The Mothers’ Day has become more relevant and significant, when people have begun to think that a mother is no longer necessary to give birth to a child, to rear it, to shower her love and affection. No one can deny that the motherhood connotes that she is an embodiment of selflessness, sacrifice, a fountain of love and affection and above all a living creature to remind the world for ever that it is motherhood that nature has endowed and entrusted with the burden and responsibility of giving birth to children or offspring and bring them up as responsible citizens.

Deviating from the nature means that you disregard, discredit and show disrespect to motherhood and belittle her role and services rendered by her as endowed by the nature. Such deviations that may occur in any part of the world will not turn the world upside down. Nor such detractors can step into the shoes of motherhood or play her solemn duty.

You have a dual role and responsibility to play during Mothers Day. You have to reaffirm your faith on the motherhood that she is the representative of God sent to the Earth to play her destined role of giving birth to off springs and to be an embodiment of love and affection towards her children. Accordingly, you have to mould your future relationships when you are teen, when you are dating or when you fall in love or when you are getting ready for marriage. Then only you are cherishing motherhood and paying due respect to her.

When you get married with a girl, who is none other than a future mother, pay due respect to her. Recognize and support her role as a mother.Instill in your children, the solemn duties and responsibilities of motherhood as endowed by nature.If they are girl children do not neglect them or do not show a step motherly treatment. Allow them to grow to their full potential at par with other male children.In the male children inculcate the value of nature and allow them to have a natural relationship with girl children. When they are grown up please see that they value and respect motherhood. Mould them in such a way that they get married in a natural way with the girls of their choice.

Thus if you remain committed in cherishing motherhood, there is no imminent or future threat to motherhood. Long live Mothers Day! Long live Motherhood!

Talk to the child about how the other person feels that is made fun of and put down. Cyber bullying can be even worse than face to face bullying because it follows them home from school. If you see your child doing something to hurt another person. Stop it at once. Do not allow it on Face book or anywhere else. Give the punishment that fits the crime. Take away the computer for a month or something special the child is looking forward to. Let your child know that bullying will not be tolerated. If every parent followed that rule there would be no bullying. A young bully grows into an adult bully.

You might think your child is in his room doing homework but chances are they are also checking Face book and Twitter. In years past bullying usually tapered off after middle school but today cyberbullying continues on into high school and beyond. Teach you kids to leave a counteractive comment any time they see someone leaving a nasty one. That will help discourage bullies. Hurtful texts are very common and kids suffer from it. But the social media can also be a tool to stop bullying if used correctly. Teach your child to never contribute to the bullying of another child.

Some students think it’s fun to grab someones bookbag or other belongings, laugh at the way they dress or how they look, how much money they have, or any number of things. Teach you child better and see that it doesn’t happen. Don’t protect your child when he is the culprit. It’s your responsibility to keep your child on the right path. If you know your child or another child is being bullied at school, it’s your job to go to the school councilor and authorities to see that it stops. Parents are responsible for the conduct of their children, and mistreatment of other children if they have knowledge of it.

SOME QUOTATIONS ON IDEALS

What are ideals? How can we arrive at what are ideals? What are the criteria we can use to determine what ideals are? Ideals is perfect example; an excellent or perfect example of something or somebody, or something that is considered perfect example according to Microsoft Encarta Dictionary. Ideal is a principle; a standard or principle to which people aspire. Thesaurus has ideal as perfect, model, idyllic, supreme, superlative, ultimate and best.

Doing or accepting ideals is a parameter for judging maturity and knowing one who is aspiring for greatness. Doing the ideal or towing the part of ideals is the way to determine a truly learned and discipline one in a society. It is a way the society knows who is truly responsible.   

Are you aspiring to join the league of men and women what are termed great in the society? Then here are some quotations for you that will challenge you to living a fulfilling life here on earth.        

1. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals fade and die; it lives in them; it knows them as the realities that it shall one day see and know. – Allen

2. He who cherishes a beautiful ideal in his heart will one day realize it.  Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built. – Allen

3. Every one of us has in him a continent of undiscovered character.  Blessed is he who acts the Columbus to his own soul. – Anonymous

4. The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do. – Bagehot

5. Be true to your own highest convictions. – Channing

6. God hides some ideal in every human soul.  At some time in our life we feel a trembling, fearful longing to do some good thing.  Life finds its noblest spring of excellence in this hidden impulse to do our best. – Robert Collyer

7. The ideals that have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth. – Einstein

8. Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. – Emerson

9. We aspire by setting up ideals and striving after them. – Fosdick

10. We must always remember that God has given to every soul the responsibility of deciding what its character and destiny shall be. – Jefferson

11. To have striven, to have made an effort, to have been true to certain ideals-this alone is worth the struggle.  We are here to add what we can to, not to get what we can from, life. – Osler

Still, it is likely that more people object to capital punishment on the basis that it is too cruel, or that it is un-Christian. Some contend that allowing them to live gives them added time to repent and make themselves right with God. This article will address this line of thinking and hopefully bring a resolution to the variant views.

First, the view that it is too cruel should not be a problem. Virtually all crimes in the U.S. which carry the possibility of a death penalty are of a horrendous nature. The victim of the crime normally suffered extremely before death. Something far more tortuous than the least possible pain as inflicted in execution. It is often suggested that “let the punishment fit the crime.” This of course is virtually never done, but rather, even with death it is not as severe as that which the criminal dealt to the victim. Some states actually allow the inmate to choose the method of his execution.

It is often heard that God is merciful and forgiving, so we should be also. This is not biblical at all when in reference to some criminal who has committed a dastardly crime. Let us consider some things about the teaching of God’s word on this subject.

God truly is merciful and forgiving. But, he hates sin and sin in one’s life will separate him from God. It is the duty of man to bring his own life and mind into obedience to God’s word and then God will forgive, not before.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 KJV)

All governments are ordained of God. Not all governments are good governments, however, they are still ordained of God. He uses governments to protect his people and in some cases, to punish them. But here is a scripture which explains as nearly as one can find, the approach God has towards evil criminals. Read it carefully. It is taken from the New King James Version for a little more clarity:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. (Romans 13:1-4 NKJV)

People sometimes mistakenly use the commandment found in the ten commandments which God gave to Moses for the Jews. It is a short and simple statement, “Thou Shalt Not Kill.” It is true that is what is written but what is often not understood is the word translated “kill”. Only a few translations have rendered this word “kill”. The Hebrew word for killing in war, self defense and/or carelessly or accidentally is not used in this passage. The word for such is “harag“. The Hebrew term used in this scripture is “ratsach” which means to murder, or willfully harm someone or self. Virtually all of the more recent translations rightly render it “murder”. So to say God would disapprove is simply a misunderstanding of the holy scripture.

After the universal flood, God spoke to Noah and his sons, instructing them how to conduct themselves in their replenishing the earth. And he made one remark which fits our subject precisely and should forever rebuke those who contend God does not approve of criminals’ executions.

Notice now, that this was not a prophetic statement, it was in the form of a command, telling them their duty, along with many other things. One present day bible scholar, Winford Claiborne, of the International Gospel Hour correctly paraphrases the verse thusly: “If a man kills another, other men are to kill the killer.”

These scriptures are not to be ignored and, in fact are instructions for man. In our present age, and particularly here in these United States, it is not intended that Christians should take this as their own responsibility to kill someone who kills another. Since God has ordained principalities and powers, he has placed the responsibility for punishment of evil doers in those powers. But for Christians to crusade against it is to disobey God.

MOVING BEYOND DIVORCE

You fell in love (or at least you believed you were) and you got married with every intention of having a happy and full life together.  You are realistic enough to not believe in fairy tales and have no doubt you will have your differences from time to time but you honestly believe that nothing is going to happen that the two of you cannot work out and get through together.  That is the way it is supposed to be, two people in love, pulling together, sharing the weight of all life’s ups and downs, being best friends, always there for each other…and it was like that for a little while; and then the hammer fell and you find yourself standing in a divorce court and suddenly it is over.  You and your spouse are now among the ever growing statistics of the divorced society.

