Letter To Mr. Obama... Voters must read...

In article
,
Joan E. wrote:

On Nov 4, 1:54*pm, "dark.angel" wrote:

I'm sorry, but I would have thought that someone that had wanted to
grow up to be president one day would have thought about those things
and would have been more careful about the company he kept (however
tenuous).

I've stayed out of this fray from the beginning, content to just sit
back and watch the rest of you (and, boy, it sure has been
"interesting" at times! LOL). This statement of yours, though, has
brought me out of the proverbial woodwork!

Just *how* many children do you suppose there are who actually become
what they decided on at age 6 or 6 1/2 or 7 or 8 or 10 or 15 or even
21????? My guess is the answer is so minuscule as to be immeasurable
(unmeasurable?).

How in the world is that preposterous? I know several Middle School
aged kids (ages 11-13) who've already completely fulfilled the
requirements for Bright Futures Scholarships and are already speaking
to counselors on applying to MIT, Cornell, and Harvard!

My oldest child is in 9th grade and she's already been speaking to
colleges - determining what they want to see in terms of acceptance
requirements. And she's not even the most serious about college in her
group of friends.

Not to mention how many police, fire, and military families there are
out there that have so many generations serving the public that it's a
tradition of sorts. While not all of those sorts of careers require SC,
they do require at the very least, a high working "knowledge of laws."

To even think they'd have the capability and
knowledge of laws to think so far ahead is preposterous.

Kids aren't stupid. And they're certainly more "driven" than we were at
that age (probably due to parental influence - since college tuition is
so high, I'm sure parents are driving their kids more than our parents
did in the hopes of saving money).

Personally, I know a lot of kids that would be highly insulted by that.
Many kids DO know exactly what they want and take steps to ensure their
goals. Just because they don't necessarily tell the world they want to
be "X" or "Y" doesn't mean they don't have aspirations or goals.



Joan

--
dark.angel

On Nov 5, 9:17 pm, "dark.angel" wrote:

How in the world is that preposterous? I know several Middle School
aged kids (ages 11-13) who've already completely fulfilled the
requirements for Bright Futures Scholarships and are already speaking
to counselors on applying to MIT, Cornell, and Harvard!

Poor kids....they haven't really had a "child"hood, imo! It's just a
*guess*, but I'm guessing these middle school children are from high-
income families whose parents would be appalled if their precious baby
went to a public institution and have been pushed to be overachievers
since birth.

They may have "fulfilled the requirements" but they don't have their
careers yet. Many *many* college students change their majors mid-
stream, sometimes multiple times. I know. I work at a university
(over 30 years) supervising students.

Write to me in 15 years and let me know where these kids are then.

Joan
..

In article
,
Joan E. wrote:

On Nov 5, 9:17 pm, "dark.angel" wrote:

How in the world is that preposterous? I know several Middle School
aged kids (ages 11-13) who've already completely fulfilled the
requirements for Bright Futures Scholarships and are already speaking
to counselors on applying to MIT, Cornell, and Harvard!

Poor kids....they haven't really had a "child"hood, imo! It's just a
*guess*, but I'm guessing these middle school children are from high-
income families whose parents would be appalled if their precious baby
went to a public institution and have been pushed to be overachievers
since birth.

You'd be surprised. A lot of the pressure comes from the schools here.
Our MSs have even added COLLEGE CREDIT courses, if you can believe it.
We had several kids last year graduate from the local community college
with degrees while they were still in 9th grade!

I agree completely with you on the childhood being a CHILDhood. When I
was a kid (am 39 now), summers were for being social, having fun (and
possibly getting filthy) .... nowadays, it seems to be more for
"networking" and extra-extra-curricular activities. :/

I know several kids that have only had Sundays "off" since they were in
elementary school. Every other day is filled with that sport, or that
club, or that activity. In our house, we've made a strict rule (which
our kids get teased about) that evenings, ESPECIALLY weekends are for
family time. FUN time.

Life's too damn short.

My DD is only 14 and she's already planned her next 14 years of life to
ensure her dream of being a lawyer (she wants to be a member of the
Innocence Project -- and has since she was 11). She's only stopped
short of having a pin-up poster of Barry!! LOL!
(she's hoping to go to Cornell and haunts their website's legal
database)

They may have "fulfilled the requirements" but they don't have their
careers yet. Many *many* college students change their majors mid-
stream, sometimes multiple times. I know. I work at a university
(over 30 years) supervising students.

Oh, I know. I did. DH did. DH didn't even pick a major until the VERY
last minute (if his student loans had been cheaper, he probably would
have tried out a few first!).

But this generation's crop of kids seem to be so .... different. When I
teased one (just a couple of days ago) about her career choice
(aerospace engineering), she told me in all seriousness that it's been
her dream since she was a child -- that she'd lie on her back and gaze
at the sky, desperate to be a part of the future -- and a pioneer of
space exploration.

Write to me in 15 years and let me know where these kids are then.

*snort*
I can tell you that NOW -- deep in student loan debt! :/

Joan
.

--
dark.angel

On Nov 6, 8:47*am, "dark.angel" wrote:

You'd be surprised. A lot of the pressure comes from the schools here.
Our MSs have even added COLLEGE CREDIT courses, if you can believe it.

That's just plain sad.

I agree completely with you on the childhood being a CHILDhood. When I
was a kid (am 39 now), summers were for being social, having fun (and
possibly getting filthy)

Well, I'm glad we agree on this.

