School taken for granted

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

All kidding aside, do people sometimes get discouraged about how much the educational opportunities in our country are taken for granted? In some places, kids take their lives in their hands just walking to class- but they do. In refugee camps, kids are desperate for teachers. Here, I see so many resources available for kids which are wasted and under appreciated.

I have an internal phrase I think when a particularly dramatic snowflake shirks math due to chapped lips- "Good candidate for Outward Bound Aleppo" THAT'LL teach them to appreciate everything they've got...

[kidzcare]

Psst... It's called privilege. Meaning that we, as humans, tend to think something is not a problem if it is not affecting us directly.

*(ducks since so many people seem to find the P word offensive)*

Prime examples:

Today it was -10 degrees! Global warming is a myth!

I see minorities in leadership roles, so racism must have ended.

I can't imagine not feeling like the gender I was born as, so trans folks are just faking it for attention.

I saw a white cop help a black child so systemic racism does not happen.

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

Sometimes it is too easy to project our abstract thinking onto concrete thinking kids. I get where you are coming from, but before 6th or 7th grade, that thought process just isn't developed. The thing that makes me more upset is the poverty cycle where the adults who should have that abstract thinking are not able to see the opportunity for their children's lives to be better. I know all the sociological issues involved, but I just wish they could see what Dr. Carson's mom, for example, recognized.

[OldDude]

This kinda dovetails into what Mr said. I've seen this over my years and have experienced it myself. With very few exceptions, people who are provided a service that is free to them who have never provided that same service for themselves, without assistance, do not "value" that service. If my parents had always provided with me a new car, I do not value that car like I would if I had to invest my own sweat equity into purchasing it for myself. I am a big advocate of public school but I think it has evolved over the years to not having a real and appreciated value for the majority; mandatory school attendance, no fee to attend, transportation provided, meals provided, books provided, now you don't even have to buy your own school supplies. You really see this in higher education as well as many other government programs.

Animals raised in captivity can't survive in the wild.

[scuba nurse, BSN, MSN, RN]

YES, I know what you mean!

For example: students come c/o stomach ache, (they are totally FINE), I ask if they ate breakfast or lunch, depending on the time of day, 99% of them say "NO".

Really?? Breakfast and lunch are FREE here, you do not even need to sign up for it, we just GIVE it to you, as well as fruit and other snacks! How come you didn't eat anything? There has to be SOMETHING in all that we offer for FREE that you will eat! Or they take it and then throw it away! It pisses me off!