Sometimes, the future just shows up at your door, with a silly grin on its face and a load of shit in its pants.
A group of business leaders just explained to the Arizona congress why they are either canceling plans to build facilities in Arizona, or why they are moving facilities out of Arizona. Intel stated that our educational system is so substandard that they would have to import technically skilled people...from other countries (apparently, it isn't just Arizona). A major call-center company is moving its operations to another state, because it can't find enough people that can compose a simple sentence, or hold a grammatically correct conversation.
Bear in mind that, for many Tucson residents, a call center job is the best position they can hope for.
Our congress, of course, had the predictable solution all prepared and ready to go: Blame the teachers. Don't blame the incessant funding cuts, don't blame class sizes of 50+, blame the poor bloody teachers who are left to make bricks without straw.
This is, of course, because our teachers are themselves poor people. They are paid 24% less than the national average for a teacher with the same experience, a whopping $43,000/year given 15 years on the job. My lowest paid journeyman makes more than that. Because of this, they are easy targets. They can't fight back...This is a "right to work" state (Orwell says HI!), so their union is a rather pathetic joke.
The funniest thing here, of course, is that the Arizona congress will "solve" this problem by punishing the teachers with even more budget cuts, to "make them do their jobs"...And basic literacy will drop even further.
We're not alone in this. Toyota decided a number of years ago to put its new facility in Brantford, Ontario rather than Cleveland, Ohio, for two reasons. First, the cost of additional taxes to support public health care was lower than the cost of American private health insurance, and second, the last plant they built in Ohio, they had to train the employees with pictograms, because only a few of them could read.
There's a simple, two-part solution to this.
1. Fund education. By this, I mean schools and teachers, not companies that make standardized tests (a multi-billion dollar industry, started by some Bush cronies when NCLB got passed) or "focus groups". This funding should be sufficient to bring class sizes down to 20.
2. The left isn't off the hook here, either. The ONLY way to teach large numbers of people basic math and literacy skills is by rote. Stop trying to come up with fancy ways to teach simple Goddamn subjects, and when someone fails, THEY GO TO SUMMER SCHOOL OR REPEAT THE YEAR. Their precious little self-esteems will have to grow a callous or two.
Of course, none of this will actually happen, because it's cheaper and easier to pander to your base than it is to actually fix problems.
So here's how it's going to shake out...Your children - or grandchildren - will be functionally illiterate peasants at best, and we will have flushed 300 years of progress right down the fucking tubes. You aren't getting the Jetsons, you're getting the middle ages, only with some electronic toys.
Way to go, you fucking apes. You can't do ANYTHING RIGHT! I fucking hate you. I hate you with the fire of a thousand suns. If any of you really loved me, you'd jump into a settling pond today, with an engine block tied to your neck.
Or Kill Me.
:mittens:
When you put it that way, we pretty much are all fucked, aren't we? :horrormirth:
This breaks my heart.
:cry:
Sorry, but...
If your fucking kids can't read, it is YOUR fault.
Sit down with them and teach them yourself if the schools are fucking it up.
I walked into my first day of kindergarten with a Reader's Digest Condensed hardcover under my arm. Teacher thought it was cute that I brought a BOOK to school, until she realized I was halfway through actually reading "Jaws."
When I was a kid, the teacher was horrified to note that I read, by turns, the greek classics (Iliad & Odyssey) and Jack Hild novels.
The quiet fourth grader with the book titled "Nile Barrabas and the SOBs" or some such silliniess, is threatening to teachers who are glad to get kids to read star wars books or nintendo power magazine.
And I fully intend to take my kids' education into my own hands no matter where they happen to go to school. If I can't spare the time, I'll hire tutors. Screw public education. It's daycare. A place to socialize and get a GPA.
Also, it is notable that the future never seems as scary as the present. That's what strikes me as Roger's sci-fi.
Quote from: Luna on March 30, 2011, 09:52:19 PM
Sorry, but...
If your fucking kids can't read, it is YOUR fault.
Sit down with them and teach them yourself if the schools are fucking it up.
