Thursday, December 21, 2006
High School Drop Outs and Driver's Licence Removal
Monday, December 18, 2006
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff
High school dropouts in Ontario run the risk of losing their driver's licence, thanks to a new law there, but education authorities in B.C. say such a plan might actually hurt a student's future, rather than help it."I think it demonstrates how concerned people are about trying to improve graduation rates," said B.C. Minister of Education Shirley Bond. "This is a pretty interesting way to 'incentivize' kids to stay in school. Whether it will work or not, we will watch and see, but it demonstrates that passionate concern. It is not something we are contemplating here."
Bond said First Nations students are the most demonstrative group that does not see public school through to completion. Only 48 per cent of aboriginal British Columbians get their diploma in the customary time frame. She said this speaks not to a truancy problem but of a systemic problem that would only be exacerbated by punishments.
School District 57 has a 20 per cent aboriginal student population and is a leader in provincial efforts to improve scholastic results for First Nations children, with an aboriginal education specialist on district staff and an aboriginal education board working in tandem with the mainstream trustees.
SD57 school board chair Lyn Hall said the plan in Ontario was nothing short of punitive.
"It's not going to work here. We've never discussed any kind of plan like that and I can't see why we would," he said. "We use school-driven discipline here, we have no truancy court, and I think we do well within the system we have now. I'm not sure what they're trying to achieve. For me it doesn't send the right message."
Hall said such measures could heap government-sanctioned injury on students already struggling for connection to regular society.
Prince George District Teachers' Association president Karen MacKay agreed, from the classroom perspective.
"A child decides to drop out of high school for many reasons," MacKay said. "If someone drops out to get a job to support their family, is it going to help them if you also take their driver's licence away so they can't earn a living either? There are all kinds of reasons kids drop out. It has a lot to do with population, demographics, socioeconomic conditions, and nothing we really should be punishing them for."
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said, upon passing of the new law last week, "It is simply saying to our young people that it's no longer acceptable in a knowledge-based economy for you to drop out at the age of 16 and hang around the shopping mall."
Bond said that B.C. does have the luxury of having dropout rates better than the crisis they are in other North American jurisdictions, and she does not know the dynamics of the Ontario situation.
"Some of the students we are trying to reach have a number of issues and challenges and using driver's licences like this, I don't think is the answer for them," she said. "I think you have to look at the system, ask questions about the system, rather than imposing something on students. But...but...I am going to watch with interest."
Thursday, December 07, 2006
A Holiday Poem for Students
(Author: sadly unknown)
Twas the night before finals, and all through the College,
the students were praying for last minute knowledge.
Most were quite sleepy, but none touched their beds,
while visions of essays danced in their heads.
Out in the taverns, a few were still drinking,
and hoping that liquor would loosen their thinking.
In my own room I had been pacing,
and dreading exams I soon would be facing.
My roommate was speechless, her nose in her books,
and my comments to her drew unfriendly looks.
I drained all the coffee, and brewed a new pot,
no longer caring that my nerves were all shot.
I stared at the notes, but my thoughts were muddy,
my eyes went a blur, I just couldn’t study.
“Some pizza might help”, I said with a shiver,
but each place I called refused to deliver.
I’d nearly concluded that life was too cruel,
with futures depending on grades made in school.
When all of a sudden, our door opened wide,
and Patron Saint Put-It-Off ambled inside.
His spirit was careless, his manner was mellow,
when all of a sudden he started to bellow:
“On Cliff’s notes, on Crib notes, On Last Year’s Exams,
On Wing-It and Sling-It and Last Minute Crams!”
His message delivered, he vanished from sight,
but we heard him laughing outside in the night.
“Your teachers have you pegged, so just do your best,
Happy Finals to All and to All a Good Test!”
Twas the night before finals, and all through the College,
the students were praying for last minute knowledge.
Most were quite sleepy, but none touched their beds,
while visions of essays danced in their heads.
Out in the taverns, a few were still drinking,
and hoping that liquor would loosen their thinking.
In my own room I had been pacing,
and dreading exams I soon would be facing.
My roommate was speechless, her nose in her books,
and my comments to her drew unfriendly looks.
I drained all the coffee, and brewed a new pot,
no longer caring that my nerves were all shot.
I stared at the notes, but my thoughts were muddy,
my eyes went a blur, I just couldn’t study.
“Some pizza might help”, I said with a shiver,
but each place I called refused to deliver.
I’d nearly concluded that life was too cruel,
with futures depending on grades made in school.
When all of a sudden, our door opened wide,
and Patron Saint Put-It-Off ambled inside.
His spirit was careless, his manner was mellow,
when all of a sudden he started to bellow:
“On Cliff’s notes, on Crib notes, On Last Year’s Exams,
On Wing-It and Sling-It and Last Minute Crams!”
His message delivered, he vanished from sight,
but we heard him laughing outside in the night.
“Your teachers have you pegged, so just do your best,
Happy Finals to All and to All a Good Test!”
Monday, December 04, 2006
Let it Snow...Let it Snow....
Vancouverites are living in a winter wonderland with all of the snow that it got in the past week. We are clearly not very prepared for snowfall, when it comes in the Lower Mainland. Several schools, colleges and universities were forced to shut down, because they could not keep up with the snow storm.
Our weather has just been irraticatic for the past month or so. First, we had several weeks of heavy down pour and this led to numerous cases of flooding, but the most inconvient effect was the boil water advisory. Turmidity levels in the vancouver, burnaby, and survey reservoirs had high levelS of turmidity in the drinking water. All residents were told to boil their tap water before they drink from it because the GVRD was scared that there may be micro organisms that could be still alive and harmful if they are consumed by an individual with health problems. After the rain started to let up, the temperature dropped and the next thing we know is there is snow in the forecast.
I do admit it is nice to see the snow lining the barren tree branches and sidewalks. It just adds to the spirit of Christmas, although it would have been nice to have the snow fall during the week of Christmas, so then we can say we had a white Christmas, but I suppose we can not complain too much.
Our weather has just been irraticatic for the past month or so. First, we had several weeks of heavy down pour and this led to numerous cases of flooding, but the most inconvient effect was the boil water advisory. Turmidity levels in the vancouver, burnaby, and survey reservoirs had high levelS of turmidity in the drinking water. All residents were told to boil their tap water before they drink from it because the GVRD was scared that there may be micro organisms that could be still alive and harmful if they are consumed by an individual with health problems. After the rain started to let up, the temperature dropped and the next thing we know is there is snow in the forecast.
I do admit it is nice to see the snow lining the barren tree branches and sidewalks. It just adds to the spirit of Christmas, although it would have been nice to have the snow fall during the week of Christmas, so then we can say we had a white Christmas, but I suppose we can not complain too much.
