Border

The problem at the southern border is getting more severe by the day. Once the laws are enforced and all migrants are returned, the US can set up watching stations one mile apart along the 2,000 border. Each station can see the adjacent station and everything in between. There will be quick response teams ready to react to any persons crossing. There will be on ground agents in trucks as well as helicopter support. Add to that drones and other high tech methods and the border will be secure. Mexico has become a narco state as the government is unable to control the Cartels so the US must take drastic action. The got a ways, the fentanyl and the human trafficking can no longer be tolerated. Those who only see this as a humanitarian crisis must see that something must be changed. This cannot go on as there are 180 million people around the world that polls say want to come here. Test scores show how students are under performing so a student who cannot speak English will struggle even more. The whole situation is exacerbated by the fact that it has become a political issue. Once again politics gets in the way.

Schools

Up until about ten or fifteen years ago, disruptive students were suspended or even expelled but that all came to a halt when some enterprising person discovered, that even though Black students only represented 15% of the school population they represented 45% of the expulsions. This immediately led to claims of racism and had to stop. Expulsions were detrimental on a number of levels. First the school lost the $8,000 per year per student from state funds. Second students not in school tended to get in trouble with the law. Third they weren't learning and would not graduate. Changes were made to correct these problems and it didn't take the students long to figure out that they would not be expelled or in most cases even suspended. So how did the schools deal with the new ways. Each school has a room where disruptive students can be sent or student can choose to go to that room on their own. The results were promising in that it was determined that its better to spend $15,000 per year to keep the student in school for four years than to spend $35,000 per year to keep them in prison often times for more than four years. On several occasions I subbed in these trouble rooms and found something quite surprising. There would normally be only 4 or 6 students in the room at any given time so I could help one on one. I discovered that students showed an interest in things like chemistry and algebra. I realized that they could understand chemistry if given this private tutoring. The downside is that in all to many situations this resulted in more severe cases of misbehavior and the schools are now stuck. They can no longer remove students who are disruptive and the students know that so bad behavior is on the rise across the country. Cases where student attack one another and even attack teachers are increasing. The days of talking and throwing things in class have been replaced with physical violence and the schools do not know how to deal with these new threats. Interestingly enough we now see the same situation with young adults in the community. The punishment has been reduced and crime is on the rise. I wonder if these new criminals are the same people who were disruptive in school. It is a relatively small number percentage wise as most of the crime is caused by repeat offenders. Catch 22!

Work

A few hundred years ago a German poet named Goethe took an old legend about an alchemist called Faust who sold his soul to the devil for knowledge and pleasure. The moral is always that this is a bad idea but there is an underlying story that is rarely told and that is the pleasure a person receives from the hard work it takes to achieve. In American society this benefit is recognized and referred to as the work ethic. Some younger people are looking for ways to avoid effort as a kind of easy way out. Consider two classical pianist of equal talent but who achieved their success in different ways. One practices 4 hours per day over his life time but the other made a Faustian deal and the devil waved a magic wand and he just absorbed the skill. Anyone who has ever achieved anything knows that the player who put in the effort will receive much more pleasure. Victory is the reward of hard work and hard working people know that. If you are part of the quiet quitting culture you do not understand how this hurts your self worth. These must be people who do not like work and that is a shame as they are losing out on one of the great pleasures in life.

Fight

Today on the news there was video of a fight on a school bus. It showed two boys pummeling a girl and no one stepped in to stop the beating. I went to an all boys high school and when a fight broke out we all stood around and yelled fight fight. I never witnessed two against one and that would not have been allowed. To think that people would stand around while some boy was beating on a girl is beyond the pale. You may conclude that more fights make the news today because everyone has a camera but that cannot explain two boys beating girl. Something is wrong in our society. Could it be that these same boys will one day be wife beaters.

Disruptive students

There are news items about violence in schools on a regular basis and some say it is because everyone has a camera. Many people do not understand what teachers are up against. Here is an example. When I sub, I don't walk before school so I walk around the classroom. If a student is talking loud enough for me to hear them, I usually catch their eye and that quiets them. If that doesn't work, I go and stand by them and that usually works. But if that doesn't do it, I ask them if they would like to go and get a drink of water and this they normally go for since they get out of class. I then stand by the door and wait for them to return. I meet them at the door and say something to this effect. We only have 20 minutes left in class and I am here for only one day and I don't want to cause anybody any grief so help me out here and see if we can make it to the end of class. That worked every time but once. On that occasion the student kept acting up so I was forced to call the office for help. The assistant principal came into the room and I didn't have to point out the student as he knew who it was and asked the student to come out in the hall. In about a minute or two they came back in and the student sat down in his chair. As the assistant was leaving he turned to me and said, you know he's not learning any thing when he is out in the hall. The the student began once again talking in a loud voice. When a regular teacher has this type of problem they will be accused of not being able to control their classroom. It is true that the student is not learning when he is in the hall but when he is in the room no students are learning. He is the center of attention and not the subject matter.

Balloon

The recent news of a Chinese balloon flying over the Midwest brought back memories of WW 2. In those days commercial air traffic was very limited so when a plane flew over we would run outside to look at it. During the war, I was a child and I clearly remembering that I thought it might be an enemy plane coming to bomb our house. Of course living in Central Illinois I was 1,500 miles from the coast.

BLM

I saw a list of famous people who have lost their jobs because of something they said. I never heard of most of these people because I am not in tune with popular culture. One man lost his job because someone posted a picture of his hand showing what I used to call the OK sign but is today called a White supremacy sign. The really odd thing is that this man was Black. These things are of little concern to me but how this so called cancel culture effects ordinary people is of concern. One example is that the teachers in this area are required to say Black Lives Matter. Most even have BLM signs in their rooms. This requirement is very specific, for example they must not only say Black Lives Matter but they cannot say All Lives Matter. These teachers willingly give up their right to free speech in order to keep the peace. There was an incident here last year that prompted this silence. One teacher did not go along and the students walked out. This cause a severe disruption at the school so the rest of the teachers dutifully fell in line so as not to cause trouble.