Wow, I just heard this read out loud

I am working around the house, doing laundry, working on my paper, and listening to the radio. Just heard a poem read out loud, by a soldier who was deployed in Iraq. It made me think of my student sitting over there right now, burning time. It got to me.

A poem by Sharon Olds

The Clasp
by Sharon Olds

She was four, he was one, it was raining, we had colds,
we had been in the apartment two weeks straight,
I grabbed her to keep her from shoving him over on his
face, again, and when I had her wrist
in my grasp I compressed it, fiercely, for a couple
of seconds, to make an impression on her,
to hurt her, our beloved firstborn, I even almost
savored the stinging sensation of the squeezing,
the expression, into her, of my anger,
"Never, never, again," the righteous
chant accompanying the clasp. It happened very
fast-grab, crush, crush,
crush, release-and at the first extra
force, she swung her head, as if checking
who this was, and looked at me,
and saw me-yes, this was her mom,
her mom was doing this. Her dark,
deeply open eyes took me
in, she knew me, in the shock of the moment
she learned me. This was her mother, one of the
two whom she most loved, the two
who loved her most, near the source of love
was this.

Meet bell hooks

Here is a good link to information about bell hooks, the author of Justice: Childhood Love Lessons.

In light of our increasingly violent society, I think we should look at reducing the amount of violence in our lives and in the lives of children. Why is it OK to hit children, but not OK to hit adults? There are consequences when we hit adults -- in school, at work, in a public place. But it's OK to hit children? I personally don't get that.

When Kids Get Life

Here is a link to the PBS site we were looking at in class today.

Cartoons about juveniles and the death penalty

I found this site while doing some forensics homework and it seemed like something interesting to check out...

Oxnard School Shooting

Kids, in the recent Oxnard school shooting, prosecuters are trying to charge the 14-year old shooter as an adult; defenders are trying to move the case into juvenile court. This article in the LA Times had, at the time I looked at it, 174 comments. Opinions run the gamut. Check it out. Comment. How to serve justice in this case? The shooter is a good student with no record, 14 years old...who shot a kid because he was gay. Remember how homophobic kids are in middle school?

Proposition 21

Here's the League of Women Voters information on 2000's Proposition 21, which is always a very reliable place to gather information on issues and candidates. They work hard to present both sides of an issue completely and fairly...

But what I discovered is a simple Google search of Proposition 21 yields many good hits. Get some background information before Chief Rogers comes into class tomorrow! I liked this link to the Leherer News Hour segment.

Make sure you do some thinking about this, and prepare a good question for Chief Rogers. Be an excellent audience.