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Education

The Road Repeatedly Less Traveled

The children of many parents do not attend meetings crucial to their children’s education

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In 2006, I attended the college placement discussion at East Chapel Hill High School (ECHHS) for parents of sophomore students seeking to enter college. Three of the high school’s guidance counselors – two of whom were African American – made helpful introductory remarks. Then, parents went to specific meeting rooms to converse with representatives from colleges located throughout the state.

Out of nearly 175 parents present, not one African American parents attended. This situation reminded me of an observation one year earlier when, out of nearly 300 parents, only one African American parent attended to hear a panel discussion designed to better enable parents to help their children through high school. The panel included an African American and a Hispanic community leader, as well as Anson Dorrance, coach of the UNC Women’s Soccer team.

Rigor Required

The informative briefings  one year earlier, at ECHHS were for parents of rising 9th graders. The first session focused on what courses students would need to graduate from high school and be prepared for university studies, technical college, or direct participation in the work force. At the first meeting, attending parents listened with rapt attention. Graduating from ECHHS with the new requirements requires rigor.

The children of many parents, however, did not attend these crucial meetings. Only one African-American parent attended the first meeting. At the second meeting where parents got to meet and listen to school counselors, department heads, and teachers, about 275 parents attended, three of which were African-American.

So, four crucial meetings with chronic African American under-attendance: What’s going on? To me, this reflected the future of America.

And 17 Years Later

In 2023, those 13 to 15 year-olds represented by the parents at these meetings are now 32 and 33, out of college and graduate school if they had attended, ready to buy cars, houses, start families, and participate in the economic mainstream. Those who were not listening back then were likely unprepared all throughout high school, and unprepared now to participate in the economic mainstream. Yet, someone will say that education in Chapel Hill is unfair, that it rewards only certain groups and deprives others. Others will rail on about “social justice.”

In another 17 years, 2040, I wonder if anything will be any different, and if greater numbers of African-American parents will take the time to listen to administrators, teachers, counselors, and college representatives who hold vital keys to the quality of their children’s lives.

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Jeff Davidson is the world's only holder of the title "The Work-Life Balance Expert®" as awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He is the premier thought leader on work-life balance, integration, and harmony. Jeff speaks to organizations that seek to enhance their overall productivity by improving the effectiveness of their people. He is the author of Breathing Space, Simpler Living, Dial it Down, and Everyday Project Management. Visit www.BreathingSpace.com for more information on Jeff's keynote speeches and seminars, including: Managing the Pace with Grace® * Achieving Work-Life Balance™ * Managing Information and Communication Overload®



 
 
 

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Education

Learning About My State’s History

In school, everyone should be taught the complete history of their state

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I grew up in Connecticut and all of my schooling was there. Were we told about any of the innovations and inventions, below, in school? Yes, for the cotton gin, helicopter, and maybe a few others, but for the most part, no mention. Everyone should be taught the complete history of their state.

Not Told About So Much

Little did I know that through 1954 Connecticut had the most historical firsts:

First constitution adopted, establishing representative government (1639)
First newspaper (1764)
First submarine (1775)
First American law school (1784)

First insurance company (1795)
First cotton gin (1799)
First dictionary (1807)
First movable parts mass production in use, making clocks (1808)

First revolver (1836)
First public art museum (1842)
First portable typewriter (1843)
First use of anesthesia (1844)

First sewing machine (1846)
First ice-making machine (1853)
First can opener (1858)
First tape measure (1868)

First pay phone (1877)
First collapsible toothpaste tube (1892)
First hamburger (1895)
First submarine (1900)

First lollipop (1908)
First Frisbee (1920)
First vacuum cleaner (1933)
First Polaroid camera (1934)

First helicopter (1939)
First color television (1948)
First atomic powered submarine (1954)

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Education

My Woke Local Library in Woke America

At the rate of new woke holidays, the whole year will eventually fill up

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American Thinker:  I took time out during a weekday, two weeks ago, to visit my local library for the first time in many months. I know they’ve already changed the name. It used to be called the “Cameron Village Regional Library,” but apparently Cameron was a very bad man, a long time ago.

The name change, however, came because owners of the shopping center, which was built on land owned by people who had held slaves, chose to drop its connection to the contemporary Cameron family. Hmmm, I wonder how many properties, owned by people who had held once slaves, the shopping center owners have lived on.

