Comments for Irene's Weblog

Comment on William A. Carter Elementary by Irene

Irene — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:01:07 +0000

I currently work in education as a special education paraeducator. Things have really gone downhill. There is little to no accountability for the children. I work with a lot of teachers that thought they would be teaching until they were at least 65. Many of them are in their late 40s and early 50s and they are all planning on getting out when they have enough time in to qualify for retirement. This is usually between 55 and 60. I can’t really blame them. Protecting children has led to their over-protection, resulting in a generation or two of children who believe they can do nothing wrong and will never be held accountable for their actions.

Comment on William A. Carter Elementary by Irene

Irene — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:56:21 +0000

I attended Mechanicstown from the fall of 1975 to the Spring of 1981. So we probably passed each other in the halls and never even knew it. I too wasn't really a naughty kid. I only got into trouble a couple of times, but never enough to warrant personal attention from Mr. Carter, which I am eternally thankful for. I think that, if they wanted to change the school's name, they should have done it while he was alive. He is the only one who would appreciate it. It will always be Mechanicstown Elementary School to me. I traveled back to Middletown last summer and the school just looks weird. I miss the two-room school house that was torn down years ago and the name. This is probably because I loved Art class as well as Band, which were both held in that part of the building. The Supreme Court said in 1977 that spanking was allowed unless ruled illegal by the State or local municipality. New York officially banned spanking in 1985. As of today, there are still 19 states that allow spanking. Mrs. Boland. That woman scared the hell out of me. You could hear her slamming on the desks halfway across the school. She was more terrifying that anything Mr. Carter could ever think of doing. I was fortunate to only have seen her from a distance. I've lived in several places since leaving for college back in 1988. I currently live in Western Nebraska, but my family told me that most people see Mr. Carter as the humanitarian and not the, sometimes, tyrannical principal. Most people were okay with him having the school named after them. I work in special education now and Tommy and Charlie would probably be in special education today. They had so many problems, not just in school, that counseling would have been far more effective than wailing on them on a regular basis in front of the entire school. I do still chuckle when I think of Charlie flailing his arms around whenever he got hit and I often wonder if it caused him no pain at all.

Comment on What I did over Christmas break by Irene's Weblog » A quick update

Irene's Weblog » A quick update — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 07:59:45 +0000

[...] haven’t been around much lately due to the fact that my old mouse sucks. You see, last month, I built myself a new computer. It’s a great computer, but I had one problem. My mouse hated me. I’ve had it since [...]

Comment on William A. Carter Elementary by neuronaut

neuronaut — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 01:02:23 +0000

And to add to my long-winded thoughts, I have to say I’m now a parent to elementary age children, and I realize how things have gone, sometimes pathetically, in the other direction concerning protecting kids’ “self esteem”, so I don’t completely assign myself to extreme “new age” schooling.

Comment on William A. Carter Elementary by neuronaut

neuronaut — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:57:51 +0000

Irene, thanks for bringing back some memories, good and bad, and I appreciate that you’ve commented on both sides of Carter’s tenure as principal. Actually Mr. Carter lived directly across the street from me, and despite his active engagement with the school he and his family seemed quite reclusive vis a vis our neighborhood . I attended Mechanicstown, judging from your stories (e.g, Iran hostage crisis; Brown brothers, etc) at the same era you attended (1977- 1984). I should first say except for a couple minor “infractions” I was not really a naughty kid and thus not too biased. I agree with you about several positive attributes of the school and Carter’s educational philosophy, his active engagement, and I commend him on his achievements during a time when attaining such a title as a minority was not easy to say the least. Carter’s “tactics” to get kids to behave and get involved may have produced some good results using fear and intimidation, but obviously was quite damaging to many kids whether they were the brunt of it or not. So, while I don’t wish to “indict” him for his wrongdoings, endowing the school with his name REALLY rubs me the wrong way. I’m not sure spanking was really “allowed” in schools as you say, although it was obviously tolerated or ignored by parents and teachers. Some of the teachers, and ferocious vice principal Mrs Boland (sp?), also engaged a bit in physical and verbal tirades on the children.
Since I have been in california for the last 16 years, I’m curious to know whether the renaming of the school was some topic of controversy or debate, or was this all forgotten and he portrayed purely as a “humanitarian? Again, thanks for your story on this subject. I must admit the Brown Brothers anecdote made me laugh, but wouldn’t talking to them to understand the underlying causes of their bad behavior prove more effective in the long run than hitting and humiliating them in front of the school? Guess that’s my thesis in a nutshell.

Comment on Witcher 2 Devs say they’ll never use DRM again by Irene's Weblog » How EA saves me money every day

Irene's Weblog » How EA saves me money every day — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:37:36 +0000

[...] account for people who don’t read Reddit who also will not be buying the new SimCity. Vote with your wallet, folks. It will get worse if you [...]

Comment on Ubisoft’s intended DRM by Irene's Weblog » How EA saves me money every day

Irene's Weblog » How EA saves me money every day — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 02:34:09 +0000

[...] have written numerous times about how DRM is detrimental. It’s counterproductive and, more often, [...]

Comment on North Carolina passes Amendment 1. Here’s my opinion by geoffrey_evert

geoffrey_evert — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:44:40 +0000

Obama just said recently how he supports same sex marriage. maybe things will turn around quick, but I agree. this is bullshit!

Comment on Moving to Linux by Irene

Irene — Sat, 05 May 2012 00:56:06 +0000

@geoffrey_evert That's the one I gave to you. As you can tell, I really wanted to do something with it, but had to realize I was never going to have the time to do it for several years. This way, you can get some use out of it and, in a few years when I have the time, I can move over to Linux. I've already decided I'm not moving to Windows 8, so, once this computer dies, it will be Linux for everything for me.

Comment on Moving to Linux by geoffrey_evert

geoffrey_evert — Fri, 04 May 2012 00:13:26 +0000

what ever happened to that old computer? and i think learning linux would be fun!