In America????

[columbine]

I know it wouldn't help the whole thing...but I do wonder how much of the space in long lineups is caused by people who have been eating/smoking/drinking too much, and the health effects of that?

WAY too much, because junkfood, cigs, and beer are heavily advertised on the cheapest form of entertainment, TV, and all that Madison Avenue glitz has the strongest effect on the least educated minds. So lousy health is a "poverty tax" that we all end up paying with our wallets, and the wage-earners and below pay a far higher rate in a far more precious currency. This is the true cost of free enterprise. Emptor just doesn't caveat, because it's so much more profitable to train him/her not to.

Love, Columbine (who had Fritos for lunch and is currently enjoying a refreshing beverage containing ethanol)

[Edwina's Secretary]

Columbine...WOW! How eloquently you have summed it up....( pass the Fritos! )

[mugsy]

Gee I didn't realize that being poor made you not able to make decisions and should be released from any and all responsibility for yourself. And I wonder why my lower socio-economic students don't perform well....that's IT! They don't have to answer to anyone, including themselves.

[Catty1]

Mugsy - it seems to me that someone posted here that the mom had tried time and time again to get help for her son...and no dentist would take her. As a last resort, at Emerg, they told her to wait while they found a dentist. 4 hours later, she gave up and went home...

Perhaps some of the poorer students in your class are so unmotivated because they or their parents have tried again and again...and after a while got tired of hitting brick walls.

Including "they" generalizations like

They don't have to answer to anyone, including themselves.

.

It's not that simple...I wish it was black-and-white.

I read once about a teacher who started each new year by telling her students that she had given them each an "A", and it was up to them to prove they didn't deserve it.

(PS my mom was an excellent teacher for over 40 years, so I lived first hand with all her days and experiences).

Let's talk about a solution...what would it/they be?

[columbine]

Well, one thing that I hope will help is for city kids to have safe places to play. They get plopped in front of the idiot box all day because if they go out they'll get hit by a car, recruited as a runner by a drug seller, or kidnapped. If they had a decent place to play, maybe they'd be allowed out to run around and climb stuff.

There's actually an organization working on this called KaBOOM that teams up with neighborhood folks to make new or clean up existing playgrounds, ballfields, and skating rinks.

(I'm reminded of an old Rowan & Martin joke: "Americans have forgotten what good clean fun is." "You're right, Dan. What good is it?")

Love, Columbine

[sparks19]

Well, one thing that I hope will help is for city kids to have safe places to play. They get plopped in front of the idiot box all day because if they go out they'll get hit by a car, recruited as a runner by a drug seller, or kidnapped. If they had a decent place to play, maybe they'd be allowed out to run around and climb stuff.

There's actually an organization working on this called KaBOOM that teams up with neighborhood folks to make new or clean up existing playgrounds, ballfields, and skating rinks.

(I'm reminded of an old Rowan & Martin joke: "Americans have forgotten what good clean fun is." "You're right, Dan. What good is it?")

Love, Columbine

OR...... their parents could supervise them. if they are young enough or impulsive enough to be running out in front of vehicles they shouldn't be outside alone anyway.

While cities are starting to lack playgrounds and other such areas.... it is quite simple for a parent to go out with a child and at least take a walk.

And the mother waited for 4 hours and gave up and went home? Not to be passing judgement on the mother but she COULD have waited longer. A 4 hour wait at an emergency room is nothing. If you are not bleeding out you are lucky to see a Dr in emerg in under 8-10 hours... At least that's how it is in the city I am from.

[Catty1]

I would have to reread an earlier post, but I seem to recall that the mom had tried MANY MANY times to get to a dentist and been refused, and that emerg was a last resort.

Someone else raised a good point...why not give the boy antibiotics instead of aspirin?

Columbine - I like the kaBOOM idea! I hope they spread like crazy.