Trapped

Not In This District!

This link is a link to the story of a woman that used a false address to get her kids in a better school. I thought that the actual written article would give more detail, but it seems like the written story is just a transcript of the video.

I know that there are 3 sides to every story, so I've been trying to think about this one from a couple of perspectives. Of course, I love analogies so I thought about this one in terms of Internet usage. Everyone puts a password on their wireless service because they don't want someone getting the service they pay for, for free. I feel like that it a similar situation to how rich people don't want the poor to benefit from their higher quality of education. They deserve the best because they can afford the best. However, the confusing part to me is that if you use someone's address, that person is paying taxes. To me that would be like making it illegal to go to a family member or friend's house to use their Internet or making it illegal to go to a swimming pool in your friend or family member's apartment complex.

Another thing that I noticed about this article is that the woman chants, "I think they wanted to make an example out of me. I don't think it was about the money."

Maybe it's just me, but it is about the money! If nothing else, it's about the money. Yes, they are making an example out of you because they don't want their schools infested with children that desire a better education and can't afford it. However, if you had money you wouldn't be going to jail. And private investigators wouldn’t be following your children home. I’m awfully curious as to how private investigators determine which students to follow home. They must stand out in some way.

Perception number two is that this is wrong. Even in perspective number one, I couldn’t understand how this could be right. Does that mean that I really didn’t have another perspective? Probably. Kids that I tried to teach that really wanted to learn but couldn't because of the terrible learning environment came to mind as I watched this story. 2pac’s song Trapped came to mind. Democracy came to mind. The media came to mind. Powerless came to mind. The fact that if you Google search Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel’s name shows up 11 times and Richard Daley’s name shows up 7 times, but the election hasn’t taken place yet comes to mind. It’s a good thing that people believe in the American Dream because if they didn’t believe in it, it probably wouldn’t exist.

Fear

For 5 years, I taught in inner city schools trying to convince students that they could do what they felt was impossible. It was my job to convince students that felt like they were so far behind academically (and at times their feelings were accurate) to stay in the classroom and try their best. Some of the students couldn’t be convinced and refused to face possible failure. In my mind it didn’t make sense; they didn’t have any other option. Fly or die, sink or swim, there really is no other option. However, the idea of failure without trying wasn’t as hurtful as trying and then failing. I’ve heard similar examples; they all seem to be one of those easier said than done types of proposals.

In my quest to change careers I find myself sitting in my own class, trying to convince myself not to fear failure. I thought that it would be much easier than this to change careers. Every job gives you on the job training, doesn’t it? Doesn’t every class teach you before they test you? Now I find myself pursuing the one career that tests you before the job. I’m running through the Internet like a chicken with my head cut off trying to research the skills that I need to master for the test (the interview) & they change with every opening position.

I’m tempted to change my goal and look at a different profession and start at the bottom and work my way up. However, I’m afraid that I’ll be aiming for something easy that won’t challenge me and will eventually become boring for me, then I’ll be right back at one. I think to myself, is it reasonable to tell an 9th grader that struggles with multiplication that they can still become a math major in college? Is it reasonable as a 45 year old Alderman to still have dreams of becoming the President? How late is too late? I’ve heard that it’s never too late, but is that really true? I’m in a situation where I want to aim high, but I don’t want to set an unreasonable goal. In Men In Black, J reminds K of the old saying that it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. J responds by saying try it. I would say the same applies to trying and failing. In theory it’s better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all.