America’s 21st Century Alphabet of Axioms
The Correlation and Solutions to the Decline of American Education PART II
WHAT A STUPID TIME TO BE ALIVE!
Please take time to read the previous blog and/or listen to the previous podcast in order to understand the intent of this one. Part I blog can be found here. Picture this: In 10 years (hopefully less), when our country finds a semblance of order, perhaps someone will find my writings and be inspired! So here goes.
What are my American alphabet axioms?
ABORTION
BORDERS
CHRISTIANS
DEBT
EDUCATION
FENTANYL
GIRLS
HOMELESSNESS
IRAN
JUDICIAL SYSTEM
KNOWLEDGE
LIES
MARIJUANA
NATIONAL ANTHEM
OPIOIDS
PHOBIC
QUID PRO QUO
RACISM
SOCIALISM
TEACHERS
UKRAINE
VIOLENCE
WOMAN
XENOPHOBIC
YOUTH
ZELENSKY
Before I address the impact of I-Q in PART II, I am mindful that June 29/30, 2023 are historic ones for education and the rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. Historic in the sense that the court followed the precepts of the constitution and struck down affirmative action and student loan bailouts. The liberal conversation would have you believe that our systemic racist country has once again oppressed students of color in both decisions. Two of the best conservative summaries regarding today’s events were:
You cannot fight racism with racism.
America’s K-12 public schools need to be overhauled so that all students of any race will not only succeed but will not be dependent on the government for that success.
So let’s dive into my perceived axioms (I-Q), how they affect our educational system accompanied with viable solutions.
Iran
along with other countries, possesses the threat to end the world as we know it through nuclear weapons. This poses a great threat to children’s and adolescents’ perceptions of health and well-being. With the war in Ukraine, children are asking pointed questions about nuclear weapons. According to PBS News Hour, experts advise telling the truth. Most importantly parents and educators need to manage their own anxiety and fear, perhaps consuming less media.
SOLUTION: Nuclear war should never be considered an option in theory or in practice. Not if we hope to keep the planet spinning on its axis. Perhaps this analogy is simplistic but it worked for decades: In our 43 year marriage, my husband and I pledged that divorce would never be a conversation or an option. Through those challenging times, we never spoke of divorce. It forced us to find other ways to address our relationship. On the international level, our world leaders should take such a pledge. Humankind loses in a nuclear war.
Judicial system
has two tiers of justice which is reflected in the school to prison pipeline as experienced in the American Education System. Students in Tier One schools tend to come from more affluent and advantaged homes, while those in Tier Two schools tend to come from homes with financial struggles and fewer resources.
SOLUTION: Students in low performing schools should be allowed to move to schools whose mission statement is set in the concrete of measurable success. The School Voucher System has long been held in a negative light. But in fact, the lengthy tenure of failing schools in America mandates a time for change. Competition is the foundation of a free market. Perhaps the public schools would find real motivation to change their decline if state and federal dollars followed the student and not handed over to educational institutions with no accountability.
Knowledge
as measured through testing has continually spiraled downward. America's children rate embarrassingly low again on the latest round of scholastic tests from the OECD. In fact there are 24 countries who have smarter children than America.
SOLUTION: It’s almost too obvious to address. Stop cramming secular progressive, fad de jour classes into America’s schools. Get back to the basics and equip our children for real world experiences. The metamorphosis from today’s failing schools to ones of achievement begins with the revamping of university teachers’ colleges. Today’s teachers struggle with classroom management, communication with parents and objective grading. Adding on to students already heavy assignments, the components of gender and social justice will not make our children wiser or better humans. These ideologies will not entice perspective teachers.
Lies
(fake news) make children vulnerable to false perceptions. According to Melinda Wenner Moyer, Children, it turns out, are ripe targets for fake news. Age 14 is when kids often start believing in unproven conspiratorial ideas, according to a study published in September 2021 in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology. Many teens also have trouble assessing the credibility of online information. In a 2016 study involving nearly 8,000 U.S. students, Stanford University researchers found that more than 80 percent of middle schoolers believed that an advertisement labeled as sponsored content was actually a news story.
SOLUTION: Whatever happened to the “Walter Cronkite integrity” of reporting the news? Until mainstream media takes a step back and realizes their neutrality has long been compromised, we as a nation will continue to drown in false information. Back in the day, journalists were fired for misreporting the news. Now that the truth is so distorted by partisan politics, it’s impossible to discern the integrity of news reports. So this axiom is a puzzlement. Any suggestions out there? Please leave a comment.
