Tag Archives: reward & retribution

It Does Not Belong

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Posted by on in Assistance, Community, impediments, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 5,2024- The regular teacher, and several students, warned me about two of their classmates, among the after-lunch bunch. Classes that meet, right after lunch and recess, are often the most difficult of the day-mainly because there is still this energy that children and teens don’t know how to expend. It also happens that scheduling staffers pack larger numbers of people into the afternoon classes, either right after lunch or the very last hour of the day.

So, how did things go? The class worked as hard as the others. The two “terrors” did what they were expected, by me, to do-their assigned work. I did not see any difference between them and the best-behaved of their classmates, and told them so. It will, hopefully, give everyone pause, before-as I said yesterday- jumping to conclusions with scant parkour skills.

This evening, I read of seven migrants, whose legal presence in the U.S. is questionable, having been witnessed attacking New York Police officers, getting booked and then being released, forthwith. One of them was observed exercising his First Amendment right to free speech. I’m not sure that non-citizens can claim Constitutional rights. They have Human Rights, certainly, but U.S. Constitutional rights apply solely to U.S. citizens. 

 Assaulting a medical professional, in the performance of his/her duty, is a felony in at least 30 states. Assaulting a medical professional in a Federal hospital is a Federal felony. Assaulting a Federal law enforcement agent is a Federal felony. Assaulting a State or municipal Peace Officer is, as I understand it, a felony in every state in the Union. In New York State, these are the provisions: https://fastlawpc.com/assault-on-police-officer/

It is believed that four of the seven men accused, but released, have hopped a bus to California. Here’s a thought: These miscreants belong in prison. We don’t, in reality, live in a world where people can beat those who expect them to obey the law, and turn around and just be set free by other officials who think the system is unjust. It is unjust to let people act like wild animals and just pat them on the head. Truth be known, a wild animal will be more likely to go its own way than would a violent mobster. 

Further, anyone visiting a country, in which he or she is not a citizen, owes respect for the laws of that country. I would like to see an International Code, where a citizen of any given nation who assaults a police officer of a country he or she is visiting is subject to prosecution by an officer of the International Criminal Court. It means more bureaucracy, sure, but the days when one can just go across a border and wreak havoc belong in the dust bin of history. 

I have visited Canada, Mexico, Guyana, England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Israel, the West Bank, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Australia. In each nation, the laws were clear and reasonable. Granted, I was legally admitted, on either a tourist or employment visa, and therefore not engaged in illegal activity-but I expected that the laws of the country would apply to me, as to anyone else-citizen or visitor, and conducted myself accordingly.

Excusing violent behaviour does not belong in this world. I would not have excused violence from the above-mentioned students, and they knew it. People coming into this country, or any country, need to be set straight. The ignoble seven need to be made examples, re-arrested, tried, and if found guilty, punished as befits their crimes. It’s just better for their souls.

Impersonal

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Education, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

November 17, 2022- I am honest; I would have preferred to stay at Home Base and rest. The issue is, though, that other people on the crew are very sick. Those who have a gift of mindfulness. and a level of health that is above walking wounded status, needed to be on deck today. There will be a reserve group covering for me and another regular paraprofessional, tomorrow, when I have a regular meeting in the morning and teammate has a family event.

The children, whether sick or not, are here. This is not just true of high maintenance or difficult to manage children. Parents have their own schedules and the kids themselves don’t want to stay home. That speaks well of the school as a whole, and of the program in which I am presently working, even in the throes of rebuilding.

Kids have always been devious at times, unruly at other times and appreciative, tender-hearted at still other times. Perhaps this is all part of learning which path is the right one. In any case, it is always best to take the worst behaviours impersonally, though certainly an aspect of that learning is being called to account for transgressions!

One child, given a basketball, shot a few baskets and then decided to let the ball roll down, across the parking lot and into the small clump of trees. Once the ball rolled to a stop at the fence that separates the property from a mobile home park, he decided he had seen what we wanted to see and came back to where I was waiting, with one of his classmates. This time, he figured it was a good idea to go back inside. Indeed it was!

We have come far, from the bad old teacher days of corporal punishment; from the bad old administrator days of using two Behaviour Modification Programs that conflict with one another and the bad old student & parent days of claiming that “just about anything goes” is enshrined in the First Amendment. There are still vestiges of each of these miserable philosophies, but they have lost cachet here. A student who throws a meal tray will face parent or grandparent, at days end-and there are, thankfully, no defensive parents in this group. They expect the children to follow instruction.

Misbehaviour is impersonal, usually, vis-a-vis the victims. These kids are impulsive and in-the-moment. So, we go on, looking for clues as to the hook behind misbehaviour.