That is NOT Cute

I'm still Waiting for Superman.  I am SO glad that today is FRIDAY.  I love it when I interact with something (art/Radio/TV/Film/happening) that makes me keep thinking.  When I got to school today I had students waiting to hear what I thought of the movie last night.  I was happy to talk to them about it.  I didn't want to give too much away  because I want the kids to go see it.  I told them I cried.  

One girl said that she'd heard it would make you cry.  Another student asked if it made me mad.  I replied that it didn't really make me more mad than I already was.  I know what the issues are in Urban American education.  What the movie showed me is that my local issues are pretty much the same all over the US. 

This is my AP class.  We often talk about issues we face living in America. The students are curious.  They've heard me discuss Idiocracy and one boy said that he just thought it was funny until he started thinking about it and he said he got scared after that because he realized that it truly was satire involving a real issue in society today.  I asked them all to please reproduce.  But not yet, not until they are out of college...(They liked how I qualified that). 

Sometimes, when I go to the store I see infants in arms.  I always look at the babies. I love babies.  I know that I'll be their teacher some day.  I see some babies who are bright-eyed and curious.  Sometimes even when they are tiny...they are checking out the world and they are AMAZED.  I see other babies who have a dull glazed look on their faces.  They almost seem as if they are drugged.  These babies are NOT responsive, they seem like lumps of pudding.  I know what a tired baby looks like. I'm not talking tired.  Even a tired curious baby is still checking things out.

I told my class about the baby watching and several of them said that they understood exactly what I was talking about.  They turned and described their experiences to their friends (I think they call this Socializing Intelligence).  I told them to look around the next time they go to Walmart or the grocery store and get back to me.

I asked the kids to tell me what they thought about Idiocracy. D.R. said that his mother worked at a Food Stamp Office and that she got written up because she said "That is NOT Cute," when a customer was happy because her TEN year old daughter was pregnant.  The customer complained about the remark.

I have had students with children who had mothers under the age of 30.  I've met GREAT-Grandmothers that were under 40.

My experience tells me that those folks do NOT care about public education.  They care about a system that provides a free babysitter with two free meals on week days.  

That is NOT Cute.