Marijuana
negatively affects the teenage brain:
Difficulty thinking and problem-solving
Problems with memory and learning
Reduced coordination
Difficulty maintaining attention
Problems with school and social life
SOLUTION: Stop with the conversations arguing marijuana is not as harmful as alcohol. They both have the ability to destroy lives. Neither one should be considered status quo, cool or a necessary drug to experience real life. This from the Division of Criminal Justice of Colorado:
Over the past 10 years, Colorado has seen increases in marijuana-related hospitalizations, Emergency Room visits, poison control calls, DUIs, and fatal crashes where drivers tested positive for cannabinoids.
School discipline data for 2019-20 indicated that marijuana infractions accounted for 30% of all expulsions and 34% of all law enforcement referrals in Colorado public schools. These infractions are almost uniformly for simple marijuana possession.
The percent of suicide incidents in which toxicology results were positive for marijuana has increased from 14% in 2013 to 29% in 2020.
National Anthem
is a part of the American experience. When I was eight years old, my dad took me to a Division I football game. The marching band took the field, everyone stood up and then this song began playing. I was mesmerized by it. What kind of a song could bring thousands of people to their feet in such reverence. And then it happened. For the first time in my young life, I experienced goosebumps. I had no idea what that sparkly feeling was running throughout by body but somehow it made my eyes water.
SOLUTION: Teaching patriotism to our students gives them a sense of identity and belonging. The students get the chance to understand that they have a purpose in society. It helps build the students' character development. A sense of pride grows in them that there is nothing wrong with strongly identifying with their nationality. After all millions of immigrants cross our borders so they can become a part of this American experience.
Opioid
Peter Lane, DO, medical director of the UAB Addiction Recovery Program (ARP)notes that opiates and alcohol may shrink the size of the hippocampus, a part of the brain important for learning and memory functions.
Some serious long-term consequences of adolescent drug and alcohol include:
Poor academic performance
Psychosocial problems (forming relationships with others, having a healthy self-concept)
Neurocognitive deficits (trouble remembering, interacting with others)
Increased likelihood of developing a substance use disorder
SOLUTION: Just stay away from this drug. Many of my friends, post surgery, are offered opioids for pain. Most will not even take one pill if they can possibly control the pain with lesser drugs. Opioids are highly addictive. No surprise that five percent of U.S. adults say they have abused or been addicted to opioids or prescription painkillers, up from 1 percent in 2017, possibly reflecting a greater awareness and willingness to talk about the problem.
Phobic
is the label placed on anyone who raises questions or concerns. Yet our public schools and institutions of higher learning no longer allow a conservative point of view in classroom discussions regarding human sexuality, gender fluidity or immigration. In fact, high school debates no longer are allowed debate! Judges are making it clear they are not only tilting the debate in a left-wing direction, they will also penalize students who don’t adhere to their ideology. (James Fishback The Free Press)
SOLUTION: In my opinion, social media crushed free speech. The lack of diverse opinions, in turn, has invaded America’s classrooms. The fact that someone with a conservative narrative can be canceled, fired or mocked publicly never crossed the minds of our country’s forefathers’ passion for free speech. This axiom is also a puzzlement due to the inherent pressures of big media (and the government) to control and contain the thoughts of those who differ in their perspective. There is a desperate need for congress to litigate how Google, Mega and Twitter usurp their power over their social media platforms.
Quid pro quo
(a favor for a favor) is an acceptable method of play by all three branches of the U.S. government and schools in general. Where did I experience it as a teacher of four decades?
GRADING: There is not an objective, uniform grading rubric. Teachers do play favorites.
DISCIPLINE: Students of color are treated differently. I taught in downtown Phoenix with a very small Hispanic student population, Within weeks, two Hispanic students were expelled without due process.
PERFORMING ARTS: No matter how fair the auditions, parents truly believe their child is the best singer, dancer, actor. Many times directors cast lessor talented students knowing this will help them escape their irate parent demands.
SPORTS: I’ve also seen it reversed where Black athletes were allowed to miss practice, come late and not adhere to the coach’s game plan while white players were held to much higher expectations. This philosophy of coaching hurts both Black and white players.
SOLUTION: Administrators need to do their jobs with discernment and not with politics. Many administrators in today’s schools are inept. I was asked to change a student’s grade due to the caving in of my administrator to a parent’s complaint. When I did hand out discipline, many times the administrator would not follow through or on some occasions completely vacated my decision. In my 46 years of teaching, there was only one principal who verbally and with his actions supported me. I believe many teachers experience this lack of support today and is one of the main reasons teachers are leaving the profession in larger numbers than ever before.
You guessed it! Part III is coming soon with the axioms R-Z examined.
Order your copy today! Great gift for the four points of views: students, parents, teachers and administrators.