This is no time to play the blame game.  Truth is; it takes two, two people to make a marriage work and two people to destroy it.  Don’t blame third parties if there is a third party, don’t blame your children and don’t blame your extended family.  You and your spouse are both adults; responsible people (who may or may not have participated in irresponsible behavior; we all do from time to time) and need to hold yourself accountable for your own actions and decisions.

Don’t feed on gossip and rumors or allow your imagination to play head games with your emotions.  The bottom line is that the two of you either couldn’t or wouldn’t work out the situation that was pulling you down and in different directions and you both played your part and now there is no fix to it; it is broken and you both need to pick up the pieces and move on…and don’t play the blame game.  You both made mistakes.  Admit it and learn from them.

You were married, partners, a part of each other’s life for a long time and even though you both may agree divorce is the only option for the two of you there is still that feeling of loss, failure, emptiness. You have that torn feeling, like there is a hole in your life that needs to be filled but you don’t know how to fill it.  A part of you is missing, no matter what the situation was that brought your marriage to an end and you into that divorce court and you feel that loss.  That is normal. 

Walking into that house or apartment and knowing he/she is not coming home, (no matter how bad the coming home may have been or the dread of that moment you may have felt before you separated) knowing you will not share another meal or sleep in the same bed again, share any more holidays, ever do those things you once enjoyed together again; is the loneliest feeling I have ever known.  That is normal.  A part of you is missing…but you can rebuild.  Life does exist and go on after divorce.

For the first few days (up to a week or so) you will probably just need to go through the motions of living, make yourself do what you need to do; eat, sleep, care for your physical being, go to work, do your shopping, pay your bills; all those day to day things that must be done.  This is a good time to change your furniture around, pack up or get rid of all those constant reminders of what might have been (your now ex-spouse’s things he/she left behind or special gifts from each other that are sitting there to remind you of the loss you are feeling.  Pack away the pictures of the two of you for now and replace them with something else.)  Take this time to digest the decisions that have been made and take an inventory of what you have left.  It is what you have left that you need to rebuild on.  It is okay to feel hurt and feel sad.  It is okay to feel angry.  It is okay to cry.  Give yourself permission to have those feelings and don’t let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t and to just get over it.  Those feelings are real and it is okay but don’t let them consume you to the point that you can’t or won’t move on. 

Now is the time to pamper yourself a little and push yourself into doing something, anything that is productive for your own life.  Get yourself involved in one of those projects you always wanted and intended to do but never found time for in your married life.  You have time now.  Keep yourself busy and don’t dwell on yesterday.  It is over.  You can’t go back and undo or change one yesterday.  You don’t know what the future may hold but you have today and today you need to make the most of it.  Be creative and set up a new routine for your life including those fun things you like to do; you can rework and adjust it later and you will.  Eat healthy and get some extra rest.  Your life has just taken an emotional beating and needs time to recoup. 

Don’t allow yourself to crawl into a shell of loneliness, shame and failure and sit there on your sofa feeling sorry for yourself while you munch on potato chips, cookies and ice cream and stare at the boob-tube not even comprehending what is going on in the programming.  Exercise some damage control by getting active and involved in your life instead.  You are not the first person, nor will you be the last to ever go through a divorce.  Knowing this may not make you feel a whole lot better right now but knowing others have survived should help you realize you will too.

You are not responsible for your ex-spouse or your ex-spouse’s decisions or actions.  It is no longer any of your affair or business.  You are only responsible for you (and your children if children are involved) so don’t waste your time checking up on him/her or listening to gossip and rumors that only serve to stir up old negative feelings and resentments.  The only contact and communication necessary between you and your ex-spouse are where it involves the welfare of your children.  For now that is all you need to be concerned with.

This is no time to put your life on hold and wait around until you feel better, start feeling happy again.  Trust me when I tell you that there is no fairy-godmother that is going to show up and sprinkle happy dust all over you and make life all better and all that hurt go away.  Your happiness, contentment in life, building a full and productive new life for yourself is up to you.  You have to make it happen.  Get out there and do it.  Think positive and believe in yourself.  It really is not the end of the world. 

