Welcome to my Limited by Truth and Facts Serious and Silly Civil Community of Common Commentary BLOG.
I hated it back then and loathe it today: the dreaded TUNNEL. Look at ME. Look at ME. Look at ME. That’s the parents not the kids. Kids, and parents as well, can’t spell tunnel which is one of those confusing “le or el words like angel and angle. With only 26 characters English is perhaps the most difficult language to learn. I read the red book which I also read yesterday. Huh?
Last week at a youth soccer game a coach / parent of 12 year old kids impaled a ten foot pole into the ground and mounted a video camera on top of the pole in order to record the game.
The purpose of this maneuver was to create a video history of the game not for distribution to the team, families and grandparents who could not get to the game.
The purpose was to gather the kids in the coach’s home to review, critique, point-out flaws, mistakes and errors and ultimately embarrass the kids in front of each other for their lackluster and LOSING performance. Eventually some form of cheating will occur, not by the kids, but by and for an “adult” in need of winning at any cost and for the gratification that comes with winning.
Who out there, with the exception of leadership, has attended mandatory Ethics seminars and signed Ethics agreements with severe penalties for violations. It is for we the people while “leaders” receive, receive and receive more until the greed makes them known. Their punishment. No electronics for a fortnight.
You can’t win unless you CHEAT:
EXAMPLE: School Scandals where grades are changed by leadership who threaten subordinates if they don’t play the cheating game.
EXAMPLE: Sports Cheating which is why coaches cover their mouths with the play card preventing opponents and spies from reading their lips.
EXAMPLE: Insider Trading. Oh wait that doesn’t happen or does it?
EXAMPLE: Read and listen to the news stories where, on an almost daily basis there is a report about Cheating Scandals not sandals. See one letter makes a difference. Move the vowels and Taxes becomes Texas.
EXAMPLE: What was on that last expense account you submitted?
Here again, bad coaching, parenting and role modeling.
Kids are exposed to horrific events on a daily basis since they are electronically connected to the instant, well beyond microwave, world in which we exist where bad stuff takes precedent over good stuff. Fear is real. Fear leads to ailments requiring kids to be treated with medicine, counseling, therapy and an IEP for school. In a few years every kid will have an IEP and every “adult” will be in therapy. Fear is powerful, controlling and an impediment to life. From where does Fear come? Who controls Fear? Who is charge of Fear? Like most things, if you see and hear about it enough times you believe it. Is it like laundry that needs to be washed? Are our brains the laundry?
Once I drove several kids who were friends and teammates of our kid. I could do this since I was not their coach just a parent with a station wagon transporting kids from their first game which they lost 20-3, to their second game about 15 miles away from the first game. I anticipated a quiet, emotional and perhaps tearful ride but to my delight the kids were laughing, joking, singing and being kids on a ride to their next event. They completely strayed from the first games embarrassing loss. The kids could care less. Some of the parents, who live thought their kids, carried the first game loss well into the second game even though the team was winning.
Who are these “experts’ who usually don’t have kids to raise, telling we the parents, cooks, schedulers, drivers, advocates, cleaners, nutritionists, coaches, science project doers, organizers and worst of all enablers not empowerment teachers, reciting case studies on proper parenting. Look at the data and the new word, analytics. That’s where to find answers not necessarily the truth. Most recently the polls were wrong almost every poll out there was wrong. But he experts explained so intelligently, expertly and convincingly relying on obfuscation to relieve and explain why. But we still don’t and never will know the truth as is the case in most controversial issues and some that are not so controversial. Gotta win. Cheat? Just a little. What could be so bad?
They are the same “experts” who are overweight telling us how to lose weight and keep it off. Look at ME. I did it. So can you. But for how long? The Yo-Yo affect eventually wins. Can we see the actual, not altered like school grades, of the success rates for the weight loss industry. Same for smoking, drinking, drugging, etc.
The same “experts” hustling child raising, parenting, marriage, spirituality, faith, relationships, addictions most of whom don’t have kids, are single perhaps with multiple divorcees and hooked on the appeal they get from folks who listen to them the “experts”. Just send your money to the “legitimate” hustler hiding behind whatever facade is their mission. Even Dorothy and Toto uncovered cheating and fraud. Books, tapes and videos will cost extra. No money today. That’s okay. Next week you will get your Social Security check which you can use for payment. Get fresh food with your leftover money.
Kids are told how great they are, how wonderful their performance was and how much everyone likes what they do.
Results of this rather limited child raising can be seen by watching sports, where on every play there are multiple high fives, fist taps, daps, chest pumps and celebrations for doing what they are suppose to be doing. On every play!!! Watch a game and the proof is right there.
Coaches can’t coach, they must coddle and affirm their players even when they are not deserving of praise.
Teachers? I don’t know how and why they do what they do. The kids are never in the wrong. When a teacher should be proving discipline, teaching respect, honesty and building character and integrity they, the teachers, are subject to ridicule and even banishment for doing the things parents are suppose to be doing. Why? Because school leadership comes in for 2-3 years, messes up what works, endures staff exodus and then the leaders leave to repeat the process in another school district and for more money. Does anyone check references? If a leader is so good and valued would it not be incumbent of the school to retain such a valued leader? Oh wait. What exactly is Leadership?
Leadership:
TRUST
Accessibility
Accountability
Availability
Responsibility
Communications
Visibility
Knowledge about the kids, staff, families and community
Involvement
Participation
I guess all of the above is hard to sustain and maintain which is why it is difficult to retain LEADERS except like many of our elected leaders many of whom have the job for life but without the rituals, uniforms, ornaments, and head coverings of leaders who lead with immunity from cheating or they pay boo-koo bucks to make it go away which it does not, proof of which can be found by listening to the families and more importantly the kids.
Keep an open mind.
Keep It Simple – Keep It Real
POWER UP YOUR POWER ‘CAUSE THE POWER IS IN YOU!!!
Keep It Simple - Keep It Real 