There is a problem in public education that has to do with casting blame on others for whatever is not working in our schools.  Some of our children come into school without basic needs being met.  There are many possible reasons for this, some of which are economic, but they come to school each morning, “ready, or not” to learn.

Some of our schools have systems in place that allow teachers to keep on working long after they are effective because of seniority.  There are some teachers that simply aren’t good at their jobs, but no more than other professions.  And in my opinion, having worked in public schools in many different capacities, they are a small minority.

State governments make decisions based on statistics that they collect.  Most of them have not set foot in a classroom for decades.  They are out of touch with the reality of the school environment.  And in the last few years, standardized tests have taken so much time out of the limited hours for teaching, it is counterproductive.  Besides which, teachers are now being judged on the progress of the students based on these tests.  Anyone who makes these kinds of decisions regarding education should have to work as a substitute teacher for at least 30 days per year to see first hand what pressing issues are blocking children’s success and their readiness to learn.

My opinion is that we are all to blame for failures in the educational systems.  I believe it to be a social problem.  We are all part of the problems that exist in schools.  Too many reasons add up to no solution, because blaming others gets in the way.

There is enough blame to go around so that everyone has a share in it.  Whenever there is a problem in one area, the rest of us, not in that area, should run to try and help.  The community should pitch in and fill the gaps.

I think that in decades past, the world was simpler and the community was more involved in the raising of the next generation.  People knew each other in neighborhoods and took part in watching over all the kids.  Even just a sense of community helps children to feel cared for in their environment.  “It takes a village” is not a trite concept.

If we look at the “big picture” and think realistically about the next generation, we need to consider the cost of failure in public education.  Private schools are not the answer because we have to think of every person, not just the ones who have this opportunity.  Voucher programs are not sufficient to teach the entire population of the country at large.

I am not qualified to come up with a solution.  People from all stages and walks of life need to come and bring their ideas to the table.  Together we can tackle the difficulties and come to a consensus.  So much can be done if people come willing and ready to do what’s right for the next generation.  They are the future and they are worth it.  All of us will reap the benefits of their success or the repercussions of their failure.

Every time I put the trash out, I feel guilty for adding to the enormous pits of refuse to be found in every major city in the world.  I fear that at some point we will not be able to hold it all and it really disturbs me.  Recycling is helpful.  But, is it enough?

It wasn’t always like this.  People used to have their milk delivered in glass bottles and the bottles would be returned, cleaned and refilled  to be delivered over and over again.  Nobody used kleenex.  There were handkerchiefs to be washed and ironed and reused until they wore out completely.  There were no disposable diapers, or dishes or silverware.  I could go on and on and on.  

And now we have many kinds of toxic trash, some of which didn’t even exist when I was a kid.  Old computers and batteries and pharmaceuticals have become special types of hazardous waste.  It can only get worse.  Some things will never become recyclable.

So, what do we do?  What can we do?  First of all recycling must become automatic for everyone.  This is a no-brainer.  This is the easiest thing we can do. Reuse everything as much as possible.  Use less of the things that cannot be recycled or reused.  Be considerate of one another.  This is our world, not just yours or mine.  Like it or not, we share it.

We need to become more creative and think of new ways of doing things.  Most of us don’t need a lot of what we have.  We may want it, but do we really need it? Can we use things longer and not buy the next, best version of this and that?  Do we really need to buy the newest model of a phone just to discard the one we have that still works?  Can we give some of the things we don’t want to those in need?

Trash is just one of those things that will never go away.  More people live on this earth everyday.  Everyone contributes to the garbage.  And everyone needs to take responsibility for their own junk.  Period.

I’m sure that everyone knows something about the power of positive and negative thinking in each of our own lives.  But do we consciously and intentionally decide to think in a particular way, or do we just let ourselves be taken in one direction or the other without thinking at all?

When we let life take us on an emotional roller coaster, so to speak, we give up our power to choose the way in which we live our lives.  And, if you so desire, you can do this.  But, if you wish to have a positive or a negative outlook, you must decide how to view things.

Catastrophe hits you right between your eyes.  What do you do?  Panic and see no hope?  Stand up and see it as a challenge?  Maybe you go into shock first, before you can even see straight.  Then, you make a decision.  Whatever you do, you are making a choice because not choosing is making a choice too, if only by default.

You can decide to be positive.  It is something you can learn and it is worth your time.  It is valuable, even if you don’t always make that decision.  It is a useful tool in many ways.  By learning  to think this way, you can develop techniques to make informed decisions.  It takes serious work to look at possibilities and face challenges.

