"Jeffrey Young, Newton's superintendent of schools, said he kept students in school because many of their parents work and they would have gone home to empty houses."
As I read this as part of the boondoggle that a ten inch snowfall created for Massachusetts yesterday, I couldn't help but think of my childhood.
My mom was a single parent (widow not divorce) who had to go to work to survive not to afford a second home on the Cape or Islands as the reason that some do so today. I went home to an empty house every day. The schools back then did not serve as baby sitters. The baby sitters of the 50's, 60's and part of the 70's was your collective neighborhood. A working mom back then was the exception and not the norm. Their proud career back then was to be a mother to their children.
I'd venture to say that 90% or better were stay at home moms which also made for a safer neighborhood. Even if your own mom worked you benefitted by the indirect supervision you got by all the other moms who were home; which also meant that you could expect to be reprimanded by any one of them. There was a natural extension of the family structure that provided a safety net for children.
You went to school to learn reading, writing and arithmetic. Teachers weren't expected to teach you manners or to take the place of your parents, that was a prerequisite to going to school.
I learned at a young age to be responsible for my actions and to help out wherever I could. Personal responsibility taught you how to deal with difficulties using common sense.
I'm sorry to say that my genenration went on to become enablers. Children are not allowed to be children anymore. They have to be shuffled off everywhere or propped in front of some electronic gadget that way mom and/or dad can get some peace and quiet.
In my neighborhood, children would be outside playing for a good portion of the day. They were exposed to sunshine (vitamin D) and got plenty of exercise. Today you stick little Todd in front of his video games and when he starts to try to burn off all that couped up energy we shove some Ritalin or whatever newfangled drug to deal with Todd's acting up.
We now have the Todd's of the world out driving in a snowstorm and he can't deal with having to wait at a yellow light so he proceeds to get in the middle of an intersection to create gridlock. What do you expect from someone whose had all his decisions made for him. He lacks responsibility and has no clue to what the word compassion means.
We are reaping the fruits of our labor. They have been plucked too early and have not been allowed to mature.
So it's no wonder that a 10 inch snowfall would paralyze the eastern part of Massachusetts which houses such prestigious houses of learning as MIT, Harvard and BU. After checking their catalouges I couldn't find any courses that dealt with Driving in the Snow.
And this is what happens when people have no clue as to how to proceed on the roads in a snowstorm;
"People are letting their children go to the bathroom in the streets," said Meg Cohen, 46, who said she spent two hours idling in her Toyota Corolla in one spot on Huntington Avenue.
Those poor children could have been going to a neighborhood school and could have walked home instead of being plunked on some rickety old schoolbus or couped up for hours in an idling car. When people say they are doing things for the kids my blood pressure goes up. They want to do something for their kids - let them take some responsibility.
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