I know several kids that have only had Sundays "off" since they were in
elementary school.

And those will probably be the kids in therapy in a few years, if not
sooner.

In our house, we've made a strict rule (which
our kids get teased about) that evenings, ESPECIALLY weekends are for
family time. FUN time.

Good for you! That's sooooo important. I wish all families would
think this way.

Life's too damn short.

Agreeing again!


My DD is only 14 and she's already planned her next 14 years of life to
ensure her dream of being a lawyer (she wants to be a member of the
Innocence Project

Hadn't heard of this so I looked it up. Looks like a worthwhile
project! I hope she realizes her dream.


Write to me in 15 years and let me know where these kids are then.

*snort*
I can tell you that NOW -- deep in student loan debt! :/

ROTFL! That is sadly true, too, as two of my children (22 & 25) are
currently finding out.

Joan

On Nov 6, 8:47*am, "dark.angel" wrote:

You'd be surprised. A lot of the pressure comes from the schools here.
Our MSs have even added COLLEGE CREDIT courses, if you can believe it.

That's just plain sad.

I agree completely with you on the childhood being a CHILDhood. When I
was a kid (am 39 now), summers were for being social, having fun (and
possibly getting filthy)

Well, I'm glad we agree on this.

I know several kids that have only had Sundays "off" since they were in
elementary school.

And those will probably be the kids in therapy in a few years, if not
sooner.

In our house, we've made a strict rule (which
our kids get teased about) that evenings, ESPECIALLY weekends are for
family time. FUN time.

Good for you! That's sooooo important. I wish all families would
think this way.

Life's too damn short.

Agreeing again!


My DD is only 14 and she's already planned her next 14 years of life to
ensure her dream of being a lawyer (she wants to be a member of the
Innocence Project

Hadn't heard of this so I looked it up. Looks like a worthwhile
project! I hope she realizes her dream.


Write to me in 15 years and let me know where these kids are then.

*snort*
I can tell you that NOW -- deep in student loan debt! :/

ROTFL! That is sadly true, too, as two of my children (22 & 25) are
currently finding out.

Joan

In article
,
Joan E. wrote:

On Nov 6, 8:47*am, "dark.angel" wrote:

You'd be surprised. A lot of the pressure comes from the schools here.
Our MSs have even added COLLEGE CREDIT courses, if you can believe it.

That's just plain sad.

Absolutely.

Though I have a feeling that they HAVE to be concerned about such
things. Its getting more and more competitive in qualifying for
scholarships. The days of "if you have the cash, we have the classroom
space" are at an end (or at least, coming close to it).

I agree completely with you on the childhood being a CHILDhood. When I
was a kid (am 39 now), summers were for being social, having fun (and
possibly getting filthy)

Well, I'm glad we agree on this.

I know several kids that have only had Sundays "off" since they were in
elementary school.

And those will probably be the kids in therapy in a few years, if not
sooner.

Again, absolutely! If not dead at 20 from a heart attack from stress.

(BTW, GRD is higher than ever for children. One of the main causes is
stress)

In our house, we've made a strict rule (which
our kids get teased about) that evenings, ESPECIALLY weekends are for
family time. FUN time.

Good for you! That's sooooo important. I wish all families would
think this way.

Our kids are busy -- don't get me wrong. My daughter has Student
Government, Key Club and Swim Team (and tennis this Spring) and my DS
has Karate, baseball and Boy Scouts. Those activities take roughly 3
nights a week. And they're for FUN. They do them because they love
them.

My daughter enjoys socializing with her friends -- the pizza parties
and whatnot. And my DS enjoys his sports and hanging out with his
friends from the groups. But the MOMENT those activities are more
"work" than fun, it's time to call it DONE.

Life's too damn short.

Agreeing again!

Yep. While I fully understand and encourage preparing for the future,
there's no guarantees that any of us will SEE that future. Life's for
living, not just planning!!

One of my best friends saved for YEARS for her retirement, passing on
oodles of fun activities (a cruise, one year and a family reunion trip
to the Bahamas another year) only to die before she ever even came
close to retiring. In memoriam, her family and close friends had a trip
for her. Took her ashes on a cruise and sprinkled her ashes on the
beaches in the Bahamas. It was a real shame that she never allowed
herself to enjoy it in life (she had always wanted to go and just
thought she'd do it after she retired).


My DD is only 14 and she's already planned her next 14 years of life to
ensure her dream of being a lawyer (she wants to be a member of the
Innocence Project

Hadn't heard of this so I looked it up. Looks like a worthwhile
project! I hope she realizes her dream.

I do, too. I'm a criminalist by profession, and even though I've met a
few who *should* be put to death, I'm proud of her for her convictions.
In our area, her views are NOT popular, but she's defended them and
held them regardless.

Every time "Her Barry" exonerates another inmate, it's like a party
around the house! Every time an inmate is successfully executed, you'd
almost think it were someone she knew personally.

She's the only kid I know of that can relate facts and statistics on
executions and exonerations on command.



Write to me in 15 years and let me know where these kids are then.

*snort*
I can tell you that NOW -- deep in student loan debt! :/

ROTFL! That is sadly true, too, as two of my children (22 & 25) are
currently finding out.

Ugh. We'll be paying for our SLs probably until the day we die. Well,
not really, but most days it FEELS like it!!

Joan

--
dark.angel