Another reason the world needs FIRST
 

Another reason the world needs FIRST




PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (CNN) -- Two third-graders at a Florida elementary school are facing felony charges Wednesday after police said they were found to have 15 plastic bags of marijuana.

Port St. Lucie police said a cafeteria worker at the Rivers Edge Elementary School told them a 9-year-old boy had shown her a plastic bag of what appeared to be pot.

The boy had 12 small bags of marijuana, according to a police report.

The student admitted he attempted to sell some of the bags to another third-grader, according to police. A second pupil was found in possession of three bags, police said. He told police he got them from the first boy on the bus on the way to school.

The boy with three bags was charged with possession of marijuana, a felony because it happened on school grounds. The second boy was charged with felony possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

The boy with 12 bags initially told police he found them on the ground in Fort Pierce, a city north of Port St. Lucie where he lives. He then said another child gave it to him to sell.

Police said they are looking for a Fort Pierce teenager in connection with the incident.

Port St. Lucie is an Atlantic Coast city about 120 miles north of Miami.

Police estimate the drugs -- about 16 grams of marijuana -- were worth about $75.

The boys were booked into the St. Lucie Regional Detention Center and then released to their parents or legal guardians Monday night. A police spokesman said these are the youngest children they have arrested on charges of marijuana possession.

A school district spokeswoman said the Rivers Edge Elementary School sent a letter to parents explaining the situation. She called it an isolated incident, the first of its kind involving elementary-age students in her district.

The students were suspended for 10 days and have been recommended for expulsion under the school district's zero-tolerance policy for drugs.

and this!
 

HOLYOKE, Massachusetts (AP) --The Department of Social Services is looking into a possible case of child abuse after a 4-year-old girl brought her teacher a small bag of marijuana as a gift.

When Head Start Early Childhood Center teacher Iris Galvez asked where she got the gift Monday, the girl said she got it "from her mommy," according to a police report obtained by the Union-News of Springfield.

The girl's mother, Shelin Colon, 32, said she doesn't have any drugs in the house and doesn't know where the girl might have gotten the marijuana, police said.

No charges have been filed.

A report of suspected child abuse or neglect has been filed with Social Services, a department spokesman said.

Suzanne L. Parker, deputy director of the area Head Start program, declined to comment.

It looks to me as if those children didn't know what they were getting themselves into. I mean, yeah, they had it, but not ALL nine year olds know what it is. I know I dodn't when I was in third grade. Maybe it was because I lived a sheltered life, but, in the two stories, the children seemed to be doing something they didn't understand:

For instance: The little boy lied about it, probably because he knew he was in trouble and the older teenager told the third grader that if he told on him, that the kid was going to get pounded. My little brother is that age. He comes home crying from getting such threats. The little boy obviously didn't know what he was doing was wrong, and I think the felony charges should be transferred to another person.

Also, the little girl said it was her mommy's. If it was, she probably thought that it was a natural thing, for a person to have those drugs. She might not have even known they were drugs.

People may have a difference of opinion, but even growing up in the neighborhoods that I did, these things never occured to me at that young an age. The justice system needs to work on their punishments, a nine year old shouldn't be tried as an adult. It's aboslutely insane!

Yeah, I agree it seems like the people they look-up to are the ones who are the scum-bags.

I think a good name of this thread should really be, "another good reason for FIRST"

wow, this one is even worse! I dont even want to post it

here

The title of this thread is enough to convince me that the entire educational system of the United States is in need of reform, of some sort.

Posession of marijuana at school bugs me a lot less than not being able to discern when a word should be capitalized, and the proper spelling of a simple word, such as "coming."

Education is key. That's all I really have, or want, to say.

Well, frankly, the education system is screwed. I mean, I am from Arizona. We are ranked 48th or something in education. I am at the top of my class, and the rest of the people are either totally amazed at my intelligence, of they hate me. I don't want to me egotistical, but I think that I am one of the lucky ones. I look at my little brothers, who aren't as naturally intelligent as I am and think of how bad they have it.

This semester alone, I taught my little brother how to read and do math. His teacher didn't do much in the way of helping him AT ALL. What I think is if we give the teachers more money, they will teach better. The federal government really has a problem, and they need to put less money into other countries and war and more into schools. Maybe that way we can bring up the literacy rate.

Giving bad teachers more money won't make them into good teachers. Raising teacher salaries might attract a better class of teachers, but you have to get rid of the bad teachers to hire new good ones; and with powerful teacher unions, that is very difficult.