I walked into my first day of kindergarten with a Reader's Digest Condensed hardcover under my arm. Teacher thought it was cute that I brought a BOOK to school, until she realized I was halfway through actually reading "Jaws."
You are, of course, aware of how many hours the average parent has to work here to make ends meet, right? Parents HAVE to coach. Period. But as far as actual INSTRUCTION goes, most people are neither available (because you can't read if the lights are out) nor trained in instruction. If you rely on parents - working two minimum wage jobs apiece - to ensure a literate population, it has already been demonstrated that YOU WON'T GET ONE, because that's basically what we're doing RIGHT NOW.
Put the blame on whomever you like, the reality of the situation won't change.
We pay property taxes. Holy shit, do we pay property taxes. I would like that my property taxes go to what they were INTENDED to go to, which is to say schooling, sanitation, and emergency services.
Right now, they subsidize a fucking golf course. No shit.
Quote from: Sigmatic on March 30, 2011, 09:56:43 PM
And I fully intend to take my kids' education into my own hands no matter where they happen to go to school. If I can't spare the time, I'll hire tutors. Screw public education. It's daycare. A place to socialize and get a GPA.
Enjoy watching them fly from the nest with absolutely no idea how a real pecking order works. :)
And enjoy growing old surrounded by people whose parents couldn't afford that.
TGRR,
Knows if it's broken, you FIX it. Especially when the bastards broke it ON PURPOSE, counting on exactly YOUR ATTITUDE to let it stay broken, and ensure a permanent class structure.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 30, 2011, 10:04:52 PM
Quote from: Sigmatic on March 30, 2011, 09:56:43 PM
And I fully intend to take my kids' education into my own hands no matter where they happen to go to school. If I can't spare the time, I'll hire tutors. Screw public education. It's daycare. A place to socialize and get a GPA.
Enjoy watching them fly from the nest with absolutely no idea how a real pecking order works. :)
And enjoy growing old surrounded by people whose parents couldn't afford that.
TGRR,
Knows if it's broken, you FIX it. Especially when the bastards broke it ON PURPOSE, counting on exactly YOUR ATTITUDE to let it stay broken, and ensure a permanent class structure.
This. Just because my kids not ignorant and yours isn't either doesn't mean it is ok that everyone else's is. And no it doesn't give my kid and your kid a competitive advantage because they aren't part of the rich people network that lets that be a competitive advantage.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 30, 2011, 10:02:15 PM
Quote from: Luna on March 30, 2011, 09:52:19 PM
Sorry, but...
If your fucking kids can't read, it is YOUR fault.
Sit down with them and teach them yourself if the schools are fucking it up.
I walked into my first day of kindergarten with a Reader's Digest Condensed hardcover under my arm. Teacher thought it was cute that I brought a BOOK to school, until she realized I was halfway through actually reading "Jaws."
You are, of course, aware of how many hours the average parent has to work here to make ends meet, right? Parents HAVE to coach. Period. But as far as actual INSTRUCTION goes, most people are neither available (because you can't read if the lights are out) nor trained in instruction. If you rely on parents - working two minimum wage jobs apiece - to ensure a literate population, it has already been demonstrated that YOU WON'T GET ONE, because that's basically what we're doing RIGHT NOW.
Put the blame on whomever you like, the reality of the situation won't change.
We pay property taxes. Holy shit, do we pay property taxes. I would like that my property taxes go to what they were INTENDED to go to, which is to say schooling, sanitation, and emergency services.
Right now, they subsidize a fucking golf course. No shit.
All true, sadly. Mom wasn't trained, she wasn't even TRYING to teach me to read... I just picked it up, by all reports. (Yeah, freak, trust me, I heard it all through school.)
The fact that people really DO have no say as to where their tax money goes any more is revolting... and people don't care. They've got their TV to tell them that the golf course is more important.
Quote from: BabylonHoruv on March 30, 2011, 10:07:21 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 30, 2011, 10:04:52 PM
Quote from: Sigmatic on March 30, 2011, 09:56:43 PM
And I fully intend to take my kids' education into my own hands no matter where they happen to go to school. If I can't spare the time, I'll hire tutors. Screw public education. It's daycare. A place to socialize and get a GPA.
