ANGRY MINUTE #0033: The Flavor of Education

When I go to the ice cream parlor I stand before their display and gaze at the flavors that ballet before my eyes. Maybe I will stick with the standard chocolate or vanilla; but maybe I’ll spice up my day with some rainbow sherbet or even the strawberry kind that has the big chunks of real strawberries mixed within it. But ultimately the only person who can decide what flavor is best for me is myself. I can ask others their opinion on the matter, but when that cold treat touches my lips it will be because of the pros and cons I have weighed. Mmmmm I love ice cream!

Education is just like ice cream. We offer our children different areas of education (math, science, computers, art, etc) and ultimately they decide what flavor of education is best for them. Some become Math majors; some become English majors; and so on and so on.

The problem with education today is that we are not offering our kids the right flavors. We still have that oldschool mindset that our children only need to have the basic academic flavors (Math, Science, Social Studies, English). Our society has evolved, but our educational system and those who lead the educational system are still dusty dinosaurs who don’t see the changes that have occurred in our society.

So where is my anger coming from on this subject?  My fans know that I have bitched and complained about the poor education process and how our children are our future… yet we are not preparing them to LEAD our future.

One of my Angry FANatics (that’s what I’m gonna call my fanbase, FANatics) sent me a message a few days ago. Let’s call her Redbird for privacy reasons. Redbird expressed her frustration and anger over the changes and budget cuts many schools are making. But she had backup, she had PROOF of their incompetence. And it all starts with this video here.

Redbird recommended I start watching the video around the 7.5 minute mark and see if the anger boiled within my soul. I’m good with instructions so I dialed it to that spot this morning as I prepared for work. What I heard confused and ANGERED me!

This school system (the Kenton City School System) has to trim some fat this year as they are over budget. Nothing new there as schools are always fighting the budget crunch. But the approach and ASSUMPTION of these board members are endangering the children that attend these schools.

At the 7.5 mark a lady name Patti comes up and speaks about a recent cut that she (and others like Redbird) don’t quite understand. You see the school board has elected to remove the computer arts program from their local middle school. This basically boils down that these children won’t get any education on computers until they reach high school, and even then (as you watch after Patti it’s revealed that keyboarding/typing has been removed entirely from the school curriculum) these kids aren’t even taught HOW to type.

Now I can bitch about a lot of things in this video, but as a 27 year old working in society I can say without a shadow of doubt that I use my computer and the skills I learned from my education about computers to get myself a great job and the ability to move up the corporate ladder. Computers and the ability to type are INSTRUMENTAL in today’s world and without those skills people find they are VERY VERY limited in where they can go and what they can do.

And the school board president’s response? He just figures that since computers are “everywhere” that kids should already know how to use them. WHAT BS! What an ASSSSSSSSSSHAT! Assuming makes an ass out of everyone, and that is EXACTLY what this school board president has done.

What about the poor kids who don’t own a computer? I know in today’s society a lot of us take for granted that WE have computers and internet and all that… but there are people (especially in Kenton where the median income of households is $29,065*) that are POOR and cannot afford FOOD let alone a computer with a monthly charge for internet access. It doesn’t help that Kenton jobs have decreased by 79% since July 2008*. And there are 15% of households in Kenton that make LESS than $10,000 A YEAR*! With more then HALF of their income going to rent (that is on average of $381 per month*) are these families going to RUN OUT and buy a $500 PC and then an additional $20 per month for crap dialup? That’s almost a $750 expense right there or, 7.5% of that family’s income!

So Mr. School Board President; to just ASSUME that kids should KNOW how computers work just because they are around us MAKES NO FRAKIN SENSE! That’s like saying that since I eat a fish that I know HOW to fish, or that since I see stars in the sky I should be good at astronomy. Just because it is AROUND us doesn’t mean we KNOW it. I drive a car, yet I know jackshit about how it works!

I work for a Help Desk for a very successful insurance company and I can easily tell you the workers that don’t last are those who don’t have the computer experience and education. Without the ability to type so many words per minute or even the ability to understand where in a computer they go to perform the simplest of actions, they are let go and forced into jobs that give lower wages. But that fits RIGHT IN with Kenton, as their biggest industries for hiring works are Catering Services, Food Service Contractors, Convenience Stores, Blood & Organ Banks, and Clinics & Outpatient Services*. Yeah I guess computer education isn’t that big of a deal when your town offers these as their “bread and butter” professions. It even looks stranger when you see that the most commonly listed Kenton jobs include territory sales manager jobs and assistant store manager jobs, both which would require computer knowledge and expertise (or one who would have these skills would have an edge over those who don’t).

Kenton is your typical “Varsity Blues” type of town. They push their children to be football superstars, but then when their football career is over the majority of them do not have the skills to progress into a real job that makes them real money to survive. Then these kids have no choice but to move back “home” to Kenton and live in their parent’s basement and work at one of the multitude of fast food restaurant or even the backbreaking warehouse labor in the area for the majority of their life with little compensation.

If the Kenton School Board, or any small town school board, truly cared for their children they would ensure that those kids would have the best in computer classes. Because without these skills they will end up working at a dead-end job in a dead-end city. But that fits right in with Kenton, now doesn’t it?

Tags: Angry Minute, Children, Class, Computer, Education, Employment, Failure, Kenton, Kenton City Schools, Keyboarding, Kids, Ohio, School Board, Subject, Typing

ANGRY MINUTE #0008: Overconnected – Work

What is everyone’s problem? Why does everyone need to be ‘connected’? It’s like a disease! Gotta get my fix, gotta check my email just ONE MORE TIME OR I’LL DIE!!!!

