School Days

    School days, begin tomorrow in Bakersfield, Ca. As I reflect on my school years,
I am reminded of the discipline of my time, compared to what I read about everyday.
    When I attended school, principles had the right of discipline, though they usually
called the parents first. The principles office was a place to be avoided, they had
paddles of varying sizes hanging on the wall. They were not there for decoration, but
for discipline. Swats, were a form of discipline, for really bad behavior. If I got a
swat at school, it was re-enforced by my parents at home.
    I believe that this punishment was given out of love for me. It helped me establish
boundaries that I still live by today. Time outs don't work with everyone, which is
plain to see in the chaos in our streets. We have teachers that will get abused by the
same children, they are paid to teach. Time outs and suspensions are not deterrents,
especially in our society of one parent households. Suspension is treated like a, get
out of jail free card, because the parent is at work.
    Our school systems are becoming free baby sitting, instead of a place to learn.
Learning takes discipline at school and at home. Many parents think that all the
learning should be done at school, without parental help. That just re-enforces the
the lack of discipline at school and later at work. The lack of discipline is reflected
in our colleges and universities. 85% of college freshman have to take remedial math
and English. That means that for one or two years of college credits, students are
getting taught, things they should have learned in the lower grades.
    Pray for our school system, it is broken, and teachers are not to blame. About
50% of school funds are spent above teacher level. The administration costs, and
red tape of government intervention, have taken the money away from the
classroom.
    Pray for our teachers, they do the best they can everyday, to bring non-english
speaking children and those children with little or no help at home, up to standards,
that disciplined students are at. The disciplined students fight boredom in the class
room because, we can't leave anyone behind.
    Pray for our local, state, and federal leaders, they need to fix this problem that
they have helped create.
    Pray for our people, that keep voting in the same officials and expecting things
to change, Einstein called that insanity.
    Pray for our parents, parenting done right takes time and patience, two things
that are sorely lacking in todays society.
    God, can fix this, if My People will humble themselves and pray!