Negative thinking, on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily require a particular thought process to exist.  Instead, it is a mindset that can intensify miserable feelings with negative self-talk.  On it’s own, it does not solve problems.  It could make problems worse.

In 1952, Norman Vincent Peale wrote The Power Of Positive Thinking and it became a bestseller.  To date, it has been translated into 15 languages and has sold over 7 million copies.  Peale wrote 6 more books with the word “positive”  in the book title and 46 books in all before his death in 1993. Since then, a myriad of other books with similar titles have flooded the market.  When I “Googled” the title, I found one listing of quotes about positive thinking that had 1834 entries.  Clearly, you could spend a lot of time reading about this way of thinking.

To be fair, I also searched the web for “the power of negative thinking” which quickly produced a book by Bobby Knight and a lot of other entries, including a New York Times article entitled, “The Positive Power of Negative Thinking.”  There is a wealth of material that can be accessed if one wants to study these two ways of thinking.

One thing is certain.  The way in which we think deeply affects the quality of our lives.  It would behoove each of us to make a deliberate decision about the way we choose to live, and not be tossed and turned by the events of our lives.

In the United States, there are many opportunities to learn English in a class entitled, “English as a Second Language”, or ESL.  It is offered in a variety of different venues in an effort to help people from other countries learn how to assimilate into American culture.  However, I hear English spoken as a second language in my everyday life as an American, among other native-born Americans.  The first language seems to be slang in its infinite variety: ubiquitous, colorful and sometimes offensive.

Street slang is the first language of many people, young and old.  And it varies within itself.  My only problem with this is that correct English may, in the future, be spoken so infrequently as to be foreign on American soil.  Maybe I spend too much time with teenagers.  I hope I am wrong.

The writing skills of secondary school students is falling way behind both in structure and content.  The use of phones as easy reference has contributed to the fact that knowledge is frequently found in simple definitions on smartphones, without the depth of reading articles or books in their entirety to find the kind of information needed to cultivate critical thinking skills.  This, in addition to the “shorthand” used in texting, has combined to deteriorate their spelling and vocabulary in general.

One of the things I find so difficult to accept, is that it seems to be happening more rapidly, day by day.  And kids are not even aware that they are not speaking or writing English, unless you point it out to them.  Even then, they often don’t believe you because, to them, it sounds wrong.

Isn’t that the way we learn language anyway?  From day one on this earth, hearing is the way we learn language.  We hear the words, the inflection, the tone and other auditory cues that help us learn the meaning of words and the structure of of language.  If the words heard and spoken as a child from infancy are a type of slang, they become the vocabulary that is part of their first language, and English falls into second place.

My main concern lies in the fact that to be proficient in any language, a person must first, hear the language spoken correctly, and second, learn to duplicate the sounds.  Only then can one learn to read and understand it accurately.  I guess my point is that if you, as I do, love the English language, then we must act together and do everything we can think of to promote it.  Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Who can look at a baby and not smile?  Not too many of us, I suspect. Of course, part of the reason is because they are so cute and innocent.  However, I think that there is a part of us that is in awe of a brand new person, full of infinite possibilities.  They are truly a manifestation of hope in our broken world.

The scent of a baby, all clean and talced is intoxicating.  An urge to pick him/her up is impossible to contain.  And to hold this precious life in your arms elicits a desire to care for and protect, a concept that is not necessarily nurtured in our materialistic society.

I have a theory, that may or may not have been expressed by any other person, that if a person were to hold a baby at least once a day, everyday, for their whole life, that war would be impossible.  How could one conceive of contributing to such violence if one were regularly, physically connected with a totally dependent, fragile life to love and watch over.

The feeling of a baby in your arms is so wonderfully soft, soothing and sweetly sensual.  I have seen the effect of this on the elderly in healthcare facilities  When they were allowed the chance to hold a baby (under supervision, of course), this experience was able to inject life into an otherwise stoic person.  Tension and melancholy left their bodies as smiles appeared on their faces.  It was transformative.

Babies help us to get in touch with ourselves because they come into our hearts in ways we can’t quite explain.  It can be likened to a spiritual awakening.  When we fully enter into this  experience, we acquire a softer disposition.

If only we could frequently connect with this vulnerable state within ourselves, then perhaps the seeds of peace could be planted in our hearts.  I once attended a peace conference in which the keynote speaker said that vulnerability was at the very heart of peace.  Indeed, it was the opposite of war.

It makes me think, wishfully, “If only this could be so.”  And others may or may not agree with me, but I know that I must do things that make me a kinder, more compassionate person today!  And I think I know how.  I need to hold some babies.