Monday, February 28, 2011

A Teacher's Rage Against The Education Machine Sparks Controversy

The eye of the storm. (HT AP)



All it takes is one person to start a firestorm of debate. That's what Natalie Munroe (pictured above) did. The Associated Press explains how:

"Her comments and her suspension by the middle-class school district have clearly touched a nerve, with scores of online commenters applauding her for taking a tough love approach or excoriating her for verbal abuse. Media attention has rained down, and backers have started a Facebook group.

"My students are out of control," Munroe, who has taught 10th, 11th and 12th grades, wrote in one post. "They are rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying."

And in another post, Munroe — who is more than eight months pregnant — quotes from the musical "Bye Bye Birdie": "Kids! They are disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, sloppy, lazy LOAFERS."

She also listed some comments she wished she could post on student evaluations, including: "I hear the trash company is hiring"; "I called out sick a couple of days just to avoid your son"; and "Just as bad as his sibling. Don't you know how to raise kids?"

Of course the students didn't take that lying down. Read on:

"Munroe did not use her full name or identify her students or school in the blog, which she started in August 2009 for friends and family. Last week, she said, students brought it to the attention of the school, which suspended her with pay.

"They get angry when you ask them to think or be creative," Munroe said of her students in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. "The students are not being held accountable."

Munroe pointed out that she also said positive things, but she acknowledges that she did write some things out of frustration — and of a feeling that many kids today are being given a free pass at school and at home.

"Parents are more trying to be their kids' friends and less trying to be their parent," Munroe said, also noting students' lack of patience. "They want everything right now. They want it yesterday."

One of Munroe's former students, who now attends McDaniel College in Westminster, Md., said he was torn by his former teacher's comments. Jeff Shoolbraid said that he thought much of what Munroe said was true and that she had a right to voice her opinion, but felt her comments were out of line for a teacher.

"Whatever influenced her to say what she did is evidence as to why she simply should not teach," Shoolbraid wrote in an e-mail to the AP. "I just thought it was completely inappropriate."

He continued: "As far as motivated high school students, she's completely correct. High school kids don't want to do anything. ... It's a teacher's job, however, to give students the motivation to learn."

She paid the price for calling a spade a spade, even though some agree with her. Some kids have no home training. The pioneers get all the arrows. There are many teachers who applaud her speaking out. From the Montgomery News:

"Carolynn J. McIntyre Scully, in her posting, writes, “My husband is a teacher who pours his life into the kids he teaches. He constantly brings home stories that are similar to Ms. Munroe. . The worst part of it all is that we as a country will back up the unruly, the lazy, the unmotivated, and blame it all on someone else. In the schools it is the teacher who gets the blame if the child gets a grade he does not like but deserves. It is the teacher who is expected to do all the work and find a second job to supplement their income! Ms. Munroe, you have a right and duty to speak out! Your speaking out is a kind gesture toward your students who will someday thank you!”

Ted Straub posted, “Teachers are people too, and better qualified than most parents to comment on the social condition of students. Why does it seem acceptable that a student or even a parent can mouth off to a teacher's face, including public obscenities; yet an educator can't "tell it like it is" in a relatively discrete and anonymous post? Teachers have to be trained and certified to have a role in preparing children to be adults, but any pinhead can be a parent and claim their "inalienable right" to raise a misfit. Wake up, it is NOT the teachers responsibility! Don't shoot the messenger!"

Bottom Line: The education system needs to be overhauled. Reduce the influence of Teachers Unions and School Boards and put schools back in the hands of the principals, teachers and parents. On the other side of the coin parents need to take an active more responsible role in their childrens' development and not put all the responsibility on the teachers.

Background Intel:

Associated Press: Pa. teacher strikes nerve with 'lazy whiners' blogMontgomery News: Suspended Central Bucks teacher Natalie Munroe defends herself in new blog

Sex Ed 201

Relationships. (HT The Local)



Sex can be a difficult topic for parents to discuss with their kids, especially when they're forced to do it by the school system. One class in Sweden takes it to another level. From The Local:

"A class of grade eight students in southern Sweden was asked to write essays about their sexual fantasies and experiences for a school assignment.

"Just the thought that a teacher would sit and ask about their sexual fantasies makes me sick," one parent told the local Ystads Allehanda newspaper.

