When the television is on in our house, it
is either displaying cartoons or sports the majority of the time. I cannot even
remember the last time I sat down to watch the local or national news. I could
lay blame on my kids and say that they monopolize the television time, but the
truth is that I am all right not seeing what is going on around me. I find the
news to be depressing because most of what is televised is about crime, deaths,
accidents, angry people and everything else that could possibly depress me. So
yes, I do have my head in the sand!
With that said, I am embarrassed to say
that I was ignorant to the situations on Attawapiskat First Nation until
reading this chapter. I don’t understand a lot of what happens on a
reserve…okay I don’t understand any of it, but the idea of not being able to
get a mortgage to build a house (pg.9) flabbergasts me! I know of no one in my
circle of friends and family who has the cash on hand to build a decent house
without a mortgage. In my opinion, not being able to take out a mortgage only
enhances the inability to achieve the upward social mobility mentioned in the
social mobility theory (pg. 9). As socioeconomic status is related with
education outcome, this further compounds the likelihood that children from
this area will be less than successful in school (pg.11). The slogan, “The rich get
richer and the poor get poorer” seems appropriate in this cyclic situation.
I am now bothered by my own local and national
news ignorance. I feel that I am at a crossroads in my watching the news belief.
I can stay on the same path as I always have for my own sanity and wellbeing or
make a turn to be more knowledgeable with what is happening in the world around
me for the sake of professionalism within the education industry. Time will
tell which way I will turn.
Discussion
Question: Should teachers be required to be
aware of the local/national/world news?
No comments:
Post a Comment