Enjoy watching them fly from the nest with absolutely no idea how a real pecking order works. :)
And enjoy growing old surrounded by people whose parents couldn't afford that.
TGRR,
Knows if it's broken, you FIX it. Especially when the bastards broke it ON PURPOSE, counting on exactly YOUR ATTITUDE to let it stay broken, and ensure a permanent class structure.
This. Just because my kids not ignorant and yours isn't either doesn't mean it is ok that everyone else's is. And no it doesn't give my kid and your kid a competitive advantage because they aren't part of the rich people network that lets that be a competitive advantage.
DING DING DING!
Unless by "competitive advantage" you mean "able to land that posh call center job in a world of illiterate peasants".
Quote from: Luna on March 30, 2011, 10:08:01 PM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 30, 2011, 10:02:15 PM
Quote from: Luna on March 30, 2011, 09:52:19 PM
Sorry, but...
If your fucking kids can't read, it is YOUR fault.
Sit down with them and teach them yourself if the schools are fucking it up.
I walked into my first day of kindergarten with a Reader's Digest Condensed hardcover under my arm. Teacher thought it was cute that I brought a BOOK to school, until she realized I was halfway through actually reading "Jaws."
You are, of course, aware of how many hours the average parent has to work here to make ends meet, right? Parents HAVE to coach. Period. But as far as actual INSTRUCTION goes, most people are neither available (because you can't read if the lights are out) nor trained in instruction. If you rely on parents - working two minimum wage jobs apiece - to ensure a literate population, it has already been demonstrated that YOU WON'T GET ONE, because that's basically what we're doing RIGHT NOW.
Put the blame on whomever you like, the reality of the situation won't change.
We pay property taxes. Holy shit, do we pay property taxes. I would like that my property taxes go to what they were INTENDED to go to, which is to say schooling, sanitation, and emergency services.
Right now, they subsidize a fucking golf course. No shit.
All true, sadly. Mom wasn't trained, she wasn't even TRYING to teach me to read... I just picked it up, by all reports. (Yeah, freak, trust me, I heard it all through school.)
The fact that people really DO have no say as to where their tax money goes any more is revolting... and people don't care. They've got their TV to tell them that the golf course is more important.
Oro Valley is 30% retirees and 69% stupid teabaggers. They vote against school funding because a) they hate young people, and b) it's reflex.
If we didn't have a mayor with some common sense and the ability to blackmail council members, we'd have no schools at all. He is, of course, DOOMED in the next election.
Quote from: Luna on March 30, 2011, 09:52:19 PM
Sorry, but...
If your fucking kids can't read, it is YOUR fault.
Sit down with them and teach them yourself if the schools are fucking it up.
I walked into my first day of kindergarten with a Reader's Digest Condensed hardcover under my arm. Teacher thought it was cute that I brought a BOOK to school, until she realized I was halfway through actually reading "Jaws."
I know I'm just super touchy on occasion, but I wish you would generic up your responses sometimes, because coming right after my post I take shit like this personally.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 30, 2011, 10:04:52 PM
Quote from: Sigmatic on March 30, 2011, 09:56:43 PM
And I fully intend to take my kids' education into my own hands no matter where they happen to go to school. If I can't spare the time, I'll hire tutors. Screw public education. It's daycare. A place to socialize and get a GPA.
Enjoy watching them fly from the nest with absolutely no idea how a real pecking order works. :)
And enjoy growing old surrounded by people whose parents couldn't afford that.
TGRR,
Knows if it's broken, you FIX it. Especially when the bastards broke it ON PURPOSE, counting on exactly YOUR ATTITUDE to let it stay broken, and ensure a permanent class structure.
Let me be clear: Public school: yes. But I'm not going to expect it to teach them everything they need to know. I plan to do as much instructing as I can. I refuse to have kids if it means bringing more ignorance into the world. I can't fix the whole system, but I can at least raise someone to be a little "ahead of the curve". In the academic as well as the Heath Ledger sense, that is. If they work for a corporation at bottom dollar, I won't have done a good job.