My mom is a teacher, and there was a teacher who tought with her that was stealing and was being a REALLY bad and a VERY sexist and pervers person towards the students. He basicly would give the attractive girls better grades and mess-up stuff like that.

Anyway he was finaly fired after 5 or so years, the teachers union fought from him to stay and stuff. Its pointless, one the current teachers at my school moved from the school my mom teachers @ beacuse its so messed-up.

Well needless to say the teacher who is "Crazy" is now teaching @ a local Catholic school (and I have heard storys about him from friends who go there) such as not liking the janitor so he dumped buckets and buckets of old paint of the floor and told the kids no to touch it so it would dry and Larry the Janitor would have to clean it.


Sick sick stuff


BTW,
We need better subs too! Today I we had a sub science teacher, we took a test and then he gave-out the answer key and let us change our answers!

I didnt beacuse naturaly I got them all correct the first time :D

Its true teachers get paid Squat.

Really if you are going to work for the City or State and you want to help somone you dont really get paid much

My mom is a teacher and my dad is a retired cop now Federal agent

Read 'Death of the West'. There is an interesting chapter on (well there are a bunch of interesting chapters but...) schools and teaching. Of special note is what is in current History books. Made me mad just reading it.

I agree, education is the key. But the importance of education is in the is teaching of the important, the true, and the moral.

You should...
 

You should teach your brother. You shoud be thankful for your God given talents and use them to the best of your ability.

It's not so much that bad teachers will teach better if you gave them more money, but if teaching was a better paying job, it could attract a better quality of teacher. I was going to be a teacher; I planned on it my whole life just about (along with writing). And I had teachers every year try to talk me out of it; they said I could do better than teaching, that I could actually be something amazing. Well, I think a good teacher is amazing, and I had a few in my life who changed it in wonderful ways. And I've had bad teachers who did more damage than should be possible. And there were plenty of mediocre teachers in there as well. Our education system does play an important role in our youth. But look to the home front if you want to place blame for the problems of our youth.

I think too many people have kids before they are ready for them, both financially and emotionally. I think too many parents think the school system should be a baby-sitter for their kids. And I think (can you tell I do a lot of thinking?) too many parents want to be "friends" with their kids rather than parents. Kids need boundaries, and it's hard to find a balance between too strict and too lenient, and erring too far on either side can be disastrous.

What are today's youth coming to? I don't know but I think yesterday's youth came to it too. Things like this happened when I was young, and when my parents were young and so on, it's always just a shock to read it in print.

And the last thing I'll say about today's youth is that I think they are pretty great.


MissInformation

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Re: Another reason the world needs FIRST
 

Today's youth are generally stupid and ignorant. They need more common sense these days.


Of course, the root of the problem would be the parents. Parents need to expose themselves to the real world when they are young, not shelter them from it. My parents exposed me, and I turned out perfectly fine. Too many times have I seen "A" grade school people that can't do anything that requires common sense. Sometimes, people just need to take a step back and think things through, before they act on them.

For example. In physics this past year we had to design and build a small device that would transverse a length of wire (on an incline) by using no human force. Being the fastest got you extra credit. The emphasis wasn't necessarily on building a fast device, but building one that worked and then being able to calculate gear ratios and velocity. I found that many of the generally "smarter" people were complaining about this project. When I mean smart, these were the "4.0" people of the senior class. Their GPA's ended up being hurt by this class. He wasn't strict about it or anything, he even provided us with motors and batteries (although I opted to go to Radioshack and pick up a 9,000 RPM hobby motor and geared it down (10:1 I think) using a K'Nex kit; we were the fastest group). I came up with many other ideas that would transverse the wire using cardboard, superglue, and the (slow) motors provided. We opted for the K'Nex route simply because we had the tools available.


School isn't about being able to digest information and then being able to regurgitate it on a test. It's about learning and understanding. These "smart" students did poorly in this class becuase they tried to learn physics and without trying to understand it.

This is why FIRST is important. FIRST teaches kids about understanding things, and not merely learning them. Although not all kids are changed by FIRST (this past weekend I had a kid try to tell me that hooking an alternator to the bot would generate unlimited energy), generally a lot of them are. It is important to not only learn how things work, but understand why they work. Usually, one must go to the basics (action-reaction) to understand many of the mechanical aspects. The electrical aspects requires a little bit more knowledge, but isn't a whole lot more complex.


