The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Counting the Casualties Counting the Casualties seems like an appropriate title for a column about today's society. There are many dire predictions that the H1N1 flu will return with a vengeance this fall and winter and cause huge health problems. So far it has been milder than most flu strains, but the fear is it could mutate and become resistant to the vaccines our province has ordered. Health-care people are preparing for a serious outbreak that may be worst on reserves due to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, but are stopping short of calling for schools to shut down. They are actively promoting hand-washing and sneezing into your arm instead of into the air. They also say that schoolchildren will most likely be the ones to catch the disease. Let's everyone get a flu shot! It may not cause casualties, but there are a lot of parents unhappy with some Manitoba school divisions' plans to eliminate the percentage grading system and instead evaluate students using the numbers 1 to 4. Apparently studies have shown that getting a low percentage has a bad affect on some students and that they will somehow be better off with a number. How ridiculous! It has been said many times that education studies can prove anything Ð good or bad Ð and can lead to costly systems that do not work. Remember open area classrooms? This was a venture that failed and proved expensive when school divisions had to replace the open areas with walls to turn them into regular classrooms. Besides, parents are used to the percentage system, as are teachers and students, and most want to know how their children are doing compared to the others Ð as do post-secondary institutions. One other casualty for public school systems, especially in the US, is the increase in the number of students being home-schooled by their parents. The vast majority come from religious families that are unhappy with the secular nature of the public system, and most cannot afford private schooling. It's a huge commitment, especially for the mothers, who usually do the teaching. One can imagine the differences in learning and of course the lack of social interaction and sport activities. Some states and provinces inspect home classrooms and require a proper curriculum be taught, while others do little or nothing. Many educators expect the home-schooling movement to grow as information becomes more readily available, including online tips and teaching methods as well as DVDs on such subjects as math, religion and social history. There are over 1.5 million home-schooled students in the US, with the number growing as President Obama is too liberal for most of the religious right. Home-schooling parents are reportedly adamant that their children are better off away from what they see as bad influences in the public system. One interesting person who was home-schooled for a number of years is my friend Fred, with whom I attended university and taught for a number of years. His father returned from the war, bought a combine and the family went custom combining throughout the US. His mother, a teacher, taught the three children and the family made enough money to buy a large farm. The students returned to the public school system, and Fred became a respected high school teacher. He enjoyed the travel and being home-schooled. In a recent article, former Manitoba PC leadership candidate Ken Waddell talks about the casualties that can be caused by the four major Crown corporations in our province Ð Hydro, MPIC, Lotteries and the Liquor Control Commission Ð all with virtual monopolies in their areas. It has been reported that Hydro may cut rates for low-income families, with the difference paid for by the rest of the customers. Ken warns that the other corporations could follow with cuts for the less wealthy. He points out that it was the NDP that wanted to direct Autopac dollars to universities and gave a million dollars to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. He claims that "Manitoba has become so government dependent and so socialist that it makes one's head spin!" Ken asserts that a lesser role for the big four would mean private companies would provide more innovation and investment in all areas of business, and do much more good for northern and remote communities, many of which are needy. Roger's Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