Quote from: Sigmatic on March 30, 2011, 10:14:00 PM
I refuse to have kids if it means bringing more ignorance into the world.
That's going to happen ANYWAY. :lulz:
Your strategy guarantees that you'll get ignorance and more stupidity, to boot. You won't breed. Nascar slow-mutants will.
Enjoy your 60s. :lol:
I took my children's education into my own hands a long time ago. My children maintain no less than a 3.5 and that is my child with dyslexia. The youngest two are both in mixed classes doing work a grade or two ahead of where they actually are. JW will have his diploma within the month. He's 16.
In addition to that I've made damn sure they were in any and every sport, art, extracurricular activity available to them.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 30, 2011, 10:16:35 PM
Quote from: Sigmatic on March 30, 2011, 10:14:00 PM
I refuse to have kids if it means bringing more ignorance into the world.
That's going to happen ANYWAY. :lulz:
Your strategy guarantees that you'll get ignorance and more stupidity, to boot. You won't breed. Nascar slow-mutants will.
Enjoy your 60s. :lol:
HHNNNAARG
HHNNOOOO
GRUAAAH!!! :crankey:
Quote from: Khara on March 30, 2011, 10:12:47 PM
Quote from: Luna on March 30, 2011, 09:52:19 PM
Sorry, but...
If your fucking kids can't read, it is YOUR fault.
Sit down with them and teach them yourself if the schools are fucking it up.
I walked into my first day of kindergarten with a Reader's Digest Condensed hardcover under my arm. Teacher thought it was cute that I brought a BOOK to school, until she realized I was halfway through actually reading "Jaws."
I know I'm just super touchy on occasion, but I wish you would generic up your responses sometimes, because coming right after my post I take shit like this personally.
Sorry, Khara, it was absolutely NOT intended to be aimed at you, or anyone else personally. I'll see what I can do to generic stuff better.
Quote from: Khara on March 30, 2011, 10:17:04 PM
I took my children's education into my own hands a long time ago. My children maintain no less than a 3.5 and that is my child with dyslexia. The youngest two are both in mixed classes doing work a grade or two ahead of where they actually are. JW will have his diploma within the month. He's 16.
In addition to that I've made damn sure they were in any and every sport, art, extracurricular activity available to them.
Responses coming in faster than I can respond.
That's awesome, dyslexia's a bitch, and a 3.5 with it means you're doing right with your kids. (For what my opinion is worth, anyway.)
I got asked if there were opportunities to help the poor in my town. I pointed out that I'm a teacher in a mining town; I am the poor people here.
Agree with most but I'll point out that while I'm sure there's use in rote (that's not my area presently so it's not something I've kept up to date on) it's mad to reject other forms of teaching just because they're more new or less familiar.
Also in terms of summer school/repeating a year the evidence I'm familiar with suggests this is a less efficient way of improving results.
Quote from: Placid Dingo on March 30, 2011, 10:52:05 PM
Also in terms of summer school/repeating a year the evidence I'm familiar with suggests this is a less efficient way of improving results.
You have to have a penalty for lack of performance when dealing with kids. You need a carrot, true, but you also need the stick.
A generation of entitled, useless drones in America supports this assertion.
I was completely terrified of having to stay back a year. It never really was a threat to me (I'm intelligent enough to have been able to coast through school), but I'll be damned if it wasn't enough anyway.
Sometimes that's really want a kid needs, too. A friend of mine was in the same third grade class as I, and ended up graduating a year under me because he was help back that year. He's at UC Irvine doing some really amazing stuff now, and if he hadn't been held back, he'd not have done nearly so well.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 30, 2011, 11:58:18 PM
Quote from: Placid Dingo on March 30, 2011, 10:52:05 PM
Also in terms of summer school/repeating a year the evidence I'm familiar with suggests this is a less efficient way of improving results.
