Where We Are Going?
I had lunch duty today and there was a fight. The crowd gathered believing that 2 idots, probably gang bangers, beating the shit of each other is better than eating lunch.
How far have we come?
Has our society gone backwards?
Do we know right from wrong?
To help you answer these questions for me here is the dawn of man from 2001: A Space Odyssey Dawn Of Man.
12 variables:
I've always had an uneasy feeling about monkeys and apes since I saw this dozens of years ago. And off the subject but I have tried to find this to rent for my kids. I want them to have an aversion of apes too. It's hard to find.
Most of the time I have a pretty cycnical view of the populace in general.
The main question to me is do we know right from wrong anymore?
I was going to say being in a school setting especially high school, it's pretty hard to find anybody worthy of trust, teachers included.(Not me, of course- I'm perfect) But actually it wouldn't matter, because many people are not trustworthy anymore. It's the norm, not the exception.
Once in a great while someone will really come through and I will be wowed and pleased.
We ended up out of school today as well so that means I won't have MY 3rd grade lunch duty...I'm laughing on the inside.
I think a crowd always gathered, just the version(generation) has changed.
Greeny - Testing in my other class! But I think you are right - trust is all important and lately I am having a hard time finding that, too. Often my trust problems are related to the admin and my department.
Wyld - maybe you are correct. I recall fights were more orderly when I was a kid. At least when we were in middle school, every watching formed a circle around the fighters. Now it is a wild crowd cheering and disorderly.
"Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was..."
mathman - that's a good way of putting it. There's a recklessness about it now. Our oldest just started high school and within a month she was telling us about how many fights there are, and one got so nuts that they've had to have cops in the lunchroom on occasion.
The violence has always been there, but we're such a voyeuristic society now, that it seems more frenzied nowadays.
Fairlane - so true...
Randal - It think it is true at most high schools. Our oldests attends an essentially rural school and my school is suburban the fights happen.
The interesting thing to me is that the kids crave and need guidence. In general, it doesn'r happen in classes. But in the less supervised spaces where there is no one watching or caring.
You know what I think. I wonder if we're devolving into some sort of tribal, mouthbreathing mass.
Devolving is right, with President Chimpy at the lead, holding a giant turkey leg in one hand and a Coors Lite in the other, whooping at the Nascars going around and around.
Honestly..when I was in school a good fight trumped everything.
Until I hit my third year in High School..the war took precedence over everything for me at that point..and I became..gasp..a hippie.
I have read..somewhere..that our young kids are far more educated as to politics and their affect on our lives than any other generation. And the reason?
Comedy Centrals Daily Show.
Hell..I don't care where they learn it..just so they do. But sadly..it also makes them not give a shit either. My son is perfect example..he is so jaded..he refuses to vote..which saddens me greatly.
Thanks to the 3-D's for commenting (its a math concept).
Dcup - I agree
dguzman - Nascar really surprises me.
dusty - a fight still trumps any ace.
This post brings up a lot of feelings in me. I hated high school (and jr high too) because of the constant fighting. I would never hit anyone and once the bullies figure that out guess what? You bet, I got into a lot of fights and I hated that people just circled around and jeered. I didn't like that the school or teachers would never do anything about it either.
But on the other hand, as a sub in jr and senior high schools I got to see the other side of this issue as well.
Did I ever tell you how much I like working in the library, lol!
My first principal said something that I actually thought might be true once. He related that they fight at school because they know that teachers/admin/cops will break it up quickly. He really might have had something with this, as could be all the posturing that precedes a fight is to call great attention to themselves and then when they see teachers eyeing them, the actual fight breaks out. I usually miss the fights which on some level really bums me out. I did get to see on once, right outside my classroom. It was a girl fight and I made the mistake of trying to get them apart. I got mauled by both of them.
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