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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kevin Rose who wrote (133351)	3/24/2001 9:13:35 PM
From: RON BL	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Kevin my understanding is that the Ritalin drug (correct spelling) is very dangerous. It is like a mental straight jacket. I have heard that all of the high school killers were on Ritalin or some other similar drug. I am not including the recent San Diego advents but I am waiting to hear if they also were. "The diagnostic criteria are so general that any young boy that I grew up with could have had attention-deficit disorder," said Kevin Decie, a Teaneck, N.J., lawyer who in September helped file the New Jersey lawsuit. Noted anti-tobacco attorneys John P. Coale of Washington and Richard Scruggs of Mississippi also are involved in the Ritalin suits." inq.philly.com Kevin read that and then think about what you said about vouchers. The people who have been in charge of the school system have presided over an ever failing system. Indeed I believe that the overriding purpose of the public school system is to socialize and indoctrinate children into becoming Democratic voters. If this were a sports team that had been producing terrible results and the management said we are not going to change our system but we want to give the coach a raise what do you think the fans would say ? What would they say to the management stating "We feel that if we give the coach a raise the team will do better" ? IF we were to throw out every single person involved in the administration of failed academic methodologies and the same people who are eager to drug our children than I could possibly agree with you on this point.

To: Kevin Rose who wrote (133351)	3/24/2001 9:16:21 PM
From: RON BL	Respond to of 769667

Kevin here is another article on Ritalin. betterendings.org Armed Forces: Off- Limits To Ritalin Users "Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do if the person has been using Ritalin," he said. "It's considered to be a mind-altering drug. Because of that, the services look at it as a very, very serious drug." When Christopher Gore tried to enlist in the U.S. Coast Guard in late 1994, he was rejected for having a history of drug use. But the clean cut youth from Dillard, Georgia was no junkie. The drug he had used was Ritalin, a medication prescribed for Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD). Scores of young men and women across the country are learning that the Ritalin they took as teenagers, is stopping them from serving their country or starting a military career. "I was shocked and disappointed," said Gore 22, who is about to start a job selling radio ads. "I didn't expect (Ritalin) to affect my future like this."

To: Kevin Rose who wrote (133351)	3/24/2001 11:08:35 PM
From: Little Joe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Ron: "Not to start yet another debate," Why not isn't that what the thread is for and it is a great subject. "I personally am OPPOSED to vouchers and privatization of our schools, but would rather see the schools fixed. I believe that privatization would only increase the 'education gap', and create a permanent chasm between the haves and have-nots" The problem with that position is that the system we now have is failing and it does not appear that any amount of money will solve the problem. I believe that this is because the system is broke. If you have a car that is falling apart with a bad engine, transmission, etc. most of us would not put thousands into it. We get a new car. Why? Because it costs less and runs better. The problems in our school system are the result of entrenched special interests, stupid court decisions and ill advised Federal Laws. Add to this mix, too many incompetent teachers and a refusal to permit the good teachers and principals to do their job and you get the mess we have now. The only public schools where you can get a good education, with a few exceptions, are those in upper middle class neighborhoods. This is because the parents will not accept poor education, the parents subsidize the classroom education by helping their children at home and the children know that the parents value education. Let me give you a few anecdotal examples of the problem. 1. Guns in schools. Our esteemed Supreme Court has ruled that the schools can't search the kids or their lockers. Prior to the Warren Supreme Court, the schools stood "in loco parentis" i.e. in the place of the parents and this sort of nonsense would not be allowed. 2. I recently discussed the state of our schools with a school teacher's Union official. He conceded that the local private schools and particularly the parochial schools are providing a superior education. He told me that the reason was because the public schools must accept all students including those who are disruptive and those who are disabled and this makes it difficult for Public Schools to compete with private schools. I asked him if he would support legislation that would change the rules. His answer was that every kid, no matter, deserved an education. My response was that he had made the perfect argument for vouchers. 3. My daughter went to a highly regarded public school and is a college graduate. She was taught very little about WW2, could not even place in a timeline WW1, the Civil War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. If you read her text books you would think that women and blacks were the important players in our history. (Before I am criticized, I understand that there are many reasons why women and blacks have not paid a pivotal role in our history that were the result of bias' but what happened is what happened and that is history). I had to teach her on my own so that she would not be what I would have considered to be uneducated. 4. Teachers are reqired to take on more duties and teach students more and more about non curriculum related matters as the politically correct foist their agenda on our schools to the detriment of our kids' education. What we need is for the Adults in this country to stand up for our kids and put an end to this nonsense. We do not need to argue this issue from a conservative or liberal point of view. We need to do what is best for our kids. The sole objective should be are we giving them the best education possible and we should be willing to do whatever is required, including amending the Federal and State Constitutions, spending more money, firing incompetent teachers or whatever else we need to achieve that goal. Little joe