Of course, everything I said wouldn't apply to the children in your article, simply because they are far too young to understand the consequences of their actions. However, I would hold anyone at the 6th grade or above accountable, because they should be well aware of right and wrong. Knowing what drugs are, is a different matter.

Well Jim in part i think this is true, but at the same time i think it has somthing to do with the fact that people need to learn to get off the computer and do homework, this is where you learn these thing and that is somthing "Starting Converstion" will not teach you

The "need to reform the educational system" responses above really tick me off!! The educational system's problems are a direct reflection of the country's societal problems in general. If the general public actually valued public education this wouldn't be an issue.

I am a HS teacher- and have been for 18 years. Teachers ARE underpaid. They deal with every family's nasty little problems and get nothing but abuse for it. No wonder the country is grossly deficient of experienced teachers.

Yes- there are some bad teachers. Get over it. There are also plenty of terrific ones who you owe a lot more to than you will ever appreciate. Try being a teacher in a lower level HS class, or how about a sub? See where your head is after a few years of that. I think all students can relate to the nonsense they have seen or done in a classroom. Picture dealing with that daily for the rest of your life for a wage that the general public spits at. Then talk about lack of teacher accomplishment.

Q: Who is responsible for a student's performance and success?
A: the student

Teachers should provide an OPPORTUNITY for success. Students need to take the initiative to capitalize on that opportunity and work to succeed. Teachers are not entertainers although many students seem to think that is their function. Learning involves work-something many students fail to appreciate.

The main reason my students fail my classes is for lack of doing homework and assignments. AKA- laziness. It is extremely frustrating for teachers. That is a habit they pick up outside the classroom. Try holding a job with the same level of performance.

I guarantee that the vast majority of teachers would welcome with open arms courteous students who are eager participants and who show even the slightest iota of interest in their subjects. And I can't think of any who wouldn't go the extra mile to help a civil, interested student succeed with a difficult concept.

So before you rag on teachers as being the cause of societies problems take a look at the homes and communities the students are coming from and what these kids are doing for entertainment.

Grrrrr!!!

WC

:mad:

Okay. I agree. Personally, I look at people around me and I notice what retards, for lack of a better word, they are.

First of all, I was not grilling teachers. Most of the time I can see eye-to-eye with my teachers and what they are doing or saying.
I think that through money, however, teachers can gain encouragement to be better than they are. Of course, this would only apply to the "bad teachers", but it still makes a HUGE difference.

Wayne C.:
Like others have said earlier in this thread… A possible reform could be to increase the base salary of public teachers, to try to draw well qualified adults from industry (or elsewhere) towards teaching jobs, no? I don't think Foto was implying that the blame for our weak school systems rests solely on the shoulders of teachers. It seems pretty obvious to me that a person can't be a spectator in their education. Yet, part of me just refuses to believe that doing homework and not understanding, or doing homework to barely understand concepts is better than or equal to understanding the same concepts the first time one encounters them. When I was in high school I would never do my homework, but I passed the vast majority of my tests in every discipline with A's. It just seems ridiculous to me that high school required so much meaningless busywork, while for the most part college doesn't seem to care about homework. It's as if high school is preparing the kids who bust their butt doing homework and getting mediocre scores on tests to fail, or at the very least do slightly worse than they expected in college. Having a worse overall grade in high school courses than other students who knew less than me was frustrating, and made me even less inclined to do homework. I also refuse to believe the notion that homework prepares students for the workforce. If this is true, why is homework valued so little in college (compared to high school)? Maybe it’s different in other states, but here in California (something like 48th, 49th, or 50th in education in the country) it’s exactly like I described. I didn’t mean to rag on teachers too badly.

As for the homes which bred these kids from the article which sparked MattK’s trigger happy posting reaction… I think it’s pretty safe to say that these kids probably didn’t come from a family resembling either the Beavers or the Brady Bunch. Like MissInformation alluded to earlier in this thread, a lot of people have children while in varying degrees of unpreparedness. While this is not a recent development in the world, I think most of us would like to see people only having kids when they can financially and emotionally care for them. People are still having children; even teenagers are still having children. It appears that the pro-abstinence policy put forth by the government for quite a few years now seems to be about as effective as the “Just Say No [to drugs]” policy suggested by Nancy Reagan in the 80’s. Maybe a “Fine… I guess sex isn’t so bad, but if you’re going to do it, be sure to wear a condom and/or use birth control” policy is in order? Also, spreading knowledge regarding the “morning after” pill, which isn’t the equivalent of RU-486, it is not an abortion (for those of you who have moral and/or religious issues with abortion), would seem logical as well. Yeah… That ought to liven this thread up a little bit.