You have to have a penalty for lack of performance when dealing with kids. You need a carrot, true, but you also need the stick.
A generation of entitled, useless drones in America supports this assertion.
A whole year of your life is a hell of a stick.
Also I'm not in a hurry to take a kid who hates school, give him no holidays and then expect him to concentrate in my class next term. That being said, I don't actually know how the American summer school system operates.
There's a couple weeks' break before and after summer school. Not much, but some. And it's only half a day because (in California anyway) because it's only one subject.
Quote from: Placid Dingo on March 31, 2011, 01:43:31 AM
A whole year of your life is a hell of a stick.
Not as much as the results of NOT enforcing some form of standards.
We have an entire generation of illiterate drones that can play WoW for 96 hours straight, but can't fill out a job application.
Quote from: Hover Cat on March 31, 2011, 01:50:30 AM
There's a couple weeks' break before and after summer school. Not much, but some. And it's only half a day because (in California anyway) because it's only one subject.
Hopefully it's also using some differently targeted strategies, because otherwise we're in a world of "hey this isn't working! Maybe if we do it more it'll start working!"
Quote from: Placid Dingo on March 31, 2011, 01:53:33 AM
Quote from: Hover Cat on March 31, 2011, 01:50:30 AM
There's a couple weeks' break before and after summer school. Not much, but some. And it's only half a day because (in California anyway) because it's only one subject.
Hopefully it's also using some differently targeted strategies, because otherwise we're in a world of "hey this isn't working! Maybe if we do it more it'll start working!"
Um.
America.
I honestly don't know. I took summer school once in high school to get an art requirement out of the way so I could take the photo course I wanted in the fall. It's been about six years since then.
But, I'd guess not. It's probably smacking your head up against the same wall that got you during the year. Like Roger said, this is the US. We don't do change anymore.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 31, 2011, 01:51:10 AM
Quote from: Placid Dingo on March 31, 2011, 01:43:31 AM
A whole year of your life is a hell of a stick.
Not as much as the results of NOT enforcing some form of standards.
We have an entire generation of illiterate drones that can play WoW for 96 hours straight, but can't fill out a job application.
This. Honestly, sometimes it really IS the best thing. That friend I mentioned? Involved in a project that might change chemistry like the microscope changed biology. That wouldn't be happening, in all probability, if he hadn't stayed back in third grade an extra year.
I'm just saying, the evidence suggests there are much much more effective ways to maintain standards. Now, if there's times that it's the more appropriate descision, for any reason, I don't have a specific objection, I just tend to feel it's one of the poorer options available.
Quote from: Placid Dingo on March 31, 2011, 03:53:33 AM
I'm just saying, the evidence suggests there are much much more effective ways to maintain standards. Now, if there's times that it's the more appropriate descision, for any reason, I don't have a specific objection, I just tend to feel it's one of the poorer options available.
Well, I think it's wrong to use cattle prods or cat-o-nine-tails on schoolchildren, so I think I'm kind of going with my original idea.
Ah, my nemesis...school funding...my trench warfare has made me a jaded old stick. But I'll tell you this much--it keeps me motherfucking involved. And how. I may get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach everytime I read about how some dumbass wants to take MORE funding from education, you know, to "cut the fat." Right now, the schools that are "making it" are the ones where the parents can "afford" to subsidize for things like: printer ink, printer paper, pens, pencils, crayons, glue, HAND SOAP, kleenex tissues, etc. Let alone things like: a PE teacher, art programs fully staffed by volunteers, same with drama and chorus, computer lab techs that work IT and anything computer related for the students AND the staff...
The fundraising arms of all PTAs and PTOs are worn out, if not lopped off whole due to the failing economy. High schools go without SAT prep courses, middle schools go without counselors and elementary schools go without just about anything, while class sizes grow to the point that you can't fit desks into the rooms.
I am waiting for the law suit era. Because THAT is probably when this shit's going to have to change. The CA State PTA, the state board of superintendents and a couple of other education-related entities tried to sue Schwarzenegger. THAT didn't get very far...but if more and more parents, and I'm talking the ones with the amount of spunyo to giter done, decide to "take up arms" in the form not of fundraising but instead lawsuits and votes...we might begin to see a change in how legislators deal with education funding.
