Something on my Mind: Hem Line Alert (2)

There are hemlines and then there are hem lines. There could be a careful play on words here, if this gets into the hands (or fingers) of an eccentric county-wide columnist.

A hemline is an edge or border of a dress or coat; whereas a hem line could be that proverbial line in the sand that restricts people. You could be “hemmed in” (= cut off or surrounded) because of the colour of your skin, your ethnic heritage, or even your worldview.

I'm Irish, but I don't think my problem is skin colour or an ethnic heritage. However, I am feeling a little hemmed in these days, mostly because I possess a worldview that is very much out of step with certain trends today. To be be sure, it's a faith-based worldview, and that colours my thinking about a lot of things.

There are three trends that alarm many of us who hold to this worldview. I dealt with the climate change question last week, and alluded to the other two—vaccination and same-sex marriage. I think it is important to take a deep breath and “think” through all the issues.

For instance, I see where California is now mandating vaccination for all school-aged children. That is outrageous at every level—be it political, medical, or individual. Should government have that much power? Do we have any idea what the vaccination really is made up of? And shouldn't parents have the final say over their own kids?

Even if there is a flicker of evidence (and there's a lot more than that) to show how dangerous immunization has been, shouldn't we be more cautious than mindless? I read just this morning that the vaccination for measles leads to more deaths than measles themselves. And this came from a pro-vaccination party.

Furthermore, when the “state” infringes with the home, that is very, very bad news.

I suggest that all integral levels of stakeholders sit down at the table and work out a reasonable compromise. But to arbitrarily cram a such a, well, toxic topic down the collective throat of California's parents is wrong. So, California today, Canada tomorrow? Well, maybe not quite so quickly, but it's good to be aware of such trends.

And then there's the other biggie, namely, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decree on same-sex marriage. Like the silent majority, I am very disappointed.

Number one: Since when did sex become such a public event? Number two: If you follow history, name one culture that survived its obsession with sex, particularly same sex relations. And number three: Identify one other issue that should be private, but goes public, and ends up being personal—too personal.

One of the greater issues at stake here is that we have lost the ability to think things through. We refuse to examine the facts objectively. Too many just follow the masses and the media.

In my world as a parent, an evangelical, and a teacher, I see it more than I want to. These are people who generally have a balanced, healthy worldview. Between some of them and too many of the rest, there appears to be limited motivation to ascertain, accumulate, and then analyze the facts.

We are not training our young people to diagnose, reflect, and problem-solve. Part of the blame is the overall system of bringing up kids (home and school) itself, and part of it is electronic the toys that kids play with. Said toys have a dumbing-down affect, crippling the thinking process.

These kids grow up (usually) to be adults (to use another term loosely), and somehow end up as mindless followers or headstrong leaders, and these leaders sometimes even end up as elected officials. It's these headstrong leaders who are passing these laws, supported by those mindless followers who, well, just follow them blindly.

My grief is, again, not only with the position that these people take, but the power that they wield over those who don't agree with them. This is a very dangerous imbalance. There are incomes, lifestyles, and futures at stake because of flimsy evidence, with limited historical, scientific proof.

We need to return to rational thought with these (and other) matters. Dialogue and respect should be the order of the day. Agreeing to disagree has always been the hallmark of a strong society.

I do see the value in taking care of the environment, living a healthy lifestyle, and respecting all people; I actually have been doing that for many decades, thank you very much.

However, there is no value in cramming one's personal agenda down fellow-citizens' throats, without examining all the facts, thinking things through, and allowing differences of opinions.

Hemlines and hem lines can work: Just make sure, either way, they're reasonable and rational.

 

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Something on my Mind: Hem Line Alert

Not sure if anyone noticed, but I had a birthday last week. Apparently the family was going to buy a cake, but there was no trailer big enough to transport it. So I found some some things under my son's bed that looked like candles, so put them on the cake that Betty Crocker and I baked.

It became an explosive situation: What you may have thought was a fireworks display coming from the next county over was actually the result of 61 Roman (or roamin'?) candles out of control.

So, now that I'm 61, and I want to wish me a happy birthday.

I find myself more and more reflective these days, especially since I turned the big 6-0 last year. Thirty years ago, 70 seemed so far away. However, at this point, 70 is now only within nine years. Some days I feel that old, er, mature; other days, I can navigate a walker with the best of them.

As I meander through the garden of life, I'm not sure I like what's coming down the path. Right has become wrong, good has become evil, and tolerance has become intolerance. In short, so much of what used to be proper is now turned on its head. Is it just me, or do you feel the same way?

Life is changing at such an exponential rate (translation: changes are coming quicker and quicker and quicker) that I get dizzy just trying to think about it.

And it's not even the changes that disturb me the most, questionable as they are: it's the demands that I agree with the way others “think” (to use the term loosely), or else be cast on to the heap of extraneous humanity.

It's “group think” at its worse, if you will, with a greater emphasis on “group” than “think.”

These days there appears to be very little investigation into the facts, ramifications, and ultimate outcome of certain trends. It's power without pause, practice without principle.

And their kicker is simply this: If you don't do as we do, there's the stigma, followed by a label.

You may recall another movement in the 30's and 40's, over in Germany; their label was a yellow star of David. There are similarities and it's frightening.