Our overconnectedness (is that the right word?) started innocently enough. Cellphones were created so that in emergencies we could call for help. The internet was created for reference and news. Yet out lust for information, our greed for knowledge, has created us into monsters.

Let me ask you a few questions, just to see if you are an Information Junkie: 

1. Do you feel you the need to check your phone every 5-10 min to see if you have missed a new message?
2. Do you feel the need to be on the internet, even though you don’t have any real reason besides ‘surfing’?
3. If you had to choose would you pick your phone over food?
4. Would you rather communicating over the computer rather then physical communication?
5. Do you feel lost when you are without your phone/computer, even for short periods of time?
6. Do you turn to the internet when you’re depressed or even as a reward?
7. Do you have a history of failed attempts at limiting your online time?
8. Do you find yourself text messaging regularly during a party, concert, or social gatherings?
9. Do you text at work, even if you’re not allowed?
10. Do you surf when you’re feeling lonely or rejected?
11. Do you continue to surf the net even though you’re tired or hungry?
12. Do you check news websites more then 3 times a day?
13. When not on a computer/phone are you preoccupied with thoughts of your next interaction with those devices?
14. Do you find yourself saying “just a few more minutes” but stay on the computer for more then an hour after?
15. Have you neglected doing household chores because you’d rather be on the phone/computer?
16. Do you find you are called upon to do work related tasks when you are off the clock and at home?
17. On average do you Twitter more then 10 times a day?
18. Do you check your email more then 3 times a day?
19. Have you gone a day without being on your computer/phone within the last month?
20. Have you mailed a letter within the last month?

If you answer YES to the majority of questions 1-18 (and NO for questions 19-20) then you are an addict, just like the crackhead that lives outside my apartments! The problem is too many of us are addicts and we just either don’t know or don’t care.

So what is my anger today? Is it about this addiction? No, because to be honest I have many of the addictions I listed above and many of them are due to my technology employment. I’d like to center my Overconnected Anger here on only one of these 20 questions of addiction; #16 – Do you find you are called upon to do work related tasks when you are off the clock and at home?

This PISSES ME OFF! Now it’s different if you are salary because you agreed to be you’re work’s biatch, but for those of us who are hourly this is not only WRONG but sometimes ILLEGAL!

Now many of us don’t think a nanosecond about it. We open our email, see one from our employer, and quickly perform the action that is being requested of us (aka: you have something brown on your nose). The problem here is… well let’s go TO THE LIST OF ANGER for more information!!!

1. Not Being Paid – If I’m at home and get a call from work (even if it is a simple and easy question) I SHOULD BE PAID FOR MY WORK TIME! Regardless of how long it took, I am performing work and thus should be paid. This is the same for reading and responding to work emails when you are off the clock. If you do work, regardless of where you are, you are LEGALLY required to get paid. If you’re not getting paid then your employer is breaking the law.

2. Your Time – When you are off work you shouldn’t have to worry about anything from work until the next work day. Maybe I’m old fashion in that aspect, but once I leave the office I don’t think twice about anything. Employers are starting to think they OWN us, they think they can make us perform work REGARDLESS of where we are and what we are doing. That is BULLSHIT! Now I know some of you have ‘agreed’ to be ‘on call’ on certain days (aka: work’s biatch), and this is fine as you agreed to it before you were hired and odds are you are salary. But if you are NOT salary and you are called, then YOU NEED TO BE PAID! See #1 dummy!!!

3. Boundaries – I covered this one briefly in #2 but I’d like to reiterate my point. Employers need to not only KNOW boundaries, they need to RESPECT employee boundaries. When you are hired you sign a ‘contract’ that specifies those boundaries, but many employers fail to respect them. Read you contract, what does it say about responding to work emails/calls when off the clock? Odds are it doesn’t say anything, and that is a big problem!

4. Chained to Work – This is what your employer wants. They want you to be connected into work AT ALL TIMES without question, and many times WITHOUT PAY! You might think that responding to a quick work question on your day off is nothing, but add up all that time and the truth is your employer is getting away with theft! BREAK THE CHAIN!!!

5. Fair Labor Standards Act – It is THE LAW! Employees are to be paid for any extra time they put into work, regardless if it is voluntary!

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POSTANGER:

You know what pisses me off… what REALLY pisses me off? These jockstraps that put in 80 hour weeks because they are trying to give their kids/wife/family a “better life”. You’re a DOUCHE and an ASSHAT! You know what your family really wants? You to spend time with them, and I don’t mean physically being with them but having your head up your Blackberry! Leave the work AT WORK! Money can’t buy love!

Leave the work laptops OUT OF THE BEDROOM! Leave the Blackberries OUT OF THE MOVIE THEATER! Stop being a drone, a slave to your workplace. You’re a SELLOUT! SELLOUT! SELLOUT!!!!!!!!!! And the truth is your employer knows you’re a slave, they know you’re a sellout, and they will continue to abuse you and use you till you save ENOUGH!

When I go home tonight I’m gonna cook dinner, gonna run a few miles, and I’m gonna play some video games with a PHYSICAL person!!! Work can wait till tomorrow morning, because I’m only paid from 9-5!

Reference:  Hyperconnected Workers Pushing Back

Tags: Angry Minute, Boundaries, Cellphone, Computer, Email, Employee, Employer, Fair Labor Standards Act, Information, Knowledge, Overconnected, Text, Twitter, Work