Polishing the Good Apples

I just finished reading the cover article in the most recent Time Magazine.   The story, titled Rotten Apples, approaches the issue of how difficult it is to fire bad teachers.  Much of the article focused on the State of California where teachers can receive tenure after as little as two years of experience. Once that happens the unions and teacher association make it almost impossible to terminate them.

While we all have heard stories of incompetent educators, I like to focus on the millions of teachers who are dedicated to educating America's youth.  As a retired educator, albeit in the private sector, I will admit a bias, but I also can draw on current experience.  I teach in our local school district as part of the Student Advancement Leadership Initiative (SALI), a program of LINC North Texas. Every other Friday I spend the day at our neighborhood middle school working with 7th and 8th graders.  I also am part of the parent nights that LINC hosts in other middle schools around our district.  As a result I have opportunity not just to work with teachers but partner with them.  From my experience they are not only competent, but extremely dedicated.  They also do their jobs with a smile, showing real concern and compassion for their students.

Yesterday I had a conversation with an individual that reinforced my impression.  He was seated next to me on the parking shuttle from the TCU football game .  Traffic was terrible, so believe me we had time to talk.  He was a school administrator at a high school in another school district in the DFW area.  He was curious about the SALI program and I was interested in hearing about his experience.  His number one concern was keeping competent teachers happy and employed. Low pay was not as much an issue as staff moral.  In his opinion many teachers feel under-appreciated.  They also function in a culture that expresses little esteem for them as educators. Teaching is not viewed as the honorable profession it once was.

We all know teachers.  In some cases they are friends, in other cases they teach our children and grand children.  In all cases, they need our support and encouragement.  I would encourage you to go beyond just kind words.  Do something for them. Give them a Starbucks gift card or box of candy. Write a note of thanks.  I still have a box full of thank you notes from parents that I received during my classroom days.  They still make great reading when I need encouragement.

Don't focus on the bad teacher, rather work to affirm and nurture the good ones.

Ebola is not the Only Thing We Should be Fearing

Dallas is finally known for something other than the city where President Kennedy was shot.  Thousands of people still venture downtown and gawk at the grassy knoll.  They tour the Six Floor Museum and, when traffic clears, have their pictures taken standing next to the "X" on Elm Street.  Now the focus is on Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.  People want to know more about the hospital where the Ebola Virus first was discovered in America.  Dallas is now famous as the City that brought Ebola to the United States.  I am just back from ten days on the road.  When people found out I was from Dallas their first question was often about Ebola.  The whole country seems to be in an uproar over the Ebola Virus.  It is the number one story on the news.  I don't think I have experienced this kind of national panic since 9/11.  The fear following 9/11 I could understand, but fear of Ebola is another issue.

Here is my take: What are we afraid of?   Ebola is not an airborne virus.  Unless you have direct contact with a patient who actively has the virus there is no danger.  You are only exposed if have contact with the victim's body fluids.  I will give Dallas Mayor, Mike Rawlings, and County Judge, Clay Jenkins, credit.  They personally entered the apartment where the initial victim had been living in order to escort his family to a safe environment.  The two official were not wearing protect gear.  They walked in, greeted the family and left.  Mr. Jenkins even drove them to their new residence in his own car.  Both Mr. Rawlings and Mr. Jenkins get it.  There is no danger unless you touch the individual who has Ebola. 

I am familiar with infectious diseases and viruses.  I am in hospitals all the time.  I work two days a week as a hospital chaplain.  The hospitals I work with are long-term acute care facilities.  Many of the patients I see are on long-term antibiotics for various infections.  I have visited with patients who have MRSA and the West Nile Virus.  I also have learned to play by the rules.  I sanitize my hands before entering and when leaving any room.  When there is a sign on the door indicating isolation, I don a mask, and wear gloves and a gown.  I am not afraid!.  People need ministry and I go.  The health care professionals I work with, especially the nurses, therapists and aids, are my heroes.  They work daily in that environment, but do their jobs with no fear about what they are exposed to.  To my knowledge none of them has ever been infected. 

It's ironic that there is such an uproar over the Ebola virus.  Granted, it is a deadly virus and needs to be taken seriously, but the general public has no reason to fear.  It's sad that there is another virus that is infecting our country that no one seems to be concerned about.  It's sin!  We are all effected by the virus.   Many people will not even admit that they have it.  They are going to die in sin, and few of them seem to be concerned.  Unlike the Ebola Virus, where there is an antidote,   We can insure that people are protected from the disease of sin.  The answer is Jesus Christ and his message of Grace and Forgiveness.  If we live fearlessly as people of hope, we can make a difference.  We can tell the world that there is nothing to fear.  We are all going to die sooner or later, but that is not the end.    Spread the word.  Be people of hope and pass the torch. 

Bullying: Even You Can Do Something

I wonder whatever happened to Robbie Garrett (not his real name).  Robbie was in my physical education class freshman year in high school.  I didn't know Robbie very well because PE was the only class we had together.  I probably wouldn't still be thinking about Robbie except I have always felt sorry for him.  Robbie was bullied.  He had a nick name that I really cannot share.  Let's just say his anatomy had an unusual feature, and that is not something you want exposed in a boy's locker room. Not only was Robbie subject to verbal abuse, but physical abuse as well.  Towel snaps: need I say more.  I didn't take part, but like most observers of bullying I did not  intervene.  As is usually the case, I was just grateful it wasn't me, after all I had feet that looked like surfboards
9th Grade males can be brutal.  Robbie Garrett did not come back for sophomore year.  I don't know why, but it  it had been me, I wouldn't have wanted to return to that environment.  As far as I know Robbie was a good kid.

Why after all these years am I writing about Robbie Garrett?  I just finished reading a chapter on bullying in Danah Boyd's new book, It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. Today's social media allows bullies to take their harassment to a whole new level.  With cyber-bullying there is no escaping, even when you away from school. Boyd's book defines bullying, "as a practice in which someone of differential physical or social power subjects another person to repeated psychological, physical , or social aggression." That matches the case of bullying I witnessed years ago and also saw during my years working with teens.  It usually involves a big kid, or kids, repeatedly physically tormenting a little kid or a popular teen repeatedly spreading nasty rumors about an outcast.  Back in those days we thought of it as teasing, but by any name it is wrong.

I am sharing my experience with bullying because I want to encourage you to share yours.   Maybe you were a victim, or perhaps just an observer.  Your story needs to be shared with the young people in your life.  While they might not be the kind of student who intentionally picks on another student, it's a pretty good bet they've observed it or maybe been a victim.  Either way, the worst thing to do is nothing because that is what give the bullies there power.