Valin Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Real Clear Policy: Joy Pullman 5/21/12 From 2005 to 2014, Congress will have spent nearly $1 billion of taxpayer money to help kids walk to school. What has this money bought? Safety vests for crosswalk guards, “safety training” sessions, bicycle racks, flashing safety lights, new curbs and crosswalks, posters, and the like. For $1.1 million in 2010, Maryland counties got “an on-call team of engineers, planners, and bicycle/pedestrian experts” to make it easier for people to walk and bike to schools. For a similar amount the same year, Georgia got marketing materials and staff to promote student walking and biking activities. Let’s hope those are really awesome marketing materials, because over the same period the federal deficit will have exploded and then settled at $667 billion, and the federal debt will have grown by $8 trillion. (Snip) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cudjo Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 And to think myself and sisters and all of my children walked to school without all this excess and made it just fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickydog Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 And to think myself and sisters and all of my children walked to school without all this excess and made it just fine Ditto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepper Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 @Valin @nickydog @cudjo This is a perfect example of how the Liberal, the Democrat, Big Government, the Nanny State, and the Obama Administration (yes, redundant, I know) interfere and screw things up. Their solution is to throw money and rules and procedures and penalties at what has been a local effort and handled locally by local agencies or volunteers Crossing guards in some form have been around for probably 100 years or whenever cars showed their bumpers near schools. Per sites from Wikipedia, officially since 1920 with the AAA, and since 1923 in Nebraska, since 1931 in New Zealand. See http://en.wikipedia....l_safety_patrol http://en.wikipedia..../Crossing_guard and interesting 2011 article here Richard Marks: Recalling School Safety Patrol service Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 And to think myself and sisters and all of my children walked to school without all this excess and made it just fine Ditto. OMG! Doing something without an adult around to monitor! Weren't you afraid that something bad would happen? How were you able to find your way? Its just this sort of thing that leads to unsupervised unlicensed Fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickydog Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 Well, I did fall off my bike and chip my front tooth in half. Have had a series of caps on that tooth since then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollyannaish Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 At my children's private grade school, the older kids were paid a couple dollars a day (on their tuition) to be crossing guards. With no supervision. And there has never, ever been a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearvision Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 In my elementary school some 6th graders got to be the "Junior Police Officers" and did the hand held stop signs at all the crossings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 In my elementary school some 6th graders got to be the "Junior Police Officers" and did the hand held stop signs at all the crossings. One year we got a pocket knife at the end of the year. Can you imagine that happening today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clearvision Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 In my elementary school some 6th graders got to be the "Junior Police Officers" and did the hand held stop signs at all the crossings. One year we got a pocket knife at the end of the year. Can you imagine that happening today? Yes, but it would be stabbed in your side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepper Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 @clearvision @Valin Was thinking along same lines. You give someone a hand sign today and you get knifed by a parent. PS George Zimmerman was just a junior police officer until he met hopped up TraydmarkVon Martin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SrWoodchuck Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 In my elementary school some 6th graders got to be the "Junior Police Officers" and did the hand held stop signs at all the crossings. One year we got a pocket knife at the end of the year. Can you imagine that happening today? I was a Lieutenant of Crossing Guards at St. Charles Borromeo School in Warr Acres, Oklahoma. I got a badge & a blue belt & strap, gloves & a baton/flag. We also got our buns chewed regularly by Sister Mary of Krakow Matilda [the school principal] for not devoting more attention to our crossing duties. It was the first [but not only] time I was called, "an ass." Ouch! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 In my elementary school some 6th graders got to be the "Junior Police Officers" and did the hand held stop signs at all the crossings. One year we got a pocket knife at the end of the year. Can you imagine that happening today? I was a Lieutenant of Crossing Guards at St. Charles Borromeo School in Warr Acres, Oklahoma. I got a badge & a blue belt & strap, gloves & a baton/flag. We also got our buns chewed regularly by Sister Mary of Krakow Matilda [the school principal] for not devoting more attention to our crossing duties. It was the first [but not only] time I was called, "an ass." Ouch! You don't mess with Sister! Sister Margret said...You will learn this. The TI's in basic training had nothing on the nuns in grade school. And God Bless em!!! They are a big part of the reason I am what I am today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SrWoodchuck Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 In my elementary school some 6th graders got to be the "Junior Police Officers" and did the hand held stop signs at all the crossings. One year we got a pocket knife at the end of the year. Can you imagine that happening today? I was a Lieutenant of Crossing Guards at St. Charles Borromeo School in Warr Acres, Oklahoma. I got a badge & a blue belt & strap, gloves & a baton/flag. We also got our buns chewed regularly by Sister Mary of Krakow Matilda [the school principal] for not devoting more attention to our crossing duties. It was the first [but not only] time I was called, "an ass." Ouch! You don't mess with Sister! Sister Margret said...You will learn this. The TI's in basic training had nothing on the nuns in grade school. And God Bless em!!! They are a big part of the reason I am what I am today. @Valin All those stories about rapping knuckles & beatings by nuns.......never happened to me, but man could they give you a look...and you just wanted to please them, because their smiles were something, too. I agree. When I transferred to a public school, I was a grade ahead of the rest of the class. It wasn't just discipline, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 In my elementary school some 6th graders got to be the "Junior Police Officers" and did the hand held stop signs at all the crossings. One year we got a pocket knife at the end of the year. Can you imagine that happening today? I was a Lieutenant of Crossing Guards at St. Charles Borromeo School in Warr Acres, Oklahoma. I got a badge & a blue belt & strap, gloves & a baton/flag. We also got our buns chewed regularly by Sister Mary of Krakow Matilda [the school principal] for not devoting more attention to our crossing duties. It was the first [but not only] time I was called, "an ass." Ouch! You don't mess with Sister! Sister Margret said...You will learn this. The TI's in basic training had nothing on the nuns in grade school. And God Bless em!!! They are a big part of the reason I am what I am today. @Valin All those stories about rapping knuckles & beatings by nuns.......never happened to me, but man could they give you a look...and you just wanted to please them, because their smiles were something, too. I agree. When I transferred to a public school, I was a grade ahead of the rest of the class. It wasn't just discipline, either. I was never beaten, nor to the best of my memory was anyone else in my class..Sister had others ways of making her point. Ever see the start of The Simpsons? That would be just one example. Report Cards would be another, Note to parents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollyannaish Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Sometimes I think if today's parents were sent back in time they would die of shock. I continually hear how little kids are uncontrollable and you can't push them to do more, yada, yada yada. It's just not true! They love to have responsibility, it just take an involved parent...and the lack of the soft bigotry of low expectations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestVirginiaRebel Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Can you imagine these kids telling their kids when they start to complain: "When I was your age, the government had to help me walk to the bus!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valin Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 Sometimes I think if today's parents were sent back in time they would die of shock. I continually hear how little kids are uncontrollable and you can't push them to do more, yada, yada yada. It's just not true! They love to have responsibility, it just take an involved parent...and the lack of the soft bigotry of low expectations. There is a term Bill Whittle uses than I like a lot...Precious Snowflakes....as in These Precious Snowflakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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