Good points, all. It's true that my students (incarcerated juveniles) have no hope or sense of purpose for the future other than the acquisition of things (which is of course what the gangsta "culture" is all about). One of my students presented me with a picture he had drawn of gangsta martyr Tupac Shakur. Every piece of clothing he had on, from socks and shoes to sweat suit to head band had the Nike symbol on it. The message was pretty clear. Our school, like many across America, are inititating programs called character education. It may be a good idea but it makes me uncomfortable. One of our officers put it well when he asked at a meeting "What if I'm a theif, and the school is teaching my kid that stealing indicates poor character. They're teaching him to have no respect for me." An ironic twist, but a good point. I'm uncomfortable with posters all around me exhorting all of us to be compassionate, patriotic, honest, etc. It seems like a communist red pioneers clubhouse. I guess my point is that character education is one more job that belongs to parents that schools are trying to do because the parents didn't or wouldn't. I was talking today with my friend and department head, and we got around to this: "What are schools for anyway?" We decided that they were not here to produce better assembly line workers. Rather, to inspire (when we're lucky) the joy that comes just from using your mind and the intense pleasure when it connects you to something great. I am a biology teacher, and I remember getting this feeling in a big way on a trip to Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) when I visited the garden of Gregor Mendel, father of modern genetics. It was breathtaking, and it wouldn't have happened if I had not made the place in my mind for that experience years before. Maybe that's what we should do: Help students make places in their minds for great experiences when they come around. Sounds like the beginning of an idea. Maybe just rambling. It's been a long couple of weeks at work. Write back!

Chet W.