Education or Class Distinction?

My high school daughter sent me an excited text this morning.  It went like this:  "Hey mom!  The school is having a trip to Peru over the Easter break.  It'll cost $4000 to $5000 and we need $500 up front to hold a seat.  Food and everything is included.  I really want to go."

Instantly, my dander was up.  What is educational about a trip to Peru for a bunch of high school students?  What about the kids whose families can't afford an expense like this?  Because,  realistically, most of us are middle-class -- a lot are low income.  Why do schools want to set class distinctions such as these?  Why do schools want to instill a sense of entitlement in our teens?  Why is a trip like this so costly -- particularly when you go to a travel website and a similar trip, at a four star hotel would cost approximately $2000 for a seven day stay?  Food is not included, but I highly doubt food would cost an extra $2000 to $3000 more for one teenager.  Granted, I don't have all the details of this trip, but there is just so much wrong about it.

First and foremost, it separates the kids whose parents can afford to send them from the ones who cannot; whether it is financially unfeasible -- or because they simply don't want to send their children to a foreign country without being there, too.  I'm the latter.

My heart especially goes out to those kids who simply cannot afford trips like these.  You know the ones:  they won't even ask their parents because they know it can't happen.  There are teens in foster care, teens with single parents living below the poverty line, families with more than one teen and teens who are on their own due to unhappy and/or unhealthy family circumstances.  Who will help these kids save approximately $1,000 per month for the next six months so they can go?  Even if they have a part time job, I doubt they make $1,000 per month.  Let's be honest:  most two-income, middle-class homes can't manage to save that much per month, due to the high cost of living.

I believe the education system is putting unnecessary peer pressure on teens and parents, along with drilling a sense of class distinction into a world that is supposed to be about equality.  There is nothing equal about trips like these.  They are not great opportunities for our kids to see the world.  They are engineered for those with money and the middle-class sheep who will happily beggar themselves so their kids are happy; thereby, creating a sense of entitlement that simply doesn't need to be there -- in any level of society.  School trips should be kept within a two to three hour travel limit and the extent of a weekend.

Want to educate our children?  Send them to work the soup kitchen over their spring break.  Let's teach them the value of the elderly and have them shovel sidewalks or mow lawns.  How about reading to the elderly in the long term care facilities?  How about going to the hospital to cheer up sick children or adults?  Why not teach them to help clean up the city they call home?  Really, it's not horrible to bend over and pick up a paper cup out of the gutter -- or find a garbage can so someone else doesn't have to pick it up.  Why not teach them the value of investing in their community, in people?

Why are we teaching them that spending a small fortune is far cooler than helping those around us?  Help doesn't mean giving people money...  Sometimes a kind smile or word is more helpful than money could ever be.

The public education system is a huge part of the problem by creating inequality, peer pressure, instilling entitlement and general unkindness into our kids with trips like these.  After all, they do have our children for the majority of their waking hours to influence them as they see fit.

Please.  Stop the madness.  Bring back common sense and kindness.  Quit making kids feel like they don't belong because of money.

Peace is Not Irrelevant

The world has watched with a sense of disbelief and horror over the recent terrorist attacks in the Middle East.  From Hamas attacking Israel -- yet again using their own people in the Gaza strip as human shields -- to the Jihadists/ISIS in Syria and Iraq beheading American citizens.

While many of us are not directly affected by these conflicts, we are all indirectly affected by these extremist acts of what equates to ethnic or religious cleansing.  I believe we must all stand up against these terrorists.  It is not an issue of race or religion.  It is an issue of tolerance -- for all beliefs and races. 

I recently watched an amazing video (which I will attach at the end) that explains in some very clear language why we ALL need to stand up against terrorism.  Why we should be loyal to our peaceful countries first, rather than our religion or our race.  It includes historical examples and leaves out the usual political correctness -- which is probably why it keeps getting banned from popular social medias. 

This speech includes so many truths that need to be spread across the world virally.  Please listen openly to this lady's very wise speech.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnOF7y-KuHE&sns=em