A need for balance and action
by Bernard-Charles
The simple thought of politics turns me off like Ellen DeGeneres made clear in her address to the haters of her JCPenney partnership, but sometimes dipping your feet into the subject is needed since much of life is governed this way.
I’ve been thinking about how I can appropriately make a difference in the lives of children that go to school. And one step toward this dream was to research what is going on at my local school district meetings.
The board minutes (fancy word for meeting notes) and agenda are publicly available online and I can easily view what passed and what was voted down. This is a great tool to keep the school in check, but feeling 100% satisfied with what goes on will take more than just believing an online document, so a visit to the meeting to sit in would be a wiser choice. I can’t personally get to a meeting since I go to school, but I still have a passion to know what the town school board is doing either approving teachers to using funds in replacing carpeting. Ultimately each decision effects the children. (Carpeting is mundane but has color and colors affect people.)
Current ripples in the water
This academic year a new transportation change with the school happened. The middle school and high school students catch the bus at the same time and ride it to school together. Talk about an increase chance of bullying! I’ve been to school and know without a doubt that kids will be picking on others for sure. Just the thought of a middle school chap coming in contact with an older kid from high school, makes me nervous and I don’t think the school thought about this repercussion. They simply made the executive decision to “save gas” and not the potential victim of bullying. Schools may even claim to prohibit bullying, but it still happens since many adults pre-judge the situation and believe it will toughen character.
The point of harmony is not to toughen the mind and body to create a physical impression of strength, but to deflect ignorance toward a potential positive reality.
My mom just told me that my brother is taunted for being short and some 8th graders knocked his books down during gym class and the teacher didn’t do anything. This mainly prompted me to write this post. I just think taking an active role in your community education system will keep you informed and inspire some positive turnouts. Even parents joining the PTA can do some good beyond just using up the funds to buy office dinners. Another known tid-bit of my local district.
I want to do more than just sit and hear about the school news that effects my family and others, I have a passion to participate actively not passively. This is what I hope to accomplish further when I have my own children and would love to work on intuitive and positive programming for the education system.
Are you feeling the same way? Just diving in and out of this pool, I feel like these are things for you:
- Stay current with all board decisions and policies (if able attend meetings)
- Join the PTA and take a leadership position to ensure your vote counts
- Talk with your community at a library or at sporting events about how well the kids are doing and what changes should occur
- Remember the focus is not always on money, but on the children