Remember the story from your childhood about “The Little Train That Could.” Well that is you, and you can.  You will probably spin your wheels a few times and make a few mistakes on your way back up that steep hill but you will make it to the top if you just keep chugging along and you will find yourself building new strengths and confidence and power and you will make it to the top but only if you believe you can; “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can,” and suddenly you realize you made it, you did it.  Hurray for you.  Good job.

One other very important thing, and I am telling you this from my own experience and learning the hard way, you do not need another special he or she in your life right now to make you feel you “have a life.”  It is good to have friends and share time with friends and family but don’t jump from the frying pan into the fire and couple up with someone, try to build a new relationship right now.  Don’t let anyone try to push you into it or goad you into dates or blind-dates, especially single dating.

Your emotions are still too raw and it takes time to heal.  Loneliness and feeling like you are on the outside looking in can lead you down a very dark road if you let yourself get involved too quickly. 

You are still carrying around a lot of old baggage that needs to be dealt with, dumped and getting involved in a new relationship in the first few months or year after your divorce is a bad decision.  You will carry all that old baggage into the new relationship if you don’t get rid of it first and you will only get hurt and probably hurt that new he or she in the process.  Neither of you need that and it will only serve to cripple or maybe even destroy what might turn out to be a beautiful friendship if you don’t get involved too quickly.  It is okay to have friends, even good, and to share time together; and if you do decide to date, keep those dates in public places and not where temptation can lure you into something you will regret later.  Build on friendships but leave the relationship until later; once you have really got your life together again. 

You don’t need a significant other to live your life or have a life of your own. Now is the time for you to enjoy your new independence, your freedom to be you and involve yourself in those things that make you the person you really are inside.  Go back to school.  Finish that degree.  Get involved in a sport or creative activity that you enjoy, the theater, music, pottery, learn a new language or something else you have always wanted to do, whatever interest you.

Get yourself involved in life outside of marriage again.  Get actively involved in your church or other organization you are interested in, the PTA or school sports booster club, scouting; start enjoying that old hobby you loved but put on the back burner for a time, join the writing group or book club at your local library, the garden club, the community band, choir or theater group, take up skiing, skydiving, go to the gym; make new friends in new circles that bring joy to your life.  Keep the old friends so long as they remain truly your friend, otherwise, there is nothing wrong with distancing yourself from them.  Make your life happen and enjoy the freedom to do so.  However, don’t overdo it.  Don’t stretch yourself so thin that your involvement becomes only superficial and you cannot truly enjoy it.     

Above all, don’t neglect your children if there are children involved.  They are children and your responsibility and their welfare need to come first.  Include them in your life where possible and is appropriate and stay involved in theirs but don’t smother them either to cover up or try to fill your own emptiness.  You can still be a whole family and unless there is a justifiable, legal reason not to, you need to let your children be a part of both their parent’s new life and don’t ever, ever make them feel they are in any way to blame for your broken marriage.  They are not. 

Your children need to know that it is okay to love both parents and be a part of both of your lives no matter which one of you is now the custodial parent.  Children adjust well when it is made acceptable and they are given reasonable explanations, without all the details.  No matter how you may feel toward your ex-spouse, do not cut that person down to or in front of your children or allow others to do that.  That is not acceptable behavior.  Your ex-spouse is still their mom or dad.  They love both of you.  Be glad.

Your “I love you truly, happily ever after” dream didn’t happen.  You’re divorced.  Learn from the mistakes you both made and move on beyond the circumstance.  There really is life beyond the divorce court but it is up to you to make it happen and to live it.

1. If no law has been broken, help your child make a list of everyone effected by the incident, including by standers, and other kids suspected or implicated.

2. Ask your child to figure out the proper compensation. It can take the form or repairing the damage, as in replacing a broken window, money or a written apology. The money must be the child’s own and must be offered in person with a letter accepting responsibility and apologizing.

3.Don’t tell your child that he can expect this will let him off the hook. Tell him doing the right thing is an end in itself regardless of what happens afterwards.

