Andrea Said:

How do you feel about parents who teach their kids to question what they are taught.....?

We Answered:

Blind faith in anything will create more brainless sheep in the vast herd of people in this world already.
Skepticism is a healthy thing and I try like hell to teach that to my 3 kids.

Ramon Said:

Who will protect out kids?

We Answered:

That's cool.

Alberto Said:

If I report my Social Security Card as stolen and someone uses it for income tax what will happen?

We Answered:

The IRS will question it when two people try to file with the same number.

William Said:

What is happening to the kids in our schools?

We Answered:

Wow, this is one time when I wish I could just sit with you all in a room an talk. This subject is very near and dear to my heart. I've worked for the past 3-1/2 years in a Jr High class for kids with severe emotional disturbances. Kids who have been "thrown away", who have been written off by school officials as lazy, troublemakers, and worse. Kids who, when you really look behind the behavior, are really sick or hurting beyond belief. Kids who really need the PBS that you're talking about. They also need someone to really listen to them, to understand where they're coming from.

I've seen kids come into our program, sealed off from the world and their own emotions, not having done school work or learned much in school for several years. They've come in swinging chairs, or practically catatonic. They've come in verbally abusive, or almost mute. We've been able to get these kids to where they enjoy coming to school. They know we respect them and that they deserve respect. We raise the bar for them, expect them to do great things. We listen, understand, teach. We help them understand emotions.

I'm so very lucky to be in the program I'm in. We have a wonderful caring, brilliant school psychologist, a fantastic teacher, and three loyal and dedicated aides. We as a staff are like family. We read each others thoughts, and are all on the same page. Our mission is not to make the kids "feel good" but to help them grow into successfull independant adults. When we have a particularly challenging child it frustrates us to no end, and drains us emotionally, and mentally. When we see success with a child, our joy is overwhelming.

You might want to look into working specifically with SED programs. If there are none in your area, you might want to talk to one of the higher ups about starting such a program. As long as you understand that you can't save the world, but you can make a huge difference in a few lives you're more likely to find fullfillment.

As for your own children, I've always made it a point to be a presence in the school. Know the staff and your childs teachers. Take time to have lunch once in a while with them at school so you can meet the cafeteria staff. As they get older, keep in touch with their teachers via e-mail. Let them know you're supporting them. Tell them when your child is struggling, or when your child is proud of success.

Feeding the teachers souls is just as important. As you can imagine, after years of being in their shoes, it's really nice to hear positive feedback. Most got into teaching for the love of kids, learning and helping others. After years of seeing the decline in the student population, hostile classrooms of students who are disrespectful, don't listen, don't care.. they're burnt out and giving up. They need help and understanding too.

You're still new and idealistic. That's FANTASTIC, and your enthusiam about the subject will help you spread the word. If you can't move into a specific SED program, or convince your school district to provide one, perhaps you can propose teacher workshops on the how's and why's of PBS. Teach the teachers why it's important. Show them how it really can work. You might even have to do it on your own time at first. Maybe you can recruit one teacher to implement the strategies that you're proposing. Teach just one teacher and work with him/her in refining the process. As that teacher starts to experience success and the students improve, others will take notice. Good luck, and feel free to e-mail me.

Tyrone Said:

Do you ever change the information on Wikipedia?

We Answered:

I don't change it at all, I leave that up to other people.