I usually put my weekly column up here to let my reader(s) enjoy what is on my mind from week to week, but my latest effort was not interesting enough to copy and paste over here. Even writing it I started to get bored. It involved the NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis, which I have no interest in whatsoever.
Something else I have been working on today is trying to see who I would vote for (if I was going to vote) in the presidential election. I have come across a voter's guide that shows where McCain and Obama stand on 14 issues ranging from gay rights and energy concerns to abortion and the war. I have only weighed in on 10 of the issues so far because the other four I don't really know what they are talking about. I will have to look into those four a little further to find out who I would side with because as it stands right now I am stuck in the middle.
That's right. I apparently am not a Republican and I am not a Democrat. I agree with McCain on five issues and I agree with Obama on five issues (possibly four because I'm not entire sure we are on the same page with our reasons for not supporting expanded oil drilling; however, we do agree to not support it).
I still have to find out what the Federal Defense of Marriage Act is, what the state marriage amendments sayin California and Florida and where I stand on opposing judicial activism and protecting the lives of botched abortion children who survive. For the record, I am against abortions, so if you got rid of that problem then we wouldn't have to worry about babies who survive them.
I'm not a political person at all and so I am not a person to argue with regarding these issues. I don't know all the little nuances that go along with each issue, but I know I don't support gay rights, abortions or the war and I do think we should look into cloning and alternative energy sources. Draw the conclusions you will from that, but there you have it.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Stereotypes Ruin A Child’s Innocence
When I was younger, so much younger than today (that’s to all the Beatles fans out there), I remember going to a drag racing event in Kennedale with a guy who was dating my mom at the time.
I don’t remember very much about the entire thing but two things I do recall, it was extremely loud and I enjoyed myself.
Fast-forward about 15 years when I covered the O’Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals event at Texas Motorplex two years ago for the paper and one thing certainly didn’t change: it was still a disturbingly loud night. You probably noticed by stating only one thing remained the same that means I most likely didn’t have a good time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t all a pleasant experience. My friend and roommate James and I had passes to wander the grounds and hang out in the press box. We were treated like royalty. We ate well. I spoke all night with a guy who besides working the NHRA beat also covered the Dallas Cowboys for the Morning News.
It was all a great time but something just didn’t feel right about the whole thing. I have determined that the reason I didn’t get a completely satisfying night out of the whole experience was because of my own perception of what I was supposed to think about drag racing and its fandom.
It’s no secret the stereotype of racing fans is made up of beer-drinking, chain-smoking rednecks. Obviously this isn’t accurate. When I’m sitting inside the press box watching thousands of people go crazy over flames shooting out of the lightning quick dragsters as they fly down the track it makes me wonder why I’m not enjoying things as much as when I was a kid.
I’ve decided the combination of stereotypes and my cynical attitude has marred what used to be a really fun time for me. As a child I didn’t know – or care – about the people around me at the drag races. I had no bias going into my Friday night at the track. It was all about watching fast cars and fighting through thunderous noise from the engines.
Yet, once I grew up and became surrounded by stereotypes, I couldn’t enjoy the same things. Instead, it takes a life-threatening crash to really get my attention and that’s something I’m not proud of.
I miss that innocence of childhood when I was free to make my own decision about whether I liked something or not. I liked playing kickball, wall ball, tetherball and four corners. If I played those games today I would feel as if I shouldn’t be participating in childish games.
The same goes with bowling. I love to bowl, but I am at an age that I have a hard time going to a new bowling alley with disco balls and neon lights for the teenagers. At the same time, I feel out of place at the old bowling alley that is a haven for smokers and middle-aged league bowlers. With these predispositions about the current state of bowling I feel either ashamed or scared to bowl nowadays.
Bowling as a kid was all about chunking a ball you could hardly hold down a wooden path with inflatable bumpers on each side to prevent you from getting an all-time low score of three. Now it is too frustrating to have to worry about who the bowlers are on your right and left to really enjoy the game.
This really is all just a rant about how I want to be a kid again and enjoy what life was all about at that age, which was made up of snacks, naps and fun.
I suppose letting go of stereotypes and embracing what you enjoy in spite of what others may think is what really makes you a grown-up.
I don’t remember very much about the entire thing but two things I do recall, it was extremely loud and I enjoyed myself.
Fast-forward about 15 years when I covered the O’Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals event at Texas Motorplex two years ago for the paper and one thing certainly didn’t change: it was still a disturbingly loud night. You probably noticed by stating only one thing remained the same that means I most likely didn’t have a good time. It wasn’t that it wasn’t all a pleasant experience. My friend and roommate James and I had passes to wander the grounds and hang out in the press box. We were treated like royalty. We ate well. I spoke all night with a guy who besides working the NHRA beat also covered the Dallas Cowboys for the Morning News.
It was all a great time but something just didn’t feel right about the whole thing. I have determined that the reason I didn’t get a completely satisfying night out of the whole experience was because of my own perception of what I was supposed to think about drag racing and its fandom.
It’s no secret the stereotype of racing fans is made up of beer-drinking, chain-smoking rednecks. Obviously this isn’t accurate. When I’m sitting inside the press box watching thousands of people go crazy over flames shooting out of the lightning quick dragsters as they fly down the track it makes me wonder why I’m not enjoying things as much as when I was a kid.
I’ve decided the combination of stereotypes and my cynical attitude has marred what used to be a really fun time for me. As a child I didn’t know – or care – about the people around me at the drag races. I had no bias going into my Friday night at the track. It was all about watching fast cars and fighting through thunderous noise from the engines.
