today. Today is my day!”
“Good as anyone better than no one,”my grandmother used to say. “Get out there and play hard and if that's not good enough don't cry about it!”
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Brother Freddog,
When do you think society will come up with the "No Child Left Behind - the Parent Version?" Have you ever considered the impact of generations of kids raised by day care providers and then sedated by ritalin so their parents could sacrifice them to the gods of financial and self-gratification?
You and I were blessed to grow up when we did - the days prior to instant gratification and preoccupaton with desires rather than needs. Of course, I don't need to tell you about it since you were "in the trenches" actually dealing with many of the results of the parental neglect and self-indulgence imposed upon children and ultimately society by the Equal Rights "social engineers" of the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
Have you ever considered that there are 75,000,000 adults between the age of 18 and 36 whose best memory of their childhood were the days Mom or Dad took them out of daycare or school for doctors appointments? Thankfully, some of them ended up on athletic fields where they learned life's important lessons in a somewhat mentored environment.
You must have an entire memory library of kids who overcame orphanhood despite everything their parents did to make them wards of the daycare or school. It might not be a pretty picture, but one that needs to be painted nonetheless.
Peace,
The Messenger
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When do you think society will come up with the "No Child Left Behind - the Parent Version?" Have you ever considered the impact of generations of kids raised by day care providers and then sedated by ritalin so their parents could sacrifice them to the gods of financial and self-gratification?
You and I were blessed to grow up when we did - the days prior to instant gratification and preoccupaton with desires rather than needs. Of course, I don't need to tell you about it since you were "in the trenches" actually dealing with many of the results of the parental neglect and self-indulgence imposed upon children and ultimately society by the Equal Rights "social engineers" of the 70s, 80s, and 90s.
Have you ever considered that there are 75,000,000 adults between the age of 18 and 36 whose best memory of their childhood were the days Mom or Dad took them out of daycare or school for doctors appointments? Thankfully, some of them ended up on athletic fields where they learned life's important lessons in a somewhat mentored environment.
You must have an entire memory library of kids who overcame orphanhood despite everything their parents did to make them wards of the daycare or school. It might not be a pretty picture, but one that needs to be painted nonetheless.
Peace,
The Messenger
# posted by 
: 7:46 AM
: 7:46 AM 
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