The comments came after a class consisting primarily of 14-year-old students from the Kastanje school in Tomelilla received a rather unusual writing assignment for their Swedish lesson.

Entitled "The First Time" (Första gången), the assignment instructed students to imagine they were talking to a close friend and write about the past sexual escapades they might divulge in confidence.

Other options included making up a story about their first sexual experience, writing about the first time they had sex or how they hoped their first time would be.

Getting high marks required writing at least a half page and with "passion," according to the parent. The assignment made several students so uncomfortable, they told their parents about the request to write sexually themed essays.

"Can they really do this? As a parent, it doesn't feel right and it irritates me that we're talking about a graded assignment in a Swedish-language lesson," said the parent, who wished to remain anonymous.

A teacher from the school expressed surprise that the assignment had upset parents, claiming that most students appreciated the exercise, which was part of a cooperative effort between the biology, sex and well being, and Swedish-language departments."

So a teacher is surprised that some parents would be ticked off about their attempt to create a free love Woodstock moment? Not to mention usurping parental authority, which school systems love to do at every opportunity. This is the one topic that the education system should leave it up to the parents to decide when it's best for the kids to learn about a subject.

Background Intel:

The Local: Outrage over Swedish teens' sex dream essays

Sunday, February 27, 2011

15 Year Old Girl Isn't Old Enough To Drive, But She's Old Enough To Be A Wife And Allgedly Shoplift

They keep getting younger. (HT True Crime Report)



After seeing this, I'm no longer a fan of Teenage Marriages (not that I ever was). From the Houston Press:

"According to the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, a rent-a-cop confronted the trio after seeing them allegedly swipe clothing. At that point, Michael Anthony Del Toro, the 18-year-old husband of the bride-not-old-enough-to-drive, slugged the 55-year-old security guard in the face and put him in a chokehold.

According to reports, the two females with Del Toro also "became combative." An off-duty Corpus cop happened to be on the scene, and he reported that he identified himself and tried to break up the melee, but Del Toro did not turn the security guard loose until he was pried off by still more cops.

Once the dust had settled, each of the females was charged with misdemeanor counts of suspicion of interfering with a public servant."

Married Youth. Aren't they just special??

Background Intel:

Houston Press: Fifteen-Year-Old Bride Detained After Fracas in Corpus Walmart

The War On Boys At School: Ritalin & ADHD

How radical feminists think. (HT Facebook)




As you may be aware, diagnoses of ADHD and ritalin prescriptions are fairly common. What's not so well known is that the majority of these diagnoses and prescriptions are for boys. From Theage.com.au:

"There's also this: although, in Australia as elsewhere, the male-to-female ADHD ratio is 2.45:1, Ritalin rates are 5:1. Diagnosis is more than twice as likely in boys, and medication more than twice as likely again."

Well if girls are the standard of behavior, boys will never reach it. The feminization of education and society at large has led to the emasculation of males starting at a very young age. If boys see men being devalued, why would they ever want to grow up?

Background Intel:

Theage.com.au: Sedation nation the cost of taking boisterous out of boys

Mother Hit Father With Car, Yet Cops Jail The Father

What is it with folks using vehicles as weapons? (HT Motortrend.com)



The latest example of gender bias comes from the Hawkeye state. From Fathersandfamilies.org:

"According to Josh, he is limited to supervised visitation with ALL his children until April 1. The mother’s attorney must approve the choice of supervisor.

Josh is not without fault in this series of events. He told me that there was no earlier pattern of interference with his parenting time. He admits that on the two days in question, his daughter did not want to go with him, allegedly because he confiscated her cellphone as a disciplinary measure. But Josh has lots of parenting time, a 14-year-old can pretty much choose which house she wants, and one would expect this adolescent mini-storm to blow over soon. One can admire Josh’s determination and courage to be with his daughter, but standing in front of the car was foolish and unnecessary.

What about mom’s conduct? First, she should not have plotted to whisk the girl away from her dad. Then, the most telling detail, in my opinion, is that she never backs the car up. The street is totally clear — no passing traffic, no pedestrians, no parked cars or other obstacles — if she were truly afraid of Josh she could easily have backed up and escaped him.

