Knowing Too Much

It struck me yesterday at some point, I don't know when, that the more we learn about the world, the more anxiety we potentially build for ourselves.  With scientists, researchers, analysts, and whatnot continuing to discover connections and learn about even the smallest particles that are the building blocks of our world and humanity, perhaps we are learning too much.  Just look back 50 years ago (way back before I was born) and you will see there was no way of knowing what we know now about the world.   Back then, there was seemingly no need to worry about pesticides or other chemicals in our food, no need to worry about lead in paint and gas, no need to worry about aerosols and global warming.  Now, we know that pesticides, lead, and aerosols are bad.  That's only the tip of the iceberg as we all know.  There are dangers lurking everywhere around us that can potentially cause us harm and shorten our lives.  Were we better off 50 years ago when we were living in relative naivete about the world around us?  Was the stress level less because we didn't have to worry about how anything we touched, bought, or breathed could harm us?  Maybe, but then again, maybe there were less of these dangerous substances floating around the atmosphere and lurking in our foods.  While our life expectancy has gone up, so has the rate of chronic illness.  Are these chronic illnesses a product of our extended lives or merely a side effect of something we did when we were younger?  There always seem to be more questions than answers. 

While we may not have known about all the potential dangers lurking in the world around us 50 years ago, we also didn't have the fear inspiring media that we have today.  Any new discovery that scientists make about links between certain diseases or cancers and the substance or negligence that causes them brings about a 24/7 media campaign to alert us about what we can do to save ourselves.  We have to watch out for A B, and C because it will cause X Y, and Z.  Better be careful about D, E, and F too because those are just too frightening to talk about.  For those in the know, our society is built around fear and the dangers around us.  We have to wash our hands 5 times a day minimum or we could contract the deadly cold from a stranger.  And you better watch out for that breeze blowing from the west that may contain deadly pathogens hell bent on shortening our life or at least making it miserable.  If one listened to all the warnings out there, we wouldn't leave the house without a hazmat suit on, we would have HEPA filters in every room to suck every horrible nugget out of the air, and we would only eat sterilized organic food that didn't touch a single surface since leaving the ground.  With all this "knowledge" about the world and its dangers, how is one not supposed to worry about what they are potentially doing to themselves.  Stress and anxiety are just as crippling as heart disease.  If we live with stress and anxiety in our lives, we are shortening our lives just as much as if we ate McDonald's every day.  Neither is good for us, yet neither will go away.  It seems the only remedy is to tune out the world and its warning about a doomsday virus and simply live. 

Fifty years ago, people simply lived.  They had stress and anxiety, yes, but I don't believe it was felt to the degree that it is felt now.  From my perspective at least, the stresses that people were under 50 years ago were all related to normal every day life.  People worried about work, money, and family.  They didn't necessarily worry about Johnny next door who touched a dog that was seen walking through a puddle on the side of a street and could now be a walking petri dish.  Don't get me wrong, many of the things we have learned about are valuable, but how are we supposed to keep track of all the noxious substances that permeate our lives and try and eradicate them?  I don't think we can, to be honest, and if we try, stress and anxiety will beset us like a bad case of the bedbugs.  Sometimes I wish I were a little more naive about the world and its dangers.  If I was, I wouldn't have all this information floating through my head making me question every single thing I buy or every action I take and how it could affect my life in the future.  Granted, trying to live a healthy and long life is a noble cause, but if it builds stress and anxiety in our lives, then perhaps it really isn't worth it.  I want to live a long life, but I don't want to worry about everything around me that could shorten my life.  The answer isn't simple, in fact, its more of a Catch 22 than anything else.  No matter what we do, nature will run its course and we will perish when we are supposed to, perhaps sooner, perhaps later, but the end is inevitable.  I just want life to be simple (I know, I know, it isn't and it never will be) and free of too much worry.  And yes, I also know that worrying is within my control, but sometimes it is hard to keep all the excess worry away when all you hear is warnings and more warnings about the world around you.  For my part, I will continue to live as I have and only pay heed to the worst of the worst.  The rest of those noxious, horrible substances that reside somewhere in the middle will simply not get my attention.  I want to live a long life, but I want to live one without excess stress and anxiety.  Probably won't happen, but I can dream. 

