Technology Uber Alles...
Fort Wayne Community School high school children were the recipients of increased police presence yesterday when rumors of possible violence were sent through the airwaves only to arrive on students' cellphones as text messages. The rumors appear to be unfounded at this time, as there were no incidents at any school. Sure like to know who as behind all the "rumors".
As a result, attendence was down.
While being able to notify people instantaneously of some sort of impending doom or imminent threat via their cellphones can very well be a good thing, there is the inherent down side to this. And we saw it yesterday throughout the FWCS system, especially in the high schools.
Well...at least we know the technology works.


We also know that people will still do most anything to "cut" school.
Funny, can't seem to get much of an education THAT way, can you?
"Well, I was jus protectin' mah baby".
Right.
"My children have a right to be safe".
They're safer IN school than ON the streets, stupid!
"I ain't sendin mah kid to no school dat's gonna have mo shootin goin on".
Fine. Let them grow up as uninformed , disrespectful, and as self-effacing as YOU are.
You can see that whenever a rumor gets started, people will inherently overreact.
Then again, maybe having a cellphone should NOT become any child's God-given right. At least not the cellphones they currently have in their hormonal little paws. If a child NEEDS to have a parent contacted, the schools THEMSELVES still DO have phones available. I checked.
And that's the crux of the problem...technology being used haphazardly with little (if any) regard to the subsequent impact it can have to social interaction.
Well, text messaging is putting a whole NEW slant of "social intercourse" as it is. People are spending too MUCH time screwing around with the technology...!
I suppose that sometimes, you just have to bow to the absurd.
Erring on the side of caution CAN be a two-edged sword on occasion. Keeping your child safe is one thing...sacrificing their education due to any and all "rumors" (or even a hint of some rumor) that come down the pike isn't going to be placing them on any primrose path leading to that Summa Cum Laude college graduation anytime soon, though...right?
My Dad had a quaint way of putting this into perspective. He once said to me:
"There are pretty much TWO ways life can screw you up. One is by the actions of OTHER PEOPLE, and that's bad enough, but the other way is by YOUR OWN ACTIONS, and that will screw things up even WORSE."
Ah yes, words to live by indeed.
I would have to say that in this FWCS matter yesterday, there WAS one thing sorely lacking by many of the students, and that was DISCERNMENT, or as we also used to say in church...WISDOM. Now you have to admit that most every teenager has even LESS wisdom than common sense...I know I sure did, BUT...as I grew older, I became WISER...meaning I not only went from being a "Wise Guy" to a WISE PERSON (it's a work in progress...lol), but I began to question things, and seek answers TO those questions. I became inquisitive for knowledge. I stopped taking every single thing at face value, but rather started to look beneath the surface. That led to a much better understanding of people and things in general, as well as the way the "system" works.
Wisdom and knowledge DO go hand-in-hand.
Can't really have one without the other.
None of this happens all at once or overnight, but it DOES happen...IF you want to acquire wisdom. You can't learn this by any book or course. Most times, you have to EXPERIENCE it. Other times you can learn from those who have travelled the road before you did. And with knowledge and wisdom DOES come a level of responsibility.
The main thing is, unless you're totally oblivious to everything else around you, you WILL glean some wisdom throughout your life. Many, sadly will not. Or, they will acquire wisdom, but without the knowledge to properly apply it, will drift through life like a ship without a rudder in a force 5 gale (keep the dramamine handy).
Yesterday's rumor mill driven "high-alert" at the high schools was one of those times when DISCERNMENT would have went a lot farther than having all the police around the schools, instead of having them on the streets. Now I'm not just blowing this whole thing off, as most rumors have "some" basis in truth. Maybe sometime later, there will be some increased violence...perhaps (hopefully) not.
Maybe this was all some elaborate practical joke (more than likely), perpetrated to just get some kids out of school for the day. After all, it was a nice day outside yesterday, and who wants to be saddled with World History or Geometry, when they can be to some crap that is fleeting and has nothing to do about improving the human conditon, eh?
Gee, some people just can't wait until Summer, can they?
And didn't Spring Break JUST end?
You have to admit that even for the kids that still showed up for school...having all the police around WAS, if nothing else...entertaining.
And that's what life is "apparently" supposed to be all about.
Better to be happy and entertained, than content and educated.
Helluva future staring at us then, isn't it?