Today, I went to one of the most enjoyable yoga classes I have ever been to, and it was only a two-minute walk from my dorm! I have never practiced yoga on a regular basis, but when I was scanning my college’s weekly event calendar I was pleased to see that they offered tri-weekly yoga classes. So, this morning I popped into a room in the same building as my philosophy and math classes, and followed the instructor through two hours of stretching, holding, lengthening, relaxing, etc.

            To be honest, whenever I had taken a yoga class in the past I always felt like I didn’t belong. I felt so ignorant to the practice of yoga, its history, and all that it represented. The class I took today reminded me that it’s okay just to enjoy something. I felt so relieved from all of the pre-holiday stress that was taking a toll on my body, that I had no worries at all about not being a yoga master.

            If you’re in college or high school or wherever, I would advise you to research if your school offers yoga classes. If they do offer classes, GO!,  they are often free or very inexpensive. If not, see if your school has the resources to set something up. I learned that the instructor at my class today is a teacher at a local school and just teaches yoga on the side. Chances are there are talented and knowledgeable people in your community who would enjoy helping students feel more centered.

 

This issue has reared its head in the press again this week and has sparked much conversation and debate. The argument put forward this week is that more should be done to deter parents from lying to get their child in to the school of their choice and there should be a bigger crackdown on those parents that have done this.

Now if you ask many parents they will say that they want thee best for their children and I think you have to commend parents that put their children first and do anything they can to give their children the best upbringing possible but the question is where do you draw the line?

If you as a parent are willing to cheat and lie to get your child in to the school of your choosing what message does that send to your children. As parents we have to be examples to our children. There are other problems associated with cheating to get in to schools like if other children find out that you cheated to get your child in they may pick on your child or you yourself may have problems with other parents at the school.

Schools can be a bit of a postcode lottery at times which I don’t think is fair but cheating is not the answer. If you happen to have a house in the radius of a good school your lucky but then what can happen is that wealthier families can afford to buy and move in to houses near these schools to get their children in which isn’t cheating but unfair on low income families who can’t do that.

I think more needs to be done to improve failing or underperforming schools as this is the only way we will avoid this situation. At the moment it seems more is being done on the prevention side but not the cure. It is only when we work on the cure that we will improve education for young people which is the real issue here.

What are your thoughts on cheating to get a school place? We would love to know and you can share your thoughts by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=789

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

The US Department of Education just opened its newest stimulus fund, the i3 fund, for school districts with especially innovative ideas. There are stringent requirements to receive the money, and the funding can be pulled at any time, yet the money will go directly to school districts. Check out CNN's coverage here.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited Chicago after the recent death of a high school student there. Derrion Albert was beaten to death by a mob of teens, and some people are blaming the death on Secretary Duncan's plans as the former head of Chicago Public Schools, where many failing campuses were closed down and students moved to different schools, often across rival gang lines. The Associated Press has the details.

A new study has shown that people who have a poor education may end up having poor health. Although scientists are still deliberating about what causes this phenomenon, hypotheses include increased income and benefits from higher education, better understanding of medical concepts, and having more leeway to take days off when sick. Learn more about the study here.

In honor of Columbus Day, classrooms all across America are trying to portray this very controversial figure in a more balanced light. The Associated Press writes about teachers who are trying all sorts of methods, from dressing up like Columbus, to having students put the man on trial. Find out what else schools are doing here.

Which demographic of people is the majority in prison? Young black men who have dropped out of high school. According to Reuters, 23% of black male dropouts ages 16 to 24 are in jail any given day, compared to 6-7% of Asian, Hispanic, or White dropouts. Read more about this crisis and others affecting young adults who drop out of high school.

Like many students across the country, I was unable to watch President Obama's speech to students in school yesterday. School districts had many excuses for this, according to the LA Times--from parents complaints to simply not having the technology necessary.

And of course, there were plenty of school districts where it was decided the address didn't fit into the state standards, and that was that. In my AP Biology class, we had already started our first lecture of the year, and there was no way our teacher was going to halt that to watch the president speak.

Naturally, after all the uproar regarding the so-called "socialist indoctrination" that was just bound to be present in the speech, I was disappointed I didn't have a chance to view it and see for myself what the fuss was about.

Luckily, my English teacher gave my class an assignment to read the text of the speech and analyze it. I was all set to speak in glowing terms of the astounding rhetoric which I was sure would be present in the speech, after Obama's previous speech-making triumphs.

Unfortunately, I was pretty underimpressed.

I appreciated Obama's intent and the purpose behind his speech--to encourage kids to take responsibility for their education and stay in school--but I didn't feel particularly inspired at all.

Most of the speech seemed to take on a lecturing tone, as the president echoed the old rules we know by heart--stay in school, do your homework, respect your teacher...the list goes on. Maybe I'm just a cynical high school junior who's not about to drop out of school, but the address didn't really inspire or motivate me.  

Furthermore, telling students that they should set good goals and be more responsible is probably not going to solve the high drop-out rate, low budgets, or any of the many problems that plague public schools. Like a lot of the so-called "solutions to the education crisis," the address was just a temporary band-aid fix that, especially in this case, grossly ignored the root of the problem.

But however condescending I found the speech, I didn't find a hint of "socialist indoctrination" anywhere. Whether or not the speech was effective, it seemed to be on the whole inoffensive. Yet somehow you get parents like this one from Dallas, Texas, who CNN quotes as saying, "The president's speeches tend to be [about] what's wrong with the country and what can we do to fix it. I believe this is the greatest country on Earth, and I try to teach that to my children. ... I don't want them hearing that there's a fundamental flaw with the country and the kids need to go forward to fix it."

I think this proves far more than the speech itself that we really need to ramp up America's educational system.

The full text of the speech is here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/
And you can find out more here: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-schoolkids5-2009sep05,0,2023699.story
And here: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/07/obama.school.speech/

The President of the United States of America Barack Obama has been making headlines this week for a speech he made which was broadcast to schools across the country. In this speech he encouraged children that if they want to achieve anything they will need an education to do it and that the future of the country depended on their educational achievement.

Many people in the US have been unhappy with his speech, as they believe he is trying to indoctrinate young people in to his political agenda. Instead of bringing politics in to the classroom he has brought himself in to the classroom with a motivational and inspirational message.

Now I am all for public and famous figures doing all they can to inspire and motivate young people to achieve all that they can and I think more people should use their fame or stature to do this. I think where Obama has come unstuck is when he says that the future of the country depends on you. No matter how true I think this statement is I think he should have gone down the route of encouraging young people to work hard to see what they can achieve in their own life and not tagged on the message about the country.

In the UK will we see Gordon Brown trying a similar thing and if he did what would the reaction be? I think Obama is in a unique place as I think he is one of the most liked and recognized world leaders amongst the young community that there has been so young people in America are probably more likely to listen to him than say if Gordon Brown tried the same thing over here.

Overall I think world leaders should always be doing more to help and inspire young people but it needs to be for the right reasons not for point scoring or some other hidden agenda and as Obama has found out the way the message is delivered is so important as young minds are very impressionable.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com