Our Greatest AssetWritten by Gloria Kaiser
When I think about wealth, immediately my mind thinks in terms of money, investments savings and those who are wealthy. When I hear reports of school shootings, children being tried and incarcerated for murder, drugs and a barrage of other crimes, it is apparent that what has become lost amongst things we have considered to bring wealth, is our most valuable asset, our children. I found some disturbing statistics from many experts on children and child develop. The comments and statistics that I’ve found were:"Students ages 12-18 were victims of about 2 million nonfatal crimes of violence or theft at school in 2001. Over 5 year period from 1997 through 2001 teachers were victims of approximately 1.3 million nonfatal crimes at school, including 817,000 thefts and 473,000 violence crimes... It was also reported that “9 percent of all elementary and secondary schools teacher were threatened with an injury by a student, and 4 percent were physically attacked by a student.” The US National Center for Education Statistics. "More than a third of American Children experience their parents divorce before reaching 18. … In general children who have recently experienced a family dissolution have a more difficult time with academic and social expectations at school than children from intact families or established single parent or blended families.” The Journal of Instructional Psychology "57% of expulsions for bringing firearms to school involved high school students. 33% involved junior/middle schools, and 10% involved elementary school students. (Gun-Free Schools Act Report: School Year 1998-1999, U.S. Department of Education, October 2002)
| | Thank you, ah mah!Written by Marsha Maung
The rebel years are over. The phase of contradiction and compulsive behavior comes to a grinding but definitive halt. The act of pure impulse sometimes becomes impossible. You’re older. I must admit, even in front of my own parents, I have admitted that I have been nothing short of a hell-raiser. Running away from home, staying over at boyfriend’s face, kicking hell out of my own sister, engaging in drunken cat-fights with friends, fist-fighting with my brother, word-battles with my father, thinking I was right when I was irrefutably wrong…..the list can go on. Whatever a daughter can do wrong, I did. But these are activities, decisions, and memories that have helped shape me into person that I am today. I have 2 wonderfully amazing and perfect boys to call my own. They look up to me, adore me and even when I think I am a little psycho, they think I am hilarious! The innocence…..I am not yet a perfect person today but I can proudly say that I have become closer to perfect....in my personal opinion, that is. Age does this to people. When people think I should keep a job, I left it. When people think I should not be in a relationship, I engaged in. When people thought I should just shut up, I spoke up. When people thought I should be more feminine, I kick out and punch around like a crazy woman on drugs! When people thought I should forgive, I am revengeful. When people think I should forget, I remember. Gosh, when people think I should remember (like where I placed my keys), I don’t. With that said, I look at my own parents and wonder how many of my decisions have made them into older people that they are. How many of my rebellions have added an extra crease to their foreheads? How many of my shouting matches have given my parents wrinkles and white hairs? Only when you’re older, you realize that ‘Heck, I wasn’t such a smartass, was I?” and there I was, all of 16, thinking I was adult-enough to make my own decisions.
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