Over the weekend, I read a section of our local paper that reported on a fifth-grade school project. The children were asked to add one amendment to the Constitution. I was struck by two things: 1) how awful some of the ideas were and 2) how parrot-like others seemed. Lowering the voting age to 15, forcing people to recycle, and abolishing racism are just silly. I haven't spent much time with 11 year olds, so maybe I'm delusional in thinking they're capable of deeper thoughts than that. Surely they can understand basic concepts that make outlawing war and mandating jobs for everyone just not feasible. Right? Oh, who am I kidding: I fully expect my child to exit the womb with the mind of a 30 year old. This is really going to be rough for me.
But some of the more shocking amendments showed me just how much kids partially understand what's going on around them. One fifth grader came up with "Before the president can send troops into a war, he has to have a plan. And he has to share it with the country on CNN." Think she came up with that one on her own? Or the kid who said "Change the use of oil to corn juice. There's too much global warming now." Corn juice. He has gleaned something from the debate around him, but not enough to understand the subject. Thank heavens 15 year olds aren't voting.
Is it too much to ask that I'd hope that my kid would write "The Constitution should only be amended in extreme cases, never at the whim of fifth graders"? And that he could still get an A for that answer?
I started thinking about my imaginary kid and what I'd like his answer to be, and whether it'd make the paper, and how I'd blog about how proud I am of him. And then I realized that's 12 years from now, and how could I possibly still be blogging then...
Varifrank wrote today about how he's ending his blog as we know it. I've felt this was coming for a long time, not just from him but from everyone. How much longer will we all still want to hash out current events in this forum?
I, for one, don't see myself blogging in 12 years.
Posted by Sarah at February 21, 2007 09:07 AM | TrackBackI'm with you on the blogging. No way, I'm still blogging in a few years. While I love the idea of having my own personal blog, and I admit I do use it as a way to vent my frustrations much of the time, I'm more interested in trying to find a place where I can make a difference and Andi's World just isn't that place. Plus, there's only so many hours in a day and as we all know, blogging is time-consuming.
It's always interesting to me to find out why people blog, or why they quit blogging. Guess we all blog, or cease to blog, for different reasons. I'm thinking of closing my personal blog soon and focusing more on other forums (like SpouseBUZZ) where I believe I can do the most good. We'll see...
Regardless, blogging has been one of the best things I've ever done. I have made hundreds of new friends and it's been a great ride. Whenever I quit, there certainly will be no regrets.
Perhaps you won't be blogging in 12 years, but I wonder if your child will be!
Who knows what I'll be doing in 12 years! 12 years ago I had no idea I'd have four children and be living in New Jersey. The thought of New Jersey had honestly never crossed my mind. I mean, I knew there WAS a New Jersey (my parents are Springstein fans), but I knew it in the same way that I know some people like to eat scrapple. It's an interesting tidbit of information that makes me squirm a bit but has no bearing on me.
I better not be eating scrapple in 12 years.
About the kid thing... My students used to write horrific essays about stuff like this when I assigned it. It honestly made me worry about the future. And then when the administration at the schools got ahold of essays talking about mandated World Peace (Stalin, anyone?), they would talk about the beauty and simplicity of the mind of a child, and wouldn't it be great if we all thought that way?
Apparently they missed the part where the kids were on the playground throwing rocks at the one who doesn't fit in.
Bah.
Posted by: airforcewife at February 22, 2007 08:41 AMI can honestly say that when I was twelve (seven years ago) I would have said that I couldn't in good conscience produce an amendment by myself, that the system is set up the way it is for a reason, and democracy is too precious to trivialize with my personal concerns...
But then, I was a bizarre twelve-year-old.
(At this point, I might consider tearing down "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," as it makes no sense to me...)
Posted by: Sabbrielle at February 25, 2007 06:31 PM