I woke up to the news of the shooting at the movie theatre in Colorado last night. I can't imagine being a parent of a teenager that probably purchased advanced tickets 2 weeks ago and now isn't coming home. We don't have any details about the shooter yet but let me make some speculations. He has always been a loner, probably was teased in high school and may have some undiagnosed case of schizophrenia. Perhaps he has been diagnosed with a mental disorder but has gone off his medication.
Why is this the only country where we hear about this type of shooting? This is unique to us because we have interpreted the antiquated second amendment as a right to bear arms for all 24 year old nuts, not just the militia that the law was originally intended. Our second amendment was modelled after a British law - from the Bill of Rights in 1689. The difference is that the Brits have realized that allowing every citizen to have guns is not a good idea in our modern times.
Other countries have terrorist bombings and fighting, but this is usually related to some sort of difference in ideology- NOT a spoiled, 24-year old nut job that wants attention because he was able to sneak an arsenal into a movie theatre and shoot a bunch of innocent children and young adults much akin to throwing a grenade in a coy pond.
Sorry to all of you that believe in the right to bear arms- I just can't agree. How many of the possible 300+ people in the theatre had their guns with them and were able to pull them out to save themselves and others? None-why? We you are in this type of situation you really can't Rambo your way out of it. I just don't believe that having a gun really affords you protection. I would like to see some statistics on this NRA fans. I know that countries that have gun control laws have a lot less violence.
If we are going to have "background checks" when guns are purchased, there needs to be more attention to mental illness. It is scary that someone like this kid was able to build up an arsenal and have tear gas? How is this possible? Yes I am angry and I am reacting before knowing all the details, but that could have been my nerdy daughter at the theatre and I am very upset for the victims of this senseless crime.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
How can we fix our school system?
It has been a bleak summer in Dekalb county Georgia. The school board has had to make deep cuts due to a large budget deficit. Why are we in this mess? Part of it is due to mis-management and most of it is due to the economy. When homes are in foreclosure and the price of homes plummets- the tax collected on property also declines. We are paid by the tax collected on property and this is simply less than it used to be.
I have watched friends at the county office, Fernbank science center, half-day retirees all been cut from the Dekalb county payroll. Many of these talented teachers and administrators are the smartest,most diligent and effective teachers I know. They have a lot of experience and therefore get the highest paychecks and are the top of the chopping list. This is very unfortunate because the students will suffer from this loss.
There are other ways to make cuts. Do we really need to pay for sports? Why not make extracurricular activities optional and charge the students for participation? Collect money that will cover the cost of the coaching, field maintenance, transportation and equipment and cut costs this way. Why is football the most important activity at our school? Why is the most important position that was filled last year the new football coach? Does anyone realize that our best students are academically competitive with any others from around the country? We do send students to Ivy league schools. Shouldn't this be the most important fact we are concerned with?
I was a coach and I realize that sports are important to the health and character building within our young students. I also realize that it is difficult to pay expensive booster club fees if the school system doesn't subsidize the teams. But shouldn't budget cuts focus on all aspects of the budget?
What do you think?
I have watched friends at the county office, Fernbank science center, half-day retirees all been cut from the Dekalb county payroll. Many of these talented teachers and administrators are the smartest,most diligent and effective teachers I know. They have a lot of experience and therefore get the highest paychecks and are the top of the chopping list. This is very unfortunate because the students will suffer from this loss.
There are other ways to make cuts. Do we really need to pay for sports? Why not make extracurricular activities optional and charge the students for participation? Collect money that will cover the cost of the coaching, field maintenance, transportation and equipment and cut costs this way. Why is football the most important activity at our school? Why is the most important position that was filled last year the new football coach? Does anyone realize that our best students are academically competitive with any others from around the country? We do send students to Ivy league schools. Shouldn't this be the most important fact we are concerned with?
I was a coach and I realize that sports are important to the health and character building within our young students. I also realize that it is difficult to pay expensive booster club fees if the school system doesn't subsidize the teams. But shouldn't budget cuts focus on all aspects of the budget?
What do you think?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)