In this morning's Journal; nine APS students were asked if
(music) piracy is stealing.
The correct answer is yes.
Half of the high school students interviewed for the piece,
gave the wrong answer. Even among those who answered
correctly, there was equivocation that indicated that they
really didn't understand "stealing" at all.
Please note that they were not asked if they had ever
pirated a song; but only if they knew it was "stealing" if and
when they did.
The decision that a child makes on whether or not they
will steal something, rides on two issues;
1. understanding of the principle of "stealing", andWhether or not a child can resist temptation
2. the moral courage to resist the temptation to steal.
has to do with "parenting".
Whether or not they even know what stealing is;
has to do with schooling.
And when the leadership of a school system is all about
excepting themselves from accountability to the rules;
it shows in the product; 90,000 of our sons and daughters
who are confused about an issue as simple as stealing.
You end up with high school students;
half of whom think piracy is not stealing.
The leadership of the APS has renounced their obligations
as role models of the student standard of conduct;
a standard that speaks unequivocally about stealing, and
about honest accountability to standards that prohibit it.
Sometimes it is just about role modeling.
4 comments:
IT has been my observation in the past that people up to about the age of 25 think that stealing from an individual is wrong, but stealing from a company or group is ok. This is a popular concept among young people...I don't know where it originates from.
--An APS instructor
Role modeling.
If we want to avoid producing more Harrises and Klebolds, we should concentrate on paying attention to the kids a little more, and remember what Paiget said - kids go through stages of development.
Get all the best elementary and KG teachers, and give them one administrator. Valley High and others have sub-academies, APS could have a "Level A and B Special Ed" "Level C and D Special Ed" "Gifted" "elementary" "middle" and "high" academies that work toward splitting the District into the parts that will serve each Paiget level better.
I saw the phase shift in employee work ethic decline sharply during my 17 years as a school cop, over ten of them in a supervisory role of some sort. Buddies tell me the same holds true in the Air Force and Marines - work ethic is hard to find as compared to even the first gulf conflict.
I see the ebb and flow - the kids of these slackers will "rebel" to 50's values - I hope. If not, say hello to the Fall of the American Empire - via slothfulness.
I forgot the exact stats, but many parents (sometimes both) of APS students are currently in prison.
I have friends in prison, and the subject came up "People in prison aren't automatically bad parents" was told to me by an attorney.
Ok.Granted, in a politically correct world, this is true.
But any parent that voluntary leaves his/her kid by their own actions and puts themselves in a position where they can't provide any money for said kid.... IS NOT A GOOD PARENT!
However, I was originally going to say, these prison parents are poor role models, at least initially. Some will do a turn around, some might be innocent. But I never read a report that said parents in prison is beneficial to children (except in extreme abuse cases).
APS needs to look at the realities here...we all do!
--An APS instructor
Post a Comment