Spanking Parents

The states of Florida, California, and Alaska are discussing, and proposing, legislation that would reprimand, if not down right punish, the parents of children who consistently perform poorly in public education. Parents of children who display patterns of tardiness, absenteeism, misbehavior, and perhaps even poor performance, may be subject to fines and /or other penalties.

I say it is about time! Too often mothers and fathers demonstrate inadequate interest in the educational welfare of there kids. Too often teachers are seen as tax payer baby sitters for lethargic, inattentive, and uninvolved parents. They are oh so eager to point a bony, blameful finger at teachers for their unmotivated children.

The educational system of our country is under attack from shortsighted politicians, feckless administrators, and  hapless parents. The United States of America consistently scores lower in scholastic performance than students from other developed nations around the world. Unless this trend is halted, and improved upon, the middle class of this nation is doomed. Uneducated people don't vote, can't find decent paying jobs, and are far more inclined to criminal activity and imprisonment than those who perform well in secondary and post secondary educational settings.

Fewer middle income voters makes for an easier route to fascist and extremist rhetoric and law because of political apathy. Without adequate paying employment potential for future generations our country's tax revenues will further plummet. More incarcerated individuals translates into more tax dollars wasted on human zoos. Parents are the linchpin, the key, the answer to improved scholastic achievement by the youth of our nation.

I would go further! I'd suggest that if your kid makes less than a B- average, the family looses its tax deduction for that dependent. If you are on government assistance (welfare, disability, food stamps, ect.) and your kids (too often too many kids) demonstrate lackluster performance, you loose those government benefits. Fine them, tax them, jail them, kick them in the ass, but get parents involved in their kids schooling. Our nation, and ultimately our civil rights, depend on it.

Scold me, or agree with me, just let me here from you.

Education or Bust

The U.S. should make education in this country more centralized and uniform. Drastic measures are now necessary. Boot camp for kids' education. Parents should be held more responsible for their children's success in learning from the ABC's to calculus. Tax incentives and / or penalties for families can be tied to their kids' attendance, discipline problems, and other performance parameters. School hours should be from 9 to 5 just as if they were part of our workforce. During these extra hours at school homework could be completed, tutoring provided if necessary, and activities such as sports participation, band participation, and other personalized activities be made mandatory to teach character and to reduce lethargy and indifference.

Parents of kids from "welfare" homes should have their benefits tied to their children's education performance as well. If government supported families' kids fail in school or drop out of school all together those families should lose that government provided support.

The burden of a child's learning is dependent on the involvement of their parents. Teachers can't teach kids
who do not believe that their life depends on it. I families have their own economic welfare at stake they will become more involved. More kids in school, fewer dropouts, greater performance, less crime, fewer prisoners, and a greater competitive advantage for our country.

Come on, let's hear from you. Get involved!

Progressive Perspective On Social Welfare

After non-violent protests of the civil rights struggles during the 1950's and 1960's came civil rights legislation at the Federal level. The right to vote, the right to equal opportunity, and the right to equal wages were all worthy and moral objectives. Soon, then President Lyndon Johnson, launched an initive to create

A "Great Society". Also at this time America was bogged down in a conflict of choice in South East Asia against the North Vietnamese communist government. Both the war on poverty and the war in Vietnam were total failures. That "War" against poverty had disastrous unforeseen consequences that endure to the present day.

The purpose was noble; government assistance to mothers and young children abandoned by their husbands and/or fathesr of their children. In theory this would provide just the opportunity these children would need to succeed and hopefully prosper. Such an investment in human "capital" of healthy children motivated by the promise of the American Dream would surely pay social dividends.

The generations that followed  the civil rights movement weren't alive to appreciate the fight their grandparents endured to gain the above mentioned opportunities and benefits. Many corrupted  the system and viewed this assistance as an entitlement and not an opportunity. This is the government program that gained the social moniker of  "welfare". Any incentive to rise above their impoverished situation for the most part never materialized, and as it is formulated, never will. Poor, young, and impoverished women soon learned that they could avoid gainful employment and parental responsibility by getting pregnant and having babies. Their children paid the price.

Later in the 1990's came "welfare to work", another government program, this time designed to ween these mothers off welfare and into the workforce. Too many women again figured out a way to game the system. Now just raising children in poverty wasn't enough to continue to avoid participation in America; they had to stay pregnant. Broods of children were being born and raised in the poorest of conditions and government intervention remains their only means of support.

Raising children in poverty is difficult, but giving birth every 15 to 18 months and providing the support necessary for personal, social, and educational growth to every child becomes nearly impossible. Here is an even darker story. Without the needed parental guidance too many of these children end up in prisons where they are now "cared for" by the prison system. These kids never stand a chance. This reliance on welfare is not too very far from the hideousness of slavery itself. This breeding should be ended by removing the"incentive" for such behavior.

Some ideas for putting an end to this travesty will be addressed in further posts.

Let's hear your thoughts and comments.