School Discipline

I am wondering if anyone outside the United States has heard about "scream rooms", "seclusion rooms", or physical restraints inside of a school.  I am not talking about schools from the 1950's or earlier, rather I am talking about schools now, in the present, in 2012.  Personally, I had heard about a "scream room" in Middletown, Connecticut, but outside of that one instance, I hadn't heard about these types of rooms or restraints at all.  Unfortunately, it seems to be quite a common occurrence throughout the United States.  You probably won't find these types of rooms in a private or upscale public school.  Instead, it seems that most of these instances occur in overcrowded or underfunded schools.  There are some frightening statistics that accompany these rooms and restraints.  During the 2009-2010 school year, 40,000 children had to be either physically restrained or placed in a seclusion room.  The majority of these children had learning, behavioral, developmental, or physical needs.  This is an issue that seems to be on the rise (although as my wife pointed out, as the population rises, so do the instances such as this, and the likelihood that more people will hear about them).  To me, this speaks about issues on two fronts, schools and parents.  I can't entirely place the burden on schools as I feel part of the issue comes from troubled families that either don't have the time or won't make the time to understand and work with their children in such a way that prepares them for school.  Obviously there is only so much a parent can do sometimes with their children and I don't want to make this about bad parenting which I don't believe it is.  But I do feel that in some cases that parents carry some of the burden.  Enough about the parenting as these instances are not occurring within households, but rather within schools that are supposed to keep children safe and help them grow and learn. 

I am torn in my opinion on this issue.  On one hand, I believe there are times when a student who exhibits violent behaviour needs to be restrained in order to maintain the safety of the other students and teachers.  However, beyond that, I don't believe that seclusion rooms or any type of discipline along those lines should be used.  It seems to be the easy way out to me.  Instead of dealing with an issue as it arises and working with the child to overcome whatever problem they are having, teachers and aides simply remove the child from the equation till they are manageable again.  If anything, I would think that seclusion rooms or scream rooms for that matter simply make the matter worse.  This type of discipline doesn't solve anything, it simply upsets and frustrates the student who is the victim of such discipline.  In one case in the article I read, a kindergartner who threw tantrums was placed in a "seclusion room".  She was placed there for up to an hour each time, sometimes three or four times a day.  This "seclusion room" was nothing more than a janitor's closet with nothing in it save for a light bulb and maybe a chair.  One day the girl had to use the bathroom and instead of getting her clothes wet, she took them off to pee.  Once the teacher or administrator found out, they simply called the parents, told them their daughter had taken all her clothes off and they needed to come pick her up.  To me this is on the border of abuse if not outright abuse.  What kind of mental scars will this child develop from being placed in the seclusion room?  I don't know and frankly I don't want to.  In the end, it is wrong and unacceptable. 

I understand that things are a lot more difficult in schools that are underfunded or overcrowded.  The money isn't there to hire enough teachers or aides and there are simply too many children for the teachers to deal with on a personal basis.  However, this shouldn't provide an excuse to utilize seclusion rooms as an easy out for children with problems.  In another case, a fourth grader was placed in a duffel bag, the drawstrings pulled tight, and placed outside a classroom like a bag of trash.  Is this the proper way to handle a child with issues?  Not in my mind.  Again, I am picking the worst instances to highlight this issue, but if these few issues are highlighted, how many more are there that we haven't heard about?  What this all boils down to is figuring out how to even the playing field when it comes to schools.  The schools that are overcrowded or underfunded need help and unless we figure out a way of helping them, this issue will perpetuate itself.  Instead of placing the onus on scores and tests to receive adequate funding, perhaps we need a different model where a school receives funding based upon the student population.  We shouldn't single out the best schools to receive more funding.  Rather, we should direct more funding to the schools that need it.  There should be a set amount of funding that goes to public schools from the U.S. government and it should be allotted based upon need, not scores.  However we deal with it, the issue of seclusion rooms and restraints needs to be addressed before it gets out of hand.  I just know that if my son was ever placed in a seclusion room, I would go ballistic.  But then again, would I even know about it?