I'm hoping, anyway.
Quote from: Jenne on March 31, 2011, 04:17:48 AM
HAND SOAP
Not the anti-bacterial crap, though, I hope.
TGRR,
Knows we're just building a better bug.
Quote from: Jenne on March 31, 2011, 04:17:48 AM
Ah, my nemesis...school funding...my trench warfare has made me a jaded old stick. But I'll tell you this much--it keeps me motherfucking involved. And how. I may get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach everytime I read about how some dumbass wants to take MORE funding from education, you know, to "cut the fat." Right now, the schools that are "making it" are the ones where the parents can "afford" to subsidize for things like: printer ink, printer paper, pens, pencils, crayons, glue, HAND SOAP, kleenex tissues, etc. Let alone things like: a PE teacher, art programs fully staffed by volunteers, same with drama and chorus, computer lab techs that work IT and anything computer related for the students AND the staff...
The fundraising arms of all PTAs and PTOs are worn out, if not lopped off whole due to the failing economy. High schools go without SAT prep courses, middle schools go without counselors and elementary schools go without just about anything, while class sizes grow to the point that you can't fit desks into the rooms.
I am waiting for the law suit era. Because THAT is probably when this shit's going to have to change. The CA State PTA, the state board of superintendents and a couple of other education-related entities tried to sue Schwarzenegger. THAT didn't get very far...but if more and more parents, and I'm talking the ones with the amount of spunyo to giter done, decide to "take up arms" in the form not of fundraising but instead lawsuits and votes...we might begin to see a change in how legislators deal with education funding.
I'm hoping, anyway.
I'm right there with you in hoping. I'm expecting to get down in those trenches myself and watching all this happen from the sideline of the frontline is nasty as fuck and makes me sad.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 31, 2011, 04:20:25 AM
Quote from: Jenne on March 31, 2011, 04:17:48 AM
HAND SOAP
Not the anti-bacterial crap, though, I hope.
TGRR,
Knows we're just building a better bug.
We're uh, NOT in a position to be picky. Besides, antibacterial or not, chances are the kids aren't washing their hands HALF as much as they should be. If the amount of viruses I've gotten from my OWN little petrie dishes is anything to go by...
Quote from: Jenne on March 31, 2011, 04:27:23 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 31, 2011, 04:20:25 AM
Quote from: Jenne on March 31, 2011, 04:17:48 AM
HAND SOAP
Not the anti-bacterial crap, though, I hope.
TGRR,
Knows we're just building a better bug.
We're uh, NOT in a position to be picky. Besides, antibacterial or not, chances are the kids aren't washing their hands HALF as much as they should be. If the amount of viruses I've gotten from my OWN little petrie dishes is anything to go by...
Just give the little buggers a bucket of lye and a scrub brush.
Toughen 'em up.
Quote from: Hover Cat on March 31, 2011, 04:24:48 AM
Quote from: Jenne on March 31, 2011, 04:17:48 AM
Ah, my nemesis...school funding...my trench warfare has made me a jaded old stick. But I'll tell you this much--it keeps me motherfucking involved. And how. I may get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach everytime I read about how some dumbass wants to take MORE funding from education, you know, to "cut the fat." Right now, the schools that are "making it" are the ones where the parents can "afford" to subsidize for things like: printer ink, printer paper, pens, pencils, crayons, glue, HAND SOAP, kleenex tissues, etc. Let alone things like: a PE teacher, art programs fully staffed by volunteers, same with drama and chorus, computer lab techs that work IT and anything computer related for the students AND the staff...
The fundraising arms of all PTAs and PTOs are worn out, if not lopped off whole due to the failing economy. High schools go without SAT prep courses, middle schools go without counselors and elementary schools go without just about anything, while class sizes grow to the point that you can't fit desks into the rooms.