Has anyone really “thought” (there's that word again) through the three biggies, namely, climate change, immunization, and same-sex issues? These three are the more pressing, more newsworthy, and more in-our-collective-faces that come to my mind.

I can't do much about people who believe any of these things, but I sure wish they would “think” them through. And at that point, at least allow others to differ with their loud opinions.

In fact, I get alarmed with the mass hysteria that follows resistance to these three. Any challenge, even in the form of hesitation, is regarded as being the wasted drivel of uninformed conspiracistss.

Really? I wonder where the drivel is, who is uninformed, and what is the real conspiracy?

Let me tackle what appears to be the most harmless of them all, namely, climate change. We'll deal with the other two next week. Either way, when it comes to a careful examination of the issues, well, we need to be careful. This is especially true when there are political and economic restrictions implemented (yet without any really genuine historical, scientific evidence to back them up),

The joke here in Alberta is that of course we believe in climate change—we just call them “seasons.”

I suggest that if anyone was really serious about climate change, then we all should look at the facts from the past, then analyze them historically and scientifically. I'm good with that. Facts never scare me or other clear-headed people.

It's the analysis and application of the facts that do.

Just a suggestion here: If you are really serious about climate change, check out the polar bear population. Get past the hype and hysteria, and get to the facts. The polar bear population is thriving in the Arctic. But we never get that in the media. Methinks we're being lied to...big time.

I don't know if there is an agenda with this climate change hype. And with our climate change protagonists spewing out “evidence” of a world that's apparently warming up, we are expected to sit up and take heed. And woe betide the individual or corporation that doesn't buckle under.

I was raised to think before I spoke. I don't always do it, of course, but it saves me a lot of grief when I do. I suggest that others also think before they threaten (or demonstrate or legislate).

We don't need any unnecessary heat generated by this already hot topic.

 

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Something on my Mind: No More Teachers, No More Books (Part 1)

You're a few weeks into the summer holidays, and you're already counting the days when school starts up again. Or, if you're a kid (hi kid, thanks for reading my column!), you're also a few weeks into the summer holidays and cherishing every single week that you're away from “inform” school.

(Maurice: I did mean “inform” and not “reform” school. Theoretically, kids attend school to get informed. What they get informed about is, well...)

Teachers, like cops, get a very bad rap these days. Like cops, there are a few bad apples in the educational barrel, but it's a big barrel with only few miscreants. Sadly, they're all smeared with the same slanderous brush. Both teachers and cops need a good word said in their favour once in a while.

Consider this a good word of sorts.

Part of it is because I are, er, am one of them, and partly because teachers have such a pivotal role in the life of your child (or that of your grand-kids). We may also have fond memories of certain teachers from our distant past. And don't forget the other heroines, namely, those who teach their kids at home.

Two teachers that stand out in my mind are Mrs. Matthews (grade 5 homeroom) and Mr. Redmond (Journalism 11, elective). They were key influences in my life in the late 60's and early 70's; I assume they have gone on to the “other side,” as we so tactfully put it.

I regret two things about the above information: One, that I haven't been able to locate them and thank them for what wonderful persons they were; and two, that there aren't as many of those types of people anymore.

I'm not sure of you picked up nuanced difference in how I referred to them. I used the word “persons,” and “people”--not teachers. They are teachers, to be sure, and very good ones at that. But they were decent, balanced, and virtuous people first—who happened to teach public school.

Our universities are churning out people through the teaching mill that really aren't fit to lead a classroom. Don't think a piece of paper (and the years of study and practise it represents) makes for a good teacher. It takes a lot more than post-secondary education.

The inverse is likewise true: I know some great instructors who do not have a university degree.

Let me be clear: There are great people who are great teachers—in that order, please—and I know many of them personally in this county.

Teaching today is not the same as teaching was a generation or two ago. Kids are different today, as are the homes they come from. Wait, let me correct that slightly: The kids and the things that influence them are different today. Kids are still kids, whether it's 1815, 1915, or 2015. What is different is the toys, mindset, homes, and culture at large that they bring into the classroom.

And that means a lot more baggage for teachers to have to work through these days.

Parents are more willing than ever to leave the best hours of the days, the best days of the week, the best weeks of the year, and the best years the life—at least for their kids-- in the hands of someone else. I'm not saying that's right or wrong; I'm simply saying be an informed, active, and supportive parent.

Learn to develop a rapport with your child's teacher. Have them for a meal; meet them for coffee; offer to help in them in some way, any way. They're human just like you, and should appreciate your support.

I have found even in my limited teaching load these past few years (and more extensive back in BC), that when that very thing happens, the kids (their children = my students) behave better, perform better, and feel better about themselves.

It's almost like marriage: Kids do better, guaranteed, when mom and dad aren't fighting, or aren't sniping at each other. The fallout from divorce are the kids, of course. The same can be said when home and school are not speaking to one another—or when they do, it's really ugly

To milk that marriage metaphor a little more, let me suggest a few things for next fall's school year: leave pleasant notes that express your appreciation for the work the teacher does; if you have to disagree with the teacher, do it discreetly and privately—not in front of the kids; and finally, honour jurisdiction as to who's in charge of the child, knowing the when and where.

Sounds like good solid marriage advice, doesn't it?

So for the next few weeks, just consider the summer holidays as a bit of an annual honeymoon period. Except in this case, it's a honeymoon without the honeymooners together.

 

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