Firefly/Serenity: Dino-Therapy

[Darwinist]

I come from a family full of school teachers, and would-be school teachers, and most of my college friends were education majors.  The overwhelming anecdotal evidence is disgusting.  Ask for help cleaning up after class parties, ask for volunteers to help grading papers, or try to get the parents of the one third grader who still craps his pants every day (true story) to seek medical attention... no response.  Have a parent send in "Halloween Cupcakes", though, and there are letters to the school board and angry phone calls from "concerned" parents.

(Full disclosure:  My wife is the volunteer/helper in our home.  I stay away from the schools because I can't stand other people's children.  Trust me, it's in everyone's best interest.  And she brings in completely non-celebratory muffins out of respect for the Jehovah's Witness... who turned out to be allergic to wheat gluten.  *sigh*)

You hit the nail on the head. 

Times have certainly changed.  I remember growing up - if a teacher called my parents because I misbehaved or had grade issues I heard about it and there were consequences.   I hear my wife call parents and more often than not the parents turn on HER and take the kid's side (my Sarah says that you treated her unfairly / didn't give her enough time to complete the project, etc.).  Sickening. 

[Jhite]

You hit the nail on the head. 

Times have certainly changed.  I remember growing up - if a teacher called my parents because I misbehaved or had grade issues I heard about it and there were consequences.   I hear my wife call parents and more often than not the parents turn on HER and take the kid's side (my Sarah says that you treated her unfairly / didn't give her enough time to complete the project, etc.).  Sickening. 

This is the kind of thing that drove my wife and I to home school our children.  Homeschooling is not prefect, it is not easy, but looking at the public schools I can't see that they are a better alternative.  And I don't think that it is the teachers fault.  I have seen so many very good teachers "broken" by the system.  As a public school graduate, it makes me sad.  I had some great teachers, and some really lousy ones (one geography teacher who could not find Egypt on a map of South America) but I saw most of the good ones broken down by the rules and restrictions and complete uncaring of the parents and students.

For all you teachers out there I say, way to go, you are braver than I am to go into a classroom these days.  And please don't let the school system and the parents get your down.  The education of our children is very important.  I hope you have time to do it between all the other garbage you have to do.

Also in the interest of full disclosure, my wife does 90% of the work with home schooling our children but even the 10% or so that I do is work so teachers I do feel some of your pain.

[ClintMemo]

I am fortunate that my daughter goes to a very good public elementary school (actually, she is lucky that I moved where I did so she could go to that school ).

Whenever the administration talks about the school's success, they always prominently mention the role that parent volunteers provide. We have parents volunteering in every classroom (my wife is one of them) - helping kids in reading groups, helping out in the lunchroom, stuffing papers into folders, managing classroom supplies, helping out on field trips - whatever it takes.   

One of the reasons this happens is because the school is in a wealthy neighborhood with a lot of stay-home or work part-time moms (and a few dads) who have and take time to volunteer.

[Chodon]

I had some great teachers, and some really lousy ones (one geography teacher who could not find Egypt on a map of South America)

I would have a hard time finding Egypt on a map of South America too!

I am fortunate that my daughter goes to a very good public elementary school (actually, she is lucky that I moved where I did so she could go to that school ).

Whenever the administration talks about the school's success, they always prominently mention the role that parent volunteers provide. We have parents volunteering in every classroom (my wife is one of them) - helping kids in reading groups, helping out in the lunchroom, stuffing papers into folders, managing classroom supplies, helping out on field trips - whatever it takes.  

One of the reasons this happens is because the school is in a wealthy neighborhood with a lot of stay-home or work part-time moms (and a few dads) who have and take time to volunteer.

My wife works in the public schools in my home town, and luckily my company supports community involvement.  I spend two hours a week teaching Junior Achievement (business people teaching kids about business) at the middle school where she teaches, but not in her class.  It's a great way to give back to the community and push my Libertarian / Anarcho-capitalist agenda at the same time!