In most states, if one is confronted with a threat and chooses to use deadly force even though a means of escape is available, one would be charged with a felony.

Summary: Mom interferes with dad’s parenting time and assaults him with a deadly weapon, but gets off scott free. Dad commits a foolish but harmless act, and is hit like a ton of bricks.

Our problems are created by multiple actors, not just one institution. Let’s look at the behavior of multiple participants in this incident:

i. School Staff: According to Josh, he notified the school he was coming to pick up his child early, and that it was his designated parenting time. The staff had no good reason to notify the girl’s mother of his plan.
ii. Responding Police Officer: A man is standing motionlessly in front of a car on an empty street. The car driver can escape by driving backwards. There is no need to approach the scene with a drawn taser while screaming at the motionless man.
iii. Police Chief: The police chief overruled the responding officer and insisted upon arrest in a situation that was already resolved, in which the arrested party was calm and cooperative, and there was plenty of fault on the other side.
iv. Judge: The judge ignored both the videotape and, according to Josh, mom’s testimony that there had never been any physical or emotional abuse.
v. Prosecutor: The prosecutor has refused to pursue a clear, documented case of assault and battery with a deadly weapon.

Clearly, the main problem here is ideological — gender bias. Try to imagine a scenario where a father hits a mother with his car and the mother is arrested and then cut off from her kids, while the father isn’t charged with anything. You can’t–it’s impossible.

The gender-biased ideology that is the primary cause of our difficulties has been translated into power politics. This movement will overcome these travesties by uniting together in ever-larger numbers to pursue political and ideological reform. In this way we will win, because our values are so widely accepted: we simply want to raise and nurture our kids, and we believe in gender equality."

It's incidents like these that destroy the incentive for men to get married. Anyone who wants to continue with the status quo doesn't believe in equality, they fear equality. As long as this is acceptable in society, look for marriage rates to continue to go down, while out of wedlock birthrates continue to go up.

Background Intel:

Fathersandfamilies.org: Mother Hits Father with Car on Video; Prosecutor Refuses to Bring Charges; Police Jail Dad

Saturday, February 19, 2011

15 Year Old Girl Forks Her Sister

The latest weapon of choice. (HT Nationalgeographic.com)



As you know, sisters get in fights all the time In this instance, It was over a $2,000 stash. In the end, one sister gets stabbed with a fork. The 15 year old got arrested for the stabbing. This is one big happy.

Background Intel:

nwfdailynews.com: 15-year-old arrested for stabbing sister with fork

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Homeowner's Revenge On Shovel Thief Goes Viral

The Avenger. (HT CBSChicago.com)



The latest YouTube sensation features a man who avenged himself against a woman who took his shovel during the major Chicago blizzard. From CBSChicago.com:

"First, somebody took his snow shovel. In a video that he’s pieced together, you can see a woman out walking her dog outside, checking out her snow-covered car. She quickly grabs a snow shovel off (David) Welles’ front porch, then goes back to her car to shovel it out.

All well and good, Welles says, but then she disappeared with the shovel.

It was payback time.

So, he covered her car in snow with his snow blower. Welles says it was not his intent to harm her vehicle, just make it difficult for her to extricate it.

Nearly 200,000 have viewed the video he posted online. To some, he’s a hero; to others, a villain.

“People are telling me I should have broken her windows or slashed her tires,” Welles told CBS 2′s Mike Parker. “All I did was blow snow on her car.”

“Some people think it’s one of the most heinous things they’ve ever seen,” he said.

From where I sit, she got what she deserved. Americans on average are photographed or vidotaped dozens of times a day. It just proves when you think noboby's watching, somebody usually is.

Background Intel:

CBSChicago.com: Caught On Tape: Homeowner Exacts Revenge On Snow Shovel Thief

Rio Fire Destroys Carnaval Floats & Costumes

A sad scene. (HT AP)



Pictured above is the overhead photo of a warehouse fire in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. What makes this news is that the warehouse contained floats & costumes for this years carnaval, the event of the year unless the world cup is in progress. From the Associated Press:

"A fire Monday gutted warehouses holding many of the elaborate, feather-and-sequin costumes and extravagant floats for Rio's Carnival parade, destroying the dreams and hard work of thousands of mostly poor Brazilians who toil year-round to stage one of world's most spectacular celebrations.