Yet, once I grew up and became surrounded by stereotypes, I couldn’t enjoy the same things. Instead, it takes a life-threatening crash to really get my attention and that’s something I’m not proud of.
I miss that innocence of childhood when I was free to make my own decision about whether I liked something or not. I liked playing kickball, wall ball, tetherball and four corners. If I played those games today I would feel as if I shouldn’t be participating in childish games.
The same goes with bowling. I love to bowl, but I am at an age that I have a hard time going to a new bowling alley with disco balls and neon lights for the teenagers. At the same time, I feel out of place at the old bowling alley that is a haven for smokers and middle-aged league bowlers. With these predispositions about the current state of bowling I feel either ashamed or scared to bowl nowadays.
Bowling as a kid was all about chunking a ball you could hardly hold down a wooden path with inflatable bumpers on each side to prevent you from getting an all-time low score of three. Now it is too frustrating to have to worry about who the bowlers are on your right and left to really enjoy the game.
This really is all just a rant about how I want to be a kid again and enjoy what life was all about at that age, which was made up of snacks, naps and fun.
I suppose letting go of stereotypes and embracing what you enjoy in spite of what others may think is what really makes you a grown-up.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Does Spanking In School Work?
In recent weeks the Ennis Daily News – along with other media sources throughout the metroplex – reported on corporal punishment in Texas schools.
It was reported in the 2006-2007 school year 49,197 Texas public school students were spanked as a form of punishment. The Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union claimed in the state of Texas, children between the ages of 3 and 19 are routinely punished for what they believe to be minor infractions and that in both Texas and the other 49 states, special education and black students are punished at unequal rates as compared with other students.
Growing up I don’t remember clearly what my school’s policy was on spankings. I do not ever recall having a friend telling me about the principal spanking him for misconduct. I do however remember the threat being there.
The first day of sixth grade I can still remember sitting in class with the teacher explaining what the wooden paddle – with colorful markings and holes cut in for maximum effect – sitting on the rail of the blackboard would be used for. I was a pretty well behaved child and therefore never gave her an excuse to use the paddle on me, but I also don’t ever think the paddle moved. It may have simply been a tool used to threaten us into submission. And to tell you the truth, it worked for me.
Whatever your feelings toward corporal punishment in public schools, the rules for when a spanking would be issued should be clear and consistent for all children. Yet, spankings don’t work for every person as a deterrent, especially for high school students. Corporal punishment might be an effective penalty for the average Joe male student, but what about for football players who put their bodies through the equivalent of 30 car crashes a day in practice? A few swats from the principal are most likely going to have the jocks laughing about the chastisement and how useless it is for their kind.
High school females also might not be the best candidates for spankings. This is not because she won’t feel the pain of a paddle smacking her on the behind, but instead because of the inappropriate shame the girl might feel from a male principal spanking her rear end.
I’m not one of those broadminded hippies who think children shouldn’t be punished for their bad behavior, but I am just not sure spankings are the best option for everyone. The football player might need to be suspended for a game (like that would really happen though). Detention is sometimes worse in a child’s mind than any other punishment because they are missing out on time they could be with friends or at work.
The punishment should fit the crime and the intensity of punishment shouldn’t be determined by a child’s skin color or his parent’s income level.
It’s not a perfect world and I don’t have an ideal answer to the problem, but whatever solution is in place for students’ misbehavior, it should show results that deterrence is working.
It was reported in the 2006-2007 school year 49,197 Texas public school students were spanked as a form of punishment. The Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union claimed in the state of Texas, children between the ages of 3 and 19 are routinely punished for what they believe to be minor infractions and that in both Texas and the other 49 states, special education and black students are punished at unequal rates as compared with other students.
Growing up I don’t remember clearly what my school’s policy was on spankings. I do not ever recall having a friend telling me about the principal spanking him for misconduct. I do however remember the threat being there.
The first day of sixth grade I can still remember sitting in class with the teacher explaining what the wooden paddle – with colorful markings and holes cut in for maximum effect – sitting on the rail of the blackboard would be used for. I was a pretty well behaved child and therefore never gave her an excuse to use the paddle on me, but I also don’t ever think the paddle moved. It may have simply been a tool used to threaten us into submission. And to tell you the truth, it worked for me.
Whatever your feelings toward corporal punishment in public schools, the rules for when a spanking would be issued should be clear and consistent for all children. Yet, spankings don’t work for every person as a deterrent, especially for high school students. Corporal punishment might be an effective penalty for the average Joe male student, but what about for football players who put their bodies through the equivalent of 30 car crashes a day in practice? A few swats from the principal are most likely going to have the jocks laughing about the chastisement and how useless it is for their kind.
High school females also might not be the best candidates for spankings. This is not because she won’t feel the pain of a paddle smacking her on the behind, but instead because of the inappropriate shame the girl might feel from a male principal spanking her rear end.
I’m not one of those broadminded hippies who think children shouldn’t be punished for their bad behavior, but I am just not sure spankings are the best option for everyone. The football player might need to be suspended for a game (like that would really happen though). Detention is sometimes worse in a child’s mind than any other punishment because they are missing out on time they could be with friends or at work.
The punishment should fit the crime and the intensity of punishment shouldn’t be determined by a child’s skin color or his parent’s income level.
It’s not a perfect world and I don’t have an ideal answer to the problem, but whatever solution is in place for students’ misbehavior, it should show results that deterrence is working.
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