Ok, its an insanely early hour of the morning cuz I just got back from Lord of the Rings so bear with me and my two cents.

First of all, I would like to preface this with the fact that I consider myself an extremely fortunate person. I grew up in a great household and community, and I went to really good public schools. While I may complain about the shelteredness of my suburb (hey, they filmed Pleasantville here if that gives you any indication of what it's like), it has shown me a lot suprisingly. Like many other people said, I think the problems with today's youth come more from the home and family rather than the abilities of a teacher. (I have a speech about this if anyone wants it, they can IM me).

Growing up in a good environment (which doesn't neccessarily mean the perfect 2 parents, as long as its nuturing and teaches you good work ethic) I think you're definately more prepared. Once you have that strong base, I think one realizes that you can only get what you put into it. There were horrible teachers at my school, good people who just couldn't teach; and there were also amazing teachers who changed my life. But many people didn't take advantage of the good teachers, didn't take advantage of what the class taught them in both the world of acadamia and real life.

As I told most of my high school teachers when I came back to visit a few weeks ago, I am so grateful I took every opportunity I could, challenged myself to the fullest, and soaked up everything I could. People thought I may have been crazy for having such a busy schedule and heavy workload but I couldn't waste golden oppurtunities. Not to sound egotistical at all, but I consider myself smart and I continued to challenge myself and that's why I got so much out of high school. On the issue of homework, it might have seemed like busy work to so many people, but I did it all usually without slacking (yes, I know I was one of those people in high school that y'all hated). Everything thinks that since I'm asian, its my parents who force me to do everything. In reality, they told me to have more fun and not pressure myself so much, that it was OK to get a B.

Now that I look back after finishing my first quarter of college at what I consider a wonderful university, all those pesky homework assignment, all those challenging classes, and all those activities I did were all 100% worth it. The emphasis may now be more on midterms and finals but everything in high school taught me discipline and self motivation. It's incredibly tempting to go out late on a weekday or find anything distracting in the dorms to avoid work. It's so easy to skip class because no one tells you what to do or not do your reading because you don't have a hw assignment on it.

And guess what, even at UCLA, there were tons of kids doing all this because they coasted throughout high school sheerly on their intelligence and still thinks it works. Well now a lot of those kids are failing out of classes and are on academic probation because reading the book before your final to learn it all just doesn't hack it. It is my sole belief that you can not get by in a good college purely on your smarts. I've been blessed with the chance to meet such a diverse group of amazing individuals coming from different neighborhoods and I see a common bond between all the successful ones. They all have that internal drive, that was most likely instilled into them at an early age because when you're on your own in a totally new environment, the only person you fully have to keep you in check is yourself.

And despite my lovely speech on self motivation, I don't want to undermind the public education system in my valley of California. Thanks to my teachers, especially the one history & gov teacher that completely changed my life. I'm thinking that if this whole lawyer thing doesn't work out, I would love to teach politics and gov. :) Now that I've written a novel, I will go to bed. Feel free to contact me about what you think, I think this is a really great topic and I love to debate.

theres way too many problems today. I dont know how they are gonna be solved. Crimes are pretty low, but now people are gettign into drugs in 3rd grade. SCARY. Kids need to grow up with something to look forward to, and FIRST does this, but it wont cure drug problems. I think the whole attitude of my high school peers in general is horrible. HOpefully it will improve with time.

Re: Re: Another reason the world needs FIRST
 

... FIRST also helps student apply concepts that they are learning in the classroom, into their everyday life. I know I personally have a hard time learning things if I have no idea how I am ever going to use them in "real life". One of the big turning points for me (in my education) was when I used basic trigonometry last year to find the incline of a slope. I was able to take something I had learned in the classroom, and use it to figure out something that was useful for me. Not just plugging numbers into a useless equation, but using it to figure out how to make a part for our robot. I have used knowledge gained in the classroom many times in FIRST, most of the time without even knowing it. As Woodie Flowers says, "Chalk and talk is dead." FIRST can't solve all of the world's problems (well, not yet, at least) but maybe by starting at the classroom level, we can make things better.

</semi-rant>

- Katie