School To Put Students In 'Prison' Jumpsuits As Punishment

http://www.local6.com/education/17035594/detail.html

This is the sort of headline that can make a humorist rub their hands gleefully….especially after my blog entry the other day where I note that the differences between prisons and schools are sometimes barely perceptible.

However, my smile was wry at best.  The navy blue jump suits are to be donned by students who break the dress code.  I can see the wisdom behind this…a girl shows up with her, er, BUTTerflies showing.  Or a young man with the crack of dawn peering up from his baggy boxers.  Mom and Dad have abdicated their parental responsibilities by allowing their kids to dress like a Las Vegas lounge act.  Or like a gangsta thug.

What’s a harried school warden…oops, I mean principal to do? 

Enter the jumpsuit. 

It’s another sad testimony what happens when the state assumes the role of parent. 

Oh wait!  There’s razor wire.  Must be a prison.  Sometimes the differences are barely perceptible.

This was the startling revelation I had when researching the Tennessee Prison for Women for an article I’m writing. 

I mean really!  Check it out and tell me if you don’t have flashbacks to your alma mater.  I could almost smell the mystery meat simmering in the cafeteria picture.  And I could recall the dread of entering into my former middle school building. 

Here are some more similarities:

Prison has a warden---Government schools have a principal.

Occupants of the buildings are required by law to be there.  (Unless school-aged children are educated elsewhere.  Thank God we can still do this.)

Operating budgets are bloated.

Its management is dictated by politically correct thinking.

Both institutions have a pre-lease program.  (In schools it’s called “graduation.”)

Okay, I know, I know. I could keep going on but I’ll restrain myself.  I am not a complete anarchist…I just have a problem with the socialism that drives education or the philosophy that can be summed up with a quote from that logical sage, Spock, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” (From “The Wrath of Kahn.”)

Children are not generic little people.  They are individuals with creativity and unique gifting.  And by stuffing them into a “one size fits no one” institution…we imprison their souls. 

And the oh-so-sad fact, those who fall through the cracks the most in the system get more than their souls imprisoned.

And now for some pithy ponderings.

One of my worst enemies is fatigue.  Here is where I’m at my most vulnerable for negative thinking and an Eeyore disposition.

And last night was a doozy.  (I’m sure business busyness and moving have nothing to do with it. ;) ) 

We visited with a young man who, at the age of 27, is a very successful entrepreneur.  He started one of his businesses when he was 17!  And both he and his wife have already done things that we still dream of doing.

So I started musing.  What the heck have we been doing the past 20 years?

And while I was thinking this, I had to go pick up the kids from our old neighborhood where they were playing.  I was ripe for more negative thinking.  Why on earth did we leave here?  (I certainly wasn’t considering the positive solid reasons why we did.)

Before I knew it, my mind was awash with “could haves” and “should haves”.  Yuck.

I told Jay regret is like a poisonous drink we feel compelled to drink.  We can be so good at beating ourselves up…and it does absolutely no good.

Our good friend Dan Miller in his years of coaching and counseling thousands of people, has made a wise observation of human behavior.  It goes something like this (with apologies to Dan for the poor translation):

Those who are struggling with depression and regret are those constantly looking in the past.  Those who have hope and vision are looking forward. 

Pretty powerful stuff.

Then I read another cool quote.  A man who keeps one eye on the past is wise.  A man who keeps two eyes on the past is blind.

Might I add that with that blindness one will be unable to see the new opportunities that are all around us?  (When was the last time you saw a bird fretting over lack of opportunity?  God has placed us in a world of abundance.  Of course, those birds don't need health insurance or gas, but that's another subject.)

And how about this one:

Every adversity, every failure and every heartache carries with it the Seed of an equivalent or a greater Benefit. -- Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich

Well, last night I decided I needed to fight fire with fire so I got out the big guns:  A dish of ice cream and my “Keeping Up Appearances” CD for a laugh. 

Thankfully, my head is screwed on a little better today.  And it gets even better----according to Paul Harvey, researchers are continuing to uncover surprising health benefits to people who drink a LOT of coffee.  Looks like I have a very long life ahead of me! 

PS For the record...while we do miss our old house and neighborhood, being completely debt-free is an unbeatable feeling.