[bad_andy]

True story:  I wanted to be a paleontologist when I was 9.  All of the adults at school and church encouraged me by saying things like "Wow, I don't even know what that word means" and "Is that like what Indiana Jones does?"  I was gearing up to dedicate myself to a life of serious scientific research, when my grandfather (an ordained Southern Baptist minister) pulled me aside.

"Son," he said, "I don't want to disappoint you, but don't you know there weren't ever any dinosaurs?  They aren't mentioned in the Bible, are they?  You know what all those bones are?  They were put in the ground by Satan to confuse us and test our faith."

"Dude, I think you were put here to test my faith." - Bill Hicks responding to a creationist proposing a similar theory of where fossils came from.

I know just where you are coming from, TAD. I was very interested in paleontology when I was a kid. My parent bought me dinosaur toys, models and books (even bad ones with cavemen hiding from or riding dinosaurs). My understanding of how fossils were created naturally transfered to other epochs. I saw proto-hominids in National Geographic and thought, "OK, there's our ancestors". That settled evolution for me pretty handily. It was at this point, when I spent time with the more politically motivated members of my church, that what had been encouragement ("Paleontology? Wow, you sure know a big word.") turned into outright squeamishness ("How do we know God didn't create a world in 7 days that had the appearance of having a long natural history?").

[Tango Alpha Delta]

True story:  I wanted to be a paleontologist when I was 9.  All of the adults at school and church encouraged me by saying things like "Wow, I don't even know what that word means" and "Is that like what Indiana Jones does?"  I was gearing up to dedicate myself to a life of serious scientific research, when my grandfather (an ordained Southern Baptist minister) pulled me aside.

"Son," he said, "I don't want to disappoint you, but don't you know there weren't ever any dinosaurs?  They aren't mentioned in the Bible, are they?  You know what all those bones are?  They were put in the ground by Satan to confuse us and test our faith."

"Dude, I think you were put here to test my faith." - Bill Hicks responding to a creationist proposing a similar theory of where fossils came from.

I know just where you are coming from, TAD. I was very interested in paleontology when I was a kid. My parent bought me dinosaur toys, models and books (even bad ones with cavemen hiding from or riding dinosaurs). My understanding of how fossils were created naturally transfered to other epochs. I saw proto-hominids in National Geographic and thought, "OK, there's our ancestors". That settled evolution for me pretty handily. It was at this point, when I spent time with the more politically motivated members of my church, that what had been encouragement ("Paleontology? Wow, you sure know a big word.") turned into outright squeamishness ("How do we know God didn't create a world in 7 days that had the appearance of having a long natural history?").

But he *did* bad_andy!  He began with a mountain, a tree, and a midget....

[Russell Nash]

True story:  I wanted to be a paleontologist when I was 9.  All of the adults at school and church encouraged me by saying things like "Wow, I don't even know what that word means" and "Is that like what Indiana Jones does?"  I was gearing up to dedicate myself to a life of serious scientific research, when my grandfather (an ordained Southern Baptist minister) pulled me aside.

"Son," he said, "I don't want to disappoint you, but don't you know there weren't ever any dinosaurs?  They aren't mentioned in the Bible, are they?  You know what all those bones are?  They were put in the ground by Satan to confuse us and test our faith."

"Dude, I think you were put here to test my faith." - Bill Hicks responding to a creationist proposing a similar theory of where fossils came from.

I know just where you are coming from, TAD. I was very interested in paleontology when I was a kid. My parent bought me dinosaur toys, models and books (even bad ones with cavemen hiding from or riding dinosaurs). My understanding of how fossils were created naturally transfered to other epochs. I saw proto-hominids in National Geographic and thought, "OK, there's our ancestors". That settled evolution for me pretty handily. It was at this point, when I spent time with the more politically motivated members of my church, that what had been encouragement ("Paleontology? Wow, you sure know a big word.") turned into outright squeamishness ("How do we know God didn't create a world in 7 days that had the appearance of having a long natural history?").

But he *did* bad_andy!  He began with a mountain, a tree, and a midget....

A mountain, a tree, and a midget walk into a bar…

[wintermute]

Is the caption contest still going?

Creationism: Just as stupid as it seems.