Ultimately, the Wake County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to rename the library to the “Oberlin Regional Library.” Is that not a heartwarming move?

Change Happens

As I stroll around the library, I notice numerous changes. There are many more large-print books. The youth section is larger as well and offers a variety of woke titles which, in some instances, would alarm even the most liberal of parents. Every other book is about “brown girl” or “the boy who feels like a girl inside.”

In perusing the audiobook shelves, I see that it is a fraction of what it used to be. Most everyone has switched to downloads. The physical CDs, the kind I like to pop into my car player, are becoming rare, but isn’t it safer to insert one into the CD player than to fiddle with one’s cellphone to air a podcast?

At the librarian’s desk, I see all manner of flyers and announcements. One flyer stands out in particular. It is a page which lists all library activities for the coming month. This list interests me because one never knows — there might be a visiting author or some type of how-to program that is worthwhile to me.

Closed in Observation

The middle of this sheet says: “The library will be closed on June 19 in observance of Juneteenth.” Juneteenth, bad grammar and all, is a federal holiday since 2021, commemorating “the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.” Wait a second, the Emancipation Proclamation occurred on January 1, 1863. Did I miss something? The library will be partially open on July 4. Is that now a lesser holiday?

Juneteenth is acknowledged on the anniversary of the order by a Major General Gordon Granger proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865.  So, now we ignore the Emancipation Proclamation?  One keen social observer commented that the left still thinks of minorities, especially black people, as their pets who they like to spoil with little baubles like Juneteenth.

Real equality is out of the question. To let people rise of fall on their own merits? Well those poor folks would never find their way without the largess of tax payers. And that’s the ploy to keep them “in their place.” Simply vote Democrat and eventually you’ll be just fine. In the meantime, enjoy all the great gifts. And don’t forget to vote.

Perpetual Baubles

What about Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, celebrated on the third Monday in January? It is now a federal holiday. Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays in mid-February used to be known by every school-aged kid as I was growing up. These birthdays have now been homogenized and combined, and called Presidents Day, with not even 1 in 10 Americans knowing what that relates to.

Malcolm X said: “The worst enemy that the Negro have is this white man who runs around here drooling at the mouth professing to love Negros and calling himself a liberal, and it is following these white liberals that has perpetuated problems that Negros have. If the Negro wasn’t taken, tricked, or deceived by the white liberal, then Negros would get together and solve our own problems.”

“I only cite these things to show you that in America, the history of the white liberal has been nothing but a series of trickery designed to make Negros think that the white liberal was going to solve our problems. Our problems will never be solved by the white man.”

Dedicated Months

We have a whole month devoted to black history, each and every day in February. Depending on where you turn, you’ll gain news and information about black authors, politicians, poets, cooks, freedom fighters, soldiers, actors, inventors, and pioneers of industry.

The consequence of note of all these holidays is that government employees receive yet another paid day off without having to bargain for it. Nearly everybody else, who actually work for a living, still go to work on those days. Few people care about the holiday except for those seeking to conjure up the next one.

Still, perhaps we ought to have Black History Month for a few more years but, eventually, it needs to fade and simply be part of American history. Otherwise, are we also going to have a Hispanic history month, Jewish month, Asian month, Muslim month, and so on? Are not all the historical experiences, and contributions, by all these groups simply a part of American history?

Years ago, when I lived in D.C., one of the morning radio shock jocks made an inexcusable joke for which he should have been fired but he was not. This was long before the wokesters took over the media and he knew what the boundaries were. In observation of Martin Luther King’s birthday, he said, it’s too bad four more civil rights leaders weren’t slain so that we could have a whole week off. A terrible statement by any means, but he thought it was funny.

Fill Up the Year!

The odd thing is, at the rate of new woke holidays, it wouldn’t be surprising if the whole year was eventually filled up. Every group that has ever been aggrieved in one way or another, at any time, gets a holiday or a week, or why not a month?

So let’s have a short people’s day, a stutterer’s  day, a nearsighted people’s day, and on and on, until every single person in America is covered (except, of course, white males, Christians, and Jews). Let’s devote a whole month to those who have a different sexual outlook, inclination, or orientation than everyone else. Let’s hold it in, say, June. Let’s call it “Pride Month.” What do you think of that?

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