Seamstresses, set designers and musicians watched in tears as firefighters struggled to control the blaze that raged through four warehouses. The fire devoured about 8,400 outfits and the ornate sets built each year in the battle to be the city's top samba group.

Three hours into the early-morning blaze, the flames were controlled and 10 warehouses were unscathed, but some of the top contenders and up-and-comers in next month's Carnival parade were knocked out of the competition.

"Do you know what it feels like to work all day, into the night, to make this happen, and then this?" asked Graziela Goncalves Carvalho, a seamstress with Uniao da Ilha do Governador, one of the groups that appeared to have suffered heavy losses. "It's over. There's nothing. This Carnival is over for us."

Carnival is a time when Rio's residents and more than 700,000 visitors pour into the streets for a cathartic, nearly weeklong party where order is subverted and the poorest climb the highest floats dressed scantily in glitter and feathers, parading before the eyes of the world. The revelry culminates in the two-day competitive parade of the elite groups, and ends on Ash Wednesday, when order is restored."

This year, the Carnival will literally have to rise from the ashes. I hope this can happen, to bring the joy back in their nation.

Background Intel:

Associated Press: Fire in Rio destroys Carnival costumes and floats

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

A Casualty Of The Midwest Blizzard

This happened before the blizzard hit. (HT NBC Chicago)



Pictured above is a truck that dumped over 20 tons of salt on I-80 in Indiana. Given the snowfall in the area, I'm not sure if the salt would have made much of an impact.

Background Intel:

Nbcchicago.com: Salt Truck Overturns in NW Indiana

Exposing A "Pernicious Ideology"

A rare woman indeed. (HT Barbarakay.ca)



Pictured above is Barbara Kay. She's one of the few women in Canada that I know of that speaks out against the "Pernicious Ideology" of radical feminism.

In this instance, she talks about how feminism has strong influence in the education and legal systems, as well as how men's value has been diminished.

The link below is to an engaging video that shows her exposing the feminarcissists corrosive worldview.

Background Intel:

YouTube: Barbara Kay on institutional feminism and misandry

A Chapel Provides No Refuge

A very preventable death. (HT Komonews.com)



Pictured above is Jayme Biendl. She was murdered while working in a prison chapel. From the looks of it this tragedy could've been prevented. From Komonews.com:

"Months before Biendl was killed at the prison, two other female workers were assaulted at the jail, according to Monroe prison superintendent Scott Franke.

Franke confirmed on Sept. 24, a female counselor was choked by an offender.

"Another female staff worker was sexually assaulted by an inmate," he said. "No form of staffing level changed."

Franke also confirmed a criminal investigation is underway into the alleged sexual assault of a female custodial employee on Aug. 24. The woman was so traumatized that she just returned to work in the last 10 days."

This gets even more revealing. Read on:

A former convict who served time at Monroe Correctional Complex said Biendl had reason to fear for her life while working in the prison's chapel.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, Biendl didn't stand a chance working alone inside the chapel. "If she worked in the library or in the school, or in the gym, no. There would have been convicts around to stop the rapos from doing anything to her," he said.

The ex-convict said rapists like Byron Scherf, the man suspected in Biendl's murder, go to the prison's chapel to stay away from other convicts as sex offenders are often shunned within the prison walls."

With very good reason, especially after this:

"Months before her death, Biendl requested surveillance cameras be placed in the prison chapel, according to an affidavit by Biendl's immediate supervisor Jimmy Fletcher. The document states Biendl submitted a work order requesting the cameras "sometime in either August or September of 2010."

"I reviewed the Work Order and placed my signature on it," Fletcher wrote, adding he then submitted it to a captain.

Fletcher said he did not hear whether the order was ultimately approved as "under normal procedure, I would not be informed."

On Monday Biendl's former boyfriend said she'd requested surveillance cameras be installed inside the chapel, but the prison denied her request due to the cost of the cameras."

Bottom Line: It could cost the prison and the taxpayers who fund it a lot more if lawsuits by the family are filed, which I fully expect. I also expect someone to get fired over this fiasco. It's really sad that someone had to actually die before something gets done about a security weakness.

Background Intel:

Komonews.com: 2 other women attacked at prison prior to officer's murder