We live in a society that not only condones obesity, they do their best to enable it. McDonalds and any other fast food places have replaced the need for stoves in many people's homes. We no longer live in an age where one parent is always at home and is able to cook a wholesome meal. To make it in today's society, you need both parent's incomes just to make ends meet. Nothing will be solved in obesity until kids get out of the house and involved in some type of sport or exercise. There are some people out there with legitimate physical disabilities, but every time I am at WalMart I see these huge women getting in or out of those motorized shopping carts. Their only handicap seems to be their inability to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We have a fast-food restaurant chain around here called Hardees. While other fast food chains were busy offering healthier food, Hardees did just the opposite.
They now have (5) hamburgers on their menu with over 1000 calories each. One has 1420 calories and 107 grams of fat. (it's delicious by the way) After introducing these burgers, their profit margins soared. Go figure.

I already have enough enemies here at cruise-chat.
Sincerely,
Suzanne

I would hope you don't think of the psycho as an enemy. I was just suggesting your statement was just a little overly general.

psychocruiser -- You? My enemy? Of course not. You're a fellow Californian (I was born in Long Beach, 1960).

I'm thinking of changing my name to Curmudgeon.

Carol I just read your story. My heart goes out to you. My sister adopted a little Phillipino girl at the age of two. She was apparently mistreated in an orphanage before being adopted. She had similar issues even from the early years. She had a therapists licence revoked by falsly accusing him of sexual misconduct. She threatened to do the same to my father, her own grandfather if he didn't do what she wanted while babysitting for her. A State Psycologist given her case after her first legal trouble for theft from a church and her school refused to be alone with her (wisley) at any time anywhere. She learned how to get her way early and with our legal system got away with it every time. She is now in her mid-twenties and has 4 felony convictions and is currently locked up. Each time she gets out with a slap on the wrist, some of the convictions are for major offenses. She seems to have no conscience. My sister now fears for the lives of her other children as she's threatened their lives, knowing it would be the ultimate punishment to her parents whom she hates. When she is next released in about a year my sister will move and try to hide her family. This young lady blames them and everyone else for her problems. My sister is her enemy because she has testified in her trials about the lies and destruction this girl has brought to every life unfortunate enough to cross her path.

Truly sorry for your circumstances and know you are not alone with the problems you face. The system is broken and protects those who perpetrate crime not those who are victims of it.

Regards, Neil

quote:

Originally posted by SuzyCruise:
psychocruiser -- You? My enemy? Of course not. You're a fellow Californian (I was born in Long Beach, 1960).

I'm thinking of changing my name to Curmudgeon.

Sweet Suzy doesn't have enemies? I am sure I do, but not intentionally.

Dr. look in people's grocery carts when you go to the store. Foof, is what they buy, air and sugar. Boxed foods, leftovers,(that's what I call things that have been cooked and need re-heating) saline injected meats, cardboard pizzas. Most of our money at the grocery store is spent in produce. We buy our meat from a butcher. Why don't people get it that some of the cures they seek would be found in eating right?

Neil,
The blaming of everyone else for their misdeeds ands problems is defintely one of the symtoms of ODD, of course I did not know this until I began a research about this "disease". I do believe it stems from early youth...I didnt post earlier but we did adopt our daughter at the age of 2 out of the fostercare system. She was placed when she was 5 weeks old, numerous homes prior to us, and there was some abuse in her background. Also, no maternal bonding as an infant. Its a sad state of affairs we live in, and you wonder how these kids are going to survive, but you are correct, they learn the "system" extremly early and use it to their advantage. All we can do is pray that she comes around and that maybe the damage can be repaired before she ends up with felony charges against her.

We love her, I could not love her anymore if I had birthed her, that is what hurts so much. We really felt like we have provided her with a very safe, loving and secure home, but because of the system it has backfired on us.

quote:

Also, no maternal bonding as an infant.

This seems to be the key for a lot of these cases. Carol, I really hope your outcome is better than our family's experience, I truly do.

Regards, Neil

quote:

Originally posted by drlivingston:
We live in a society that not only condones obesity, they do their best to enable it.