I am waiting for the law suit era. Because THAT is probably when this shit's going to have to change. The CA State PTA, the state board of superintendents and a couple of other education-related entities tried to sue Schwarzenegger. THAT didn't get very far...but if more and more parents, and I'm talking the ones with the amount of spunyo to giter done, decide to "take up arms" in the form not of fundraising but instead lawsuits and votes...we might begin to see a change in how legislators deal with education funding.
I'm hoping, anyway.
I'm right there with you in hoping. I'm expecting to get down in those trenches myself and watching all this happen from the sideline of the frontline is nasty as fuck and makes me sad.
It gets harder and harder to give a fuck sometimes, when you feel like, honest to gawd, nothing you do makes a damned difference anyway.
But it does make a difference in leadership, and I'll have plenty of it next year. I'm about to be voted in the most influential PTA position of my "career" so far. Council President. I'll preside over 35 PTA's as well as the council.
I have a countywide position now, but it's diluted. But in this Council President position, I'll have the ear of the District Superintendent. :x
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 31, 2011, 04:29:13 AM
Quote from: Jenne on March 31, 2011, 04:27:23 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 31, 2011, 04:20:25 AM
Quote from: Jenne on March 31, 2011, 04:17:48 AM
HAND SOAP
Not the anti-bacterial crap, though, I hope.
TGRR,
Knows we're just building a better bug.
We're uh, NOT in a position to be picky. Besides, antibacterial or not, chances are the kids aren't washing their hands HALF as much as they should be. If the amount of viruses I've gotten from my OWN little petrie dishes is anything to go by...
Just give the little buggers a bucket of lye and a scrub brush.
Toughen 'em up.
:lol: Yeah, well, I survived a whole year of having to use extreme antiviral and antibacterial materials while my husband was ill. My hands were raw, red and chafed all the time. But it was a necessary evil, and now the bastard isn't dead. So I guess I did my job alright.
It's really fucking hard to keep kids germ-free for a whole fucking year. I defy anyone to try it.
Quote from: Jenne on March 31, 2011, 04:31:04 AM
It's really fucking hard to keep kids germ-free for a whole fucking year. I defy anyone to try it.
I kind of insist that my kids be carriers for all manner of awful flu bugs, etc.
Never discount the value of super-antibodies.
Obviously, your situation was different.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 31, 2011, 04:33:38 AM
Quote from: Jenne on March 31, 2011, 04:31:04 AM
It's really fucking hard to keep kids germ-free for a whole fucking year. I defy anyone to try it.
I kind of insist that my kids be carriers for all manner of awful flu bugs, etc.
Never discount the value of super-antibodies.
Obviously, your situation was different.
Oh now, they are getting sick all over the damned place. I like them to get sick early in their lives so they don't spend their adulthoods with their heads in the toilets puking (hopefully they won't overindulge in alcohol etc either to get this result, but whatcanyado?) or in bed constantly with sniffles. The problem is that my youngest has a bad case of asthma everytime he gets a cold, so that means pneumonia and then we have to do nasty things to him with steroids and antibiotics. So not fun.
But yeah, I'd rather they build up their immune systems now.
Quote from: Jenne on March 31, 2011, 04:36:52 AM
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 31, 2011, 04:33:38 AM
Quote from: Jenne on March 31, 2011, 04:31:04 AM
It's really fucking hard to keep kids germ-free for a whole fucking year. I defy anyone to try it.
I kind of insist that my kids be carriers for all manner of awful flu bugs, etc.
Never discount the value of super-antibodies.
Obviously, your situation was different.
Oh now, they are getting sick all over the damned place. I like them to get sick early in their lives so they don't spend their adulthoods with their heads in the toilets puking (hopefully they won't overindulge in alcohol etc either to get this result, but whatcanyado?) or in bed constantly with sniffles. The problem is that my youngest has a bad case of asthma everytime he gets a cold, so that means pneumonia and then we have to do nasty things to him with steroids and antibiotics. So not fun.
But yeah, I'd rather they build up their immune systems now.
Depends.
Who is sniffles?
Sniffles is the guy who makes my kids sick. Bastard.