"Honey Boo Boo", Really?

There is a relatively new show out on TLC that goes a bit too far down the stupidity trail if you ask me.  The show, "Honey Boo Boo", is yet another reality TV show that follows a redneck family through their every day lives.  I have not personally seen the show, but I have watched the trailer for it and quite frankly, I plan on never watching the show.   Just from watching the trailer I feel like my IQ dropped about 10 points.  I don't believe there is one sentence spoken by any of the cast that is actually formed or spoken properly.  English seems to be a second language for this family coming right after stupidity.  From what I have heard, one of the younger girls in the family was on another show on TLC, "Toddlers and Tiaras", and this new show gets down and dirty in exposing the lives of this one family for the nation to gawk at and ridicule.  There was even an article online (I forget from where) which poses the question of whether or not people are laughing along with the family in this show or laughing at them.  From my point of view, as horrible as it is, I would be laughing at them.  Besides prostitution (which I guess this show is a form of), I don't think there are many other ways that a family could sell themselves to make money like I am sure this family will be making.  It almost seems as if TLC is running out of unique families to create reality shows around.  Lets just look at some of what they have on now.  There is "Sister Wives", the show about a polygamist family, they have the show about the little people, "Toddlers and Tiaras", "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding", need I go on?

I understand that there are unique people out there that have a story to tell, but come on, following a redneck family and their idiotic antics does nothing to educate the nation that seems to be attracted to this show.  Perhaps it is educational on second thought.  The lesson to be learned might be, "If you don't do well in school, you could end up like this redneck family."  Hey, all ridicule aside, they do seem to have a lot of stupid fun from what I saw on the trailer.  Yet, I still have a problem with this exposition on such a large medium of one's family.  They obviously don't have a problem with exposing the nitty gritty details of their lives, but perhaps there is an underlying reason for all of it.  It seems that anyone with a unique story can go to TLC, make a pitch, and get a show modeled after themselves.  Part of the problem is that people have become bored with watching ordinary families go about their daily lives on TV.  Viewers now need the completely eccentric or odd family to watch on TV if they are to stay tuned to TLC.  In my mind, TLC has gone down the tubes in terms of quality TV despite the fact that this show, "Honey Boo Boo", pulled in more viewers than the Republican National Convention.  Maybe its like going to a circus and not being able to pass the freak show tent.   We all know what happens at the RNC, but none of us know what goes on in the lives of this one freakish family.  Thus, people can't help but turn on the boob tube and stare at this oddity of a family running around like chickens with their heads cut off. 

I am sure that with the ratings that this show is getting, this redneck family will be raking in some money.  After all, isn't that the main goal of putting your family on TV?  To let everyone watch and ridicule them.  In that sense, it is prostitution, selling one's self or their family, for money.  I wonder how money will ruin this family, because in a lot of the shows aired on TLC over the years, families have been ruined by the money they make.  I for one, would like to see a retrospective of all the reality shows aired on TLC over the years and see how the families are doing now versus when they started their shows.  I know it will never happen, but it would be interesting to see.  For now, I will state again that I will not watch this show simply due to the fact that it shouldn't even be on TV.  Obviously my opinion isn't shared by millions of viewers, but that's not my problem.  If people want to watch this show and simultaneously watch their IQ diminish, then be my guest.  I just hope that the children in this show don't get any more screwed up than they already are by being paraded around the reality TV show world.  After all, it is only reality for so long before the family portrayed starts playing into the camera and creating a world that isn't necessarily real anymore.  Only time will tell where this family will end up and how they will fare after TLC is done with them.  Hopefully it isn't worse off than when they started.