As many of us older forum members recall, it was a different world 40 years ago. Burgers and fries were a special treat and not a daily meal item. We had dinner every night with everyone sitting around the table and Mom did her best to make a balanced meal. Most kids (and I mean 18 and under) didn't have cars. And it seemed all kids 15 and under in our little town rode bikes or walked everywhere. This was a time when "fat kids" were made fun of because they were such a minority, even though it was still a mean thing to do. We had a huge garden and fresh vegetables were on the table all summer long, and canned ones from the garden filled our fall and winter table.

I have to admit to being overweight these days. It happened slowly over the years as I succumbed to the fast food onslaught and other bad eating choices. But I still walk fast and shake my head at those who seem to have a handicapped decal for no other reason than they are obese and can't walk 150 feet without assistance (this is the Alabama legal definition).

quote:

Originally posted by travel dancer:
i totally agree, but might I ad, the thought that journalism isnt doing its n job, and the media is more interested in Paris/Nicole/and
all the other bubble brains exploits than encouraging awareness of real issues.

I agree completely. It's a shame that these are the top stories on many newscasts, when there are more pressing topics that actually affect our lives.

I read a few days ago that more Americans can identify Paris Hilton than can simply name the Prime Minister of Canada and President of Mexico, with whom President Bush held a summit earlier this week.

As a high school teacher, I can certainly verify the lack of discipline in the school systems. School districts are terrified of law suits, so there is very little that can be done to discipline a child. However, as far as the "dumbing of America," I believe it stems from a combination of problems. One of the largest problems is lack of parent support for the children. We bribe parents to come to open house and meetings with teahers. We have offered food and t-shirts for parents who come to check on their child's progress. The results are very sad. We still get only about 20 percent of parents to the school. However, there was a meeting of almost three hundred parents this past week. All of the parents got together to discuss the dress code. They did not feel the children were allowed to express themselves enough with our current uniforms and dress code. Some parents will not meet with a teacher to discuss a child's academic progress, but they will meet about clothes. I think priorities are out of order. As a high school teacher, I try very hard to educate my students. I try not just to educate them about the subject I am teaching, but I try to teach them how to reason and think for themselves. We do not need any more citizens like Paris, Brittney, and Lindsey. It is very hard to educate students when their parents tell them them that education isn't as important as being popular. Our state now has a new law that requires students to have at least a passing average in all classes to participate in sports. Parents went balistic about this law. We had parents coming to the school saying this law wasn't fair. The parents could not understand that the reasoning behind the law was that if a students is failing, he or she needs to be at after school tutoring and studying rather than playing sports. We actually had parents tell us that the only reason their child came to school was to play sports. One mom said my son can't hardly read, all he has is football. Football probably will not be able to pay for his groceries one day. It can be very sad and depressing, but we keep trying to make a difference. I am not trying to bash all parents. Many parents are wonderful and are great assessts to our educational system. It just seems that every year there are more and more of the "stupid" parents. In looking at our current educational crisis, we also need to look at No Child Left Behind (which should be called No Child Left Untested). We have put such an emphasis on these high stakes tests that schools are being pressured not to educate the children and teach them how to think, but to teach the students how to take a test well. You can teach a student skills on how to take standardized tests so that the child can do well on the test and not know much of anything. I am sorry for ranting. I will now get off my soapbox and hope that I did not offend anyone.

daisey,

You sure didn't offend me! It bothers me that this No Child Left Behind nonsense has pushed schools into creating good test-takers instead of good thinkers. So many things are tied to meaningless statistics. Schools can lose funding based on the scores for the above.

I work in an industry (nuclear power) which is slavishly devoted to numerical goals, benchmarks, cornerstones, best quartiles, yada yada yada. It is truly Dilbert-esque on most days. I am responsible for Problem Evaluation Reports (PERs) for my department. We have goals for those too. If we don't write enough PERs guess what? That's right. We have to write a PER stating that we didn't write enough PERs, and then develop a corrective action plan. And people ask me why I am going to retire at age 51.

My plant can safely put power on the grid day after day, but God help us if one of our performance indicators is in the toilet.

Sometimes it seems as if we as a society have taken our eyes off the object or reason for doing something.

Don't apologize for ranting; you make some valid points from the field. Litigation is a way for the slovenly and lazy to make a bundle. This country has become such a sue over anything mindset, it makes me wanna puke.

