In my opinion....

I have stayed away from politics for the most part on this blog because I am quite ignorant about them. But I obviously have an opinion on many hot button issues of today so I am taking this opportunity to share with you my stance on some things and look forward to reading some comments that may support or disagree with my positions.

First of all, let me begin by stating that overall, I am rather moderate in my views I would think. I fall on the left on a number of issues but on the right on others. Many times my views have changed as I have grown up, entered different stages of life or experienced things to see them differently.

2008 Election:
I voted for Barack Obama in the Ohio primary. I am not a 100% backer of Obama though. I like Hillary Clinton as well. In fact, I even fell into that category of people that may lean democrat but liked McCain. I still prefer McCain over any of the other Republican candidates. But I as I have read more about McCain, I have become less comfortable with him.

So as of now, I would love to see a Obama/Clinton ticket. Here's why: I am a proponent of change and I think they will bring it. Things are really bad right now and have been for awhile. I can't tell you why or whose fault it is, but it's somebody's. So fresh blood needs to be infused.

I like the fact that they are really pumping changes in Healthcare. I am not knowledgeable enough regarding their ideas or how well they will go over in Congress and much of that, but something needs to be done and I feel there is a better chance something will be done to help the middle and lower class if they are elected. That is pretty much the running theme for me in most other issues: Which candidates will help the middle class most? I highly doubt Republican John McCain will.

Gay Marriage
I strongly have a problem with people's basic civil liberties being taken from them. I was under the impression that this country was founded on freedom. We obviously had issues with this for over a century and still do in terms of race. But it seems like we have been at least trying to move in the right direction over the past 50 years. It seemed like progress has been made with the feminist movement, civil rights and so on. So why take such a step backwards?

Also, I was under the impression that this country was founded on the freedom of religion and separation of church and state. I will respect a religion's view that homosexuality is wrong. While I disagree and will choose not to practice that religion, I will continue to respect that belief system unless it gets to the point of promoting the harming of gays as a result. These religions should therefore have the right to not recognize the union of same sex couples. But the government should not be making this decisions based on these religion's particular beliefs either. I understand many people like to use religion to drive morality but it gets very scary the more you do this. Religion has been used to oppress many people many times throughout history currently with the lack of gay rights and even in the before the civil war to justify slavery.

In a democracy it should be up to the people. And as it has been, the people of this hillbilly state have voted same sex unions down. So I can't say much except that my vote and opinion is for the freedom of same sex couples to be united and sharing in the benefits of traditional couples. Love is love. Both parties are able to aknowledge it and honor it, so I support it.

Welfare
I feel as though there are people in our country that need assistance and the government should be responsible in part to provide them with it. As fellow citizens, we should chip in.

Even if we have a problem with giving our hard earned money to other people we have no "connection" with, it benefits us in the end as the overall quality of life will be better. I don't feel good when I see or hear about people living on the streets or unable to get medicine especially children. I don't like driving around run down areas. I don't like being a victim of crime because someone is desperate for money.

While I realize this can never be completely fixed and people get themselves in these predictaments much of the time and should get themselves out, there are legitimate situations where honest people need help. I, too, have a problem with people living off the system. I understand welfare, obviously, won't fix it. And I worry the system promotes laziness and feelings of self-entitlement, but we can eradicate this without ridding our fellow citizens of welfare all together. We just need to rethink it and do it right.

Death Penalty
Simply put: I am for it. I know it isn't a reliable deterent. I know it costs alot. I am also afraid of killing someone who didn't commit the crime. But when it comes to serial killers, rapists, mass murders and major criminals, they need to be removed from our society completely. They did it, so they should suffer the same consequences.

Abortion
Toughest one for me. In my heart I am pro life. And in my life I choose to do everything I can to handle my situations in a prolife manner. But I see the other side clearly. The woman's body is the woman's body. There are situations when abortion unfortunately needs to happen. I think if we asked God what the correct stance on this one is, it would say something both sides would not want to hear. (Kathryn M. Huey circa 2005)

In my mind, the focus of both sides should be more on finding a way to prevent the reasons for abortion as much as we can in the first place. For example, wising up and providing birth control in schools. It won't promote more sex. New flash: Kids are already doing it. They have been for decades now. No sex until you are responsible enough to handle it is ideal and should be emphasized but let's be real, kids will aren't going to listen so prepare a back up plan.

If all the time in energy we spend fighting about what is right was spent on how we can avoid unwanted, unprepared pregnancies in the first place I think we could get so much closer to not needing abortions (except EXTREME conditions).

