I think I have just about written off any chance of children in the not-too-distant future getting a good education. 

I have never been one for private schools. Not having been personally I found some of their strategies for teaching to be less “real world” than a good public school. To me, it really came down to the kid and the level of the parent’s involvement. 

With that said, I think private schools may become the only real option for kids to excel in the future. Not because of the quality of teachers, dress codes, or morning affirmations. No, I think private schools will win because of lack of phones and ipods. 

I have always been aware kids take ipods and phones to school. Sure, one is for “safety” and the other, well, that is in case you get bored (you decide which is which). 

Anyway, the teachers in the beginning confiscated items left and right. If an iPod or phone was in view, it was taken away, disappearing into a drawer that used to be filled with firecrackers and back issues of Playboy.

Well, teachers have given up. 

Kids today (did I just say that?) routinely text each other throughout the day during class time. Heck, who isn’t bored in class? You know your friends are just a few rooms away with their phones –waiting to text the latest gossip. 

Kids can listen to music (usually with only one ear bud so they can appear to be also listening to the lesson) because, god forbid, anyone question Johnnie’s inability to learn without Metallica playing in the background. Political correctness strikes again. 

With attention spans now diverting away from the teachers our kids will learn less and less. What I call “accidental knowledge” will be lost forever. You know what I mean. When you were stuck listening to a teacher you didn’t want to, you at least still learned something (whether you wanted to or not) because you weren’t allowed to do anything else. 

Ta da…Accidental Knowledge. Stuff just got stuck in your brain because you overheard it. 

I think some of the great inventors and societal contributors started out solving the world’s problems simply because they were stuck in a class that made them listen to the teacher – only to accidentally discover the learned something of value. 

At least with a private school they will smack you around a bit if you get caught not listening. Then again, maybe it is just a matter of time before they also join the ranks of the uneducated. At least then I know it won’t be by accident. 

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 When Florida makes the news it is typically not good.

 Hurricane’s, voting processes, and the occasional poodle-attacked-by-gator all seem to top the list.

 So what is on the list this week at The Slow Bleed? 

According to state figures, 72.4 percent of students who enrolled in ninth grade managed to graduate last spring. That means about 37,000 students dropped off the radar and out of school.

The only thing worse is that in a state-by-state study, Florida is not the worse. Here are states that fall below Florida when it comes to graduation… 

• Tennessee
• Alabama
• Mississippi
• Georgia
• New York
• South Carolina

 And the (worst) winner is…

•  Nevada.

If your state did not make the list, just give it a few more years. With absolutely no priorities for education in this country these statistics are not going to get any better. 

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If you could change one thing the US is doing right now; such as our policies on Immigration, War in Iraq, Education, Homelessness, Healthcare, etc, etc. What would you change? 

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When I was in sixth grade I lost both a spelling competition and a sport competition. It pretty much meant that I was not a top student intellectually or physically. The spelling competition was your run of the mill type — I couldn’t spell “equalize,” so I was out. The sport competition was the then coveted Presidential Physical Fitness Test where you accumulate points. I did “pass” the test, but not at the highest level possible (damn pull ups).

When I was a kid, there were winners and losers. There were people who were not picked quickly for a game of pickup football (some of us were never really “picked” at all — just the last one standing). Although our feelings may have been hurt, these experiences still manifested real life — yes, Virginia, there are losers. The losers either tried harder or found something they were good at. In any case, we all turned out OK .

Today, of course, is much different. We all get to be winners. There are no losers, no second place, no runners-up, no chance for anyone’s precious developing ego to be crushed by mean-spirited adults and peers.

The downside is that real life will never mirror this Utopian attitude. There are winners, there are losers, there are people who will rule the board room, and there are people who will ask whether you want something “for here or to go.” Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think any one person is “better” than any other — we all have roles and jobs to fill on this planet, and each one is just as important as the next.

Making sure that everyone is coddled well into their teens only makes it all that much more of a rude awakening when they break into real life. Some of us were told that if we didn’t get our act together, we would dig ditches for a living. Nothing against the people who actually dig ditches (that is really hard work) — but for some of the rest of us, that motivated the hell out of us to do our homework or learn a different craft.

Pride comes from within. I don’t believe that you can really have Pride unless you earn the right to be proud. You can’t tell me that if we gave everyone who participates in the Olympics gold medals, they would feel the same as those who win on their own and get to stand at the top of the platform. I guess the current methods are not “fair” to the person who receives a silver or bronze; and what about the ones that didn’t receive any medal? Matter of fact, shouldn’t everyone get to compete in the Olympics — we are not keeping up with the times if you have to “qualify.” Perhaps that is because it is a world event, and we can’t control what everyone else does. As for Americans though, we are all winners — maybe we should just have our own Olympics where everyone wins.

I hope that never happens. I hope that everyone wakes up and realizes that healthy competition, where there are winners, and yes, losers, is just that…healthy.

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