Priorities are askew in this society; as an old fart at 52 (16 between my ears), it seems to me that many of today's parents, and their out of whack priorities, are representative of the 1980s and early 1990s "me generation." Any wonder why they make more of an issue out of clothing than education?

By the way, Daisy, in which state/city/town do you teach?

In the Birmingham metropolitan area there is an adjacent city called Fairfield. Fairfield has three elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. Recently the highschool name was changed to Fairfield Preparatory School. This is in a dilapidated area of town. When I was growing up a prep school was someplace you had to have high grades and your parents paid tuition. But, this is their public school. They also have a full-time daycare facility on the property for the students with babies. The school also houses the Fairfield area Vocational School and Cosmetology & Food Service. If a registrar was not familiar with this area, they would be impressed with a student who went to a "prep" school. It's all a facade to the unknowing.

Well Suzy it's GOT to be better now that they've changed the name! I can already FEEL those grades improving now that the kids are going to a prep school and not a high school! Has a politician come forward with a press release claiming he or she created the new "prep" school?

Yes, Dave. It was Larry Langford when he was Mayor of Fairfield. You do understand this is Fairfield's ONLY highschool. And just like advanced placement classes that existed when I was in high school, you get one grade higher than you actually scored. Many of the Birmingham city schools are under scrutiny for falsifying grades to keep their funding. Most of the decent people in this system have moved south to the Jefferson County schools and city of Hoover. So, what's left is pretty much the dregs. Birmingham city schools are going to be merged with Jefferson County and some are closing because so few students actually attend school. The rest have dropped out opting for drug dealing and babymaking -- which is profitable these days.

Dave, you didn't forget the new cover sheet on the TPS reports, did you??

Suzy... that is, provided I have kids one day, they will be enrolled in private schools then John Carroll High School. Solid Catholic upbringing where the nuns are still not afraid to whack the nuckles with the ruler. Believe me, if my kid gets "whacked" he will get whacked twice as hard when he gets home.

I find today a lot of kids could use a little whacking occasionally. Got my attention growing up. Where I grew up in Eastern Ky the teachers could whack you, the principal of course. My dad certainly never had any qualms about corporal punishment, used his belt when needed. After a few such incidents all he had to do was look at me and adjust his pants, I got the message without a word being uttered. It was very convenient system in public places. I remember a neighbor of mine catching me doing something I shouldn't have, don't remember what I did. The neighbor got a switch from a tree and spanked me in his front yard. I was shocked and foolish enough to think he was out of line for doing so. Told my dad what happened... you know what happened from there. I developed a very healthy respect for adult authority very early. I still believe in respecting my elders and all those other values that were brought home in ways today unacceptable, even criminal today. I don't regret the discipline, I'm greatful for it. I'm actually glad I had the opportunity to grow up in a simpler time and wish my kids had had the same oppt'y. The schools, many parents and even the neighbors are so different today. Now it seem the respect of adult authority has become an adult fear of the little hoodlems who run the schools, neighborhoods and many of the households they occupy. What a shame.

Cheers, Neil

Growing up in Philmont, NY, we had a similar system. It was/is a small village and everyone pretty much knew everybody else. And so it was that the mothers of the town apparently had some sort of loose confederation where any of them could take discipline on any kid in their immediate vicinity, and then subsequently notify your parents for phase two of the disciplinary process. We generally had a well-behaved group and these things rarely had to occur, but they did.

Of course phase 3 happened when dad got home from work, and most of the men of the town were blue-collar factory types who were never in a good mood when they got home.

Sadly, I am sure this story would invoke the outrage of the "I know what's best for you" social workers out there but I am convinced that I am a better person because of the way I was raised. I did not have a big transition problem with Marine boot camp because I already had a healthy understanding of discipline, respect for authority, and self-control.

G.C.,
I teach in a mid-size school in Southwest Mississippi. Mississippi has not exactly been famous for our economy. What we can not seem to get our law makers to understand is that if they would let us teach the skills and knowledge students need to succeed in college and the work place instead of a test, Mississippi's economy would benefit. As far as the clothing/school uniform crisis goes, I feel that if a teenager cannot express that they are a unique individual in any other way but to wear certain clothes, our country is in grave danger.