Hejira
view this, motherfuckah
May 8. 2000

For some reason, I found myself in front of the tv this morning watching "The View". Maybe I was trying to catch up on all the tv I missed during the school year, but god, was it stupid and mind-numbing. I had never seen it before, but the premise was mildly interesting: women from different backgrounds have intelligent conversations and debates on a variety of subjects. But, as in the case of most network TV (and TV at large, for that matter), I was sorely disappointed. They managed to bore me with their self-important, self-centered talk, and the debates weren't that interesting, either. Of course, Barbara Walters is a parody unto herself, but other women were ridiculous as well.

As for the so called diversity of viewpoints, what they were discussing in the first few minutes of the show really showed that this simply wasn't the case. They were talking about what schools they sent their children to. Meredith Viera asserted that, "Well, I wanted my children to go to some ethnically diverse private school, blah blah blah..." and the conversation continued to extoll the virtues of private schools, parochial schools, and how much better they were than public schools, and parents should really send their children to these schools so they would be better educated.

This REALLY incensed me. Nevermind that the majority of their viewers could not afford to send their children to some fancy private school, but, god forbid, entrust their precocious little bundles of joy to the government-run (gasp! gasp!) public school system. Newsflash: most parents don't have any choice. That this so-called group of diverse, supposedly intelligent women couldn't comprehend that not everyone had the education options that they do. Because, of course, the American public school system is going down the shitter. Any parent in his or her right mind wouldn't dare place their child in such a depraved enviroment. Once again, television manages to only show the affluent point of view.

I really believe in the public school system in this country, but that seems to be a belief that's slowly fading. I have to admit that I'm a little biased, because both of my parents are public school teachers. So I've seen the system from both a student's point of view and a teacher's point of view. Some of it isn't pretty, either. There are good schools, and there are bad schools, like anything. But we have throw our support behind them, rather than figuring they're a lost cause.

Private school vouchers are something that really upsets me, as well. It's like they're saying, well, these schools are beyond all help, so here, take these vouchers and send your kids to another school. Vouchers are a symbol of giving up on the public school system. They're a symbol of giving up on my Mom and Dad, who have worked in the system for over 30 years combined, and who are damn good teachers. They derserve more than that.

candlecandlecandle

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