That's one of the things that alarmed me most about the public school system in Washington, DC. The put among the highest per student dollars into the system in the country, and they have one of the worst school systems in the country. That's the culture of poverty at work. Parents teaching their children that school learning is something other people do. Kids teaching each other that criminal activity is the way to success. Young women learning from each other that it is better to game the welfare system for free money (by having kids) than to get an education and a decent job.
As I said, I am in favor of programs that give people opportunities, especially in places like DC where poverty is entrenched in communities. Ultimately, though, is it society's responsibility to take care of people who refuse to take care of themselves? If we offer vouchers to get kids out of failing schools, job training, educational tax credits, and everything else we can think of, is it still our responsibility to give people handouts forever? I don't think so. On Tue, Aug 19, 2008 at 12:21 PM, Mary Jo wrote: > Yeah, frustrating isn't it? It may seem totally backwards to us, because > those of us raised in middle class know all about money management and > saving, etc. It's something we learn from our parents, it's part of our > culture. But it's just simply not a skill that people that grow up in poverty > have...again, not due to a lack of intelligence, and nothing to do with race, > it's simply not a part of the culture. It's one of the reasons you will see > often see people that get out through athletic prowess and get huge contracts > for millions of dollars totally waste all the money that they get and blow > through it in no time. Those of us that were raised to know better will then > sneer at how stupid those young men are, when it's simply something they > never have learned. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;203748912;27390454;j Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:266172 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
