The world was different when I was a kid... and I was a kid long after many DYes regulars, judging from many of the places and events that some of you remember.
The world has changed. Detroit was a viable city when some of you were kids. There was an entity called the USSR when you and I were kids. Many things -- from the cost of living, to the number of women staying home instead of working, to the tax brackets -- were different when you and I were kids.
Guess what has changed? Education. Education when you were a kid was different from education prior to the mid-20th century. At one time, secondary students were required to have at least an introductory reading knowledge of Latin. Many students also learned Greek. Prior to the turn of the twentieth century, Latin had been the medium of instruction in the West for two millennia; Greek, in many places, for at least two and a half millennia. The modern language movement displaced classical education, and there was a great hue and a cry. That was just one way that your education differed from that of your great-great grandparents [[if they had the chance to go to high school or college). Nevertheless, nearly a century after those changes, the world has gone on spinning on its axis. In many ways, it is a better world that it was in 1911.
I am a humanist. I believe that we can have a better world in 2111 than we have today. We look back at 1911 or 1951 nostalgically the way that we remember our lost loved ones [[I do this with my dad) -- we remember only the good and never the bad. I love hearing stories, but no, I don't want to go back in time. I am glad that we have penicillin, that people are rightfully wary of atomic and nuclear warfare, and that the basic equality of all people is assumed as general fact. This was NOT the case in those golden eras. There are some things that were grand, and some precious things that we have lost, but we have become better in many ways.
We are becoming better in ways that we cannot see right now, even as we are losing the world that so many of you knew. This is a new century, and while great wonders lie behind us, greatness also lies ahead. If you doubt that, remember that 100 years ago today, the world had two bloody and all-encompassing wars, along with other wars, genocides, and heartbreaks ahead of them that they could not foresee. But there were also many good things that happened in the 20th century. Those triumphs led to today's world, and you and me. I am glad that I am here now, and look forward to the challenges AND the triumphs ahead.
As far as the Great Toilet Paper Debate is concerned, this is one of those moments that I wish I were still working for DPS. I would tell you that I've bought both toilet paper and computers for my classroom, and that computers are a darn sight more expensive. Having a computer for every student if and when I wanted to use them [[not necessarily all the time) is something nearly inconceivable for most teachers that I know.
Maybe it's a shame, maybe you wish we all had a time machine, but some people on this thread [[DetroitTeacher, DetroitFats) are doing good work despite incredible odds. Because of them, there will be some DPS kids who make good, and maybe a laptop has a ripple effect on the trajectory of their lives. Maybe not, but it's a darn sight better than doing nothing. Give these teachers some credit, please.
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