Education
NCLB stinks. Holding teachers accountable is a good idea but this not the way to do it. Penalizing instead of rewarding isn't a successful tactic in this case. Education 101 could teach you that. Funding for schools in Ohio, at the very least, has been ruled uncontitutional several times and nothing is being done about it. More and more pressure is put on the teachers with less and less support. The students need people. Teachers need people. We are spinning our wheels in the mud changing the ways we teach every couple years and keep missing the point. The problems are coming in with the kids from the streets or homes. Teachers then have to deal with them directly or indirectly before they even start to teach. How do we solve this? PEOPLE! Resources IN THE SHOOLS. Social workers, nurses all day everyday, assistant principals, classroom aides beyond kindergarden and security.

Then as we teach, please let us teach fundamentals in the lower grades. Middle schools and high schools can teach the higher level conceptual stuff. They need the basics first and we are so worried about teaching higher level conepts in 2nd grade that they go to middle school without knowing math facts or parts of speech. We need to go back to the old school of contructivism.


My Solution to MANY of the issues and problems we have today
In addition to the issues I grazed over above, there are many other problems. I have a solution to most if not all of them. Birth control in the water. We can then control the population better. We are not taking the right to have children away at all. Adults with an income and steady job history, insurance, passing parenthood exam score and classes passed and no more than 3-5 children already in the household can apply for a parenting liscense each time they want a child. Then they can obtain the shot required to neutralize the birth control and have their child.

Listen, I know. This is far fetched and scary. I get that. I am bordering on fascism if not already there. But think about it. Think of how things would be.

Celtics or Lakers
Neither. Can't stand either of them. KG ticks me off. Kobe is a premadonna and lying cheat to his wife. Boston fan is the most annoying sports fan EVAAAAAAAAAA!! Forget them both!

So what would you call me? Liberal? Conservative? I never can tell.

Break the Chain

Teaching in an area where I teach, I deal with a good bit of conflict with lack of conflict resolution skills. But a phenomenom that exists in every school across the country regardless of area is this bully mentality that certain students take on. As a teacher, it is my job to not only educate my students but teach them how to handle life situations such as dealing with a bully. I used to think parents would take care of this ( I do with my daughter and plan to continue to do so), but as I have learned, that doesn't always happen. The instances where parents to teach their children how to deal with bullies, it isn't in a manner conducive to the educational process.

I do not disagree with the frame of mind that one needs to stand up to a bully. I think that is important. Although I do feel that there are ways in which to do this that go beyond "hitting back." This line is a tough one to walk as an authority figure in this scenerio. I do not want fights breaking out in school. This is not a positive situation and impedes the process of education. On the other hand, I am a firm believer in standing up to a bully and defending yourself or friend. I also think letting it go can many times lead to built up frustration and major blowups like Columbine and other unfortunate events.

I try to teach my students alternatives to fighting even in circumstances where they are being intimidated. But many times in fourth grade this leads to "snitching" which is a whole other blog post waiting to happen. I try to get my students to learn to address the intimidator directly according to situation, Simply stating they do not like what is happening and to stop it. Unfortunately, this opens them up to more riducule compounding the problem. Specific situations have specific ways to handle them and I feel like this year I have been able to handle these better than past years but the overall problem remains.

Therefore, I think to myself as I reflect on this, "What is the core of the problem? How can I address the beginning of the issue?" Nip it in the bud so to speak. If I had a penny for the times I find myself dealing with a confrontation that is the part of a long series of interactions between two or more people, I could quit teaching now with two decades left before retirement. Where is the staring point and how do I identify that and squash it there?

I brought this up to my students one year and used a chain analogy. I tried to describe this issue with them and relate it to specific events in the class. I told them that we need to break the chain. Nobody is admitting to being a bully. Everybody claims to be the victim. But that is not possible. In order to have a victim you have to have an offender. Somebody in the class or some bodies in the class are the offender(s). I am not paid to be a detective and figure it out. I am paid to teach. As a result my lesson is: BREAK THE CHAIN! Victim or no victim, QUIT intimidating or fighting or insulting other students. Just stop it. If everyboy stops it from now on, we won't have it anymore.

But then I worry I am taking a survival skill from them. Where they live, there are a lot of angry and mean people. There are everywhere but it just seems like there is more anger and negativity there. In order to make there amidst all these negative behavior, one needs to defend themselves by attacking. Kill or be killed, sometimes literally in the case of a former student of mine shot and killed in gang related activity. Can I justify taking this trait from them considering their situation?

I would think yes. I would think we need to end this bad stuff. The way to do that would be through education and teaching our youth how to deal with problems without resorting to violence.

It is a nasty chain. A strong one at that. We need to break it as a society, country and humanity. Whoever is bullying others and initiating a new chain needs to stop. Somebody needs to take one for the team and resist the urge to act out violently.

Break the chain......please!