4. If the child has broken the law, contact the police officer, explain your plan, and ask for advice. Police officers are only too pleased to help. Seeing the adults on the same side will show your child that a community of adults is committed to peace and justice.

5. Smart kids will try to “reason” their way out of the consequences. Ban such discussions. Instead focus on how thoughtless, harmful behavior offends other humans whose feeling for pain is as real as our own.

6. If drugs are involved, it must be recognized and dealt with, it should never be allowed to excuse bad behavior. Apologies and reparations are still required for the offense and steps must be taken for the abuse of drugs.

7. It’s to be understood that not everyone will accept your child’s apology or attempts to offer restitution. If his efforts are rejected, the parent must affirm the child’s value and attempts to do the right thing. Let your child know that he has regained your trust by trying to make amends. More than likely this will be his first and last attempt at crime.

Some would say that responsibility begins at home. If that is true, then responsibility begins with the individual. If the individual does not educate himself on the facts, then how is he supposed to make an informed decision when called upon. Making a decision based upon emotions, gossip, and innuendos is not a responsible decision.

A politician is an individual who practices the science of politics; of gaining and holding power. He will use every resource in his bag of political tricks to woo the public to his side. It is his responsibility to gain political office. This may be self serving, but it is true It is the individual citizen’s responsibility to learn all there is about the candidate he wishes to support and vote for.  The candidate’s record,while in past and current offices, is a good source of information. Everything he did while in office will be documented and available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act. Do not rely on the candidate or other individuals to do the research for you. Be responsible and do the research yourself. When armed with factual, substantiated information, you can make an informed decision, not an emotional response,  to a political candidate’s potential for doing good or harm if elected for his chosen office.

We the people of the United States have been granted the right to vote. With that right comes a responsibility to see that we make a decision based upon informed consent. It would be irresponsible if we chose our next President, Congressmen, or Senator, based upon an emotional response. If we grant power to those who would lead us, then we must take the responsibility to see that we choose wisely and monitor their actions while in office. If we choose unwisely, then we will be asking the same question again- Who is accountable for our nation’s woes?

Take Responsibility For Your Decisions

It is so easy to blame others for where we are today if we have failed to reach our goals. I remember something a teacher told a student that always blamed others for their failure. She said, “If you blame others for your failures you must credit others for you successes. We cannot have it both ways.” While it is true that others have a tremendous affect on our life, the hard cold fact is we are the one who makes the final decisions.

The one thing that we cannot blame or credit others with is our strengths or our weakness. If we are so weak that we make our choices based on popular opinions or we are so hard headed that we do not listen to good advice we have no one to blame for our decision but ourselves. It is vitally important that we make ourselves, and ourselves alone, responsible for our choices and the results of those choices. Until we accept the responsibility for our choices and the results of our choices we will continue to live an unfilled and unhappy life.

Good choice making begins with accepting responsibility for our choices. Regardless of why we make our choices we are the ones who are responsible for the results. Sometimes we are not the only ones affected by choice. Often times our family, our church, and our community is benefited or hurt because of our actions. That is another reason that we should always count the cost of our decisions before we finalize them.

Good choices begin with understanding our self. The better we understand our nature the more likely we are to make the best choice. We all possess certain qualities that complicate our decision making. Qualities like selfishness, greed, jealously, envy, covetousness and pride often stands in our way and keeps us from making good choices. When we learn to identify these natural traits and keep them out of our decision making we can learn to make good choices.

Wise counsel is always advisable before life changing decisions are made. When seeking advice we must be very cautious. We should never seek advice from a counselor who wants to make our decisions for us. A wise counselor is one that will give us the facts and advice and leave the decision in our hands. Remember, an expert on failure is a failure and failure does not qualify one to be a counselor on success.

The following is wise advice for seeking counsel from the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Proverbs 12:15  The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

Proverbs 13:10  Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

Proverbs 15:22  Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

Proverbs 20:18  Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.

So much about life is a result of our choices. Yes, there are things that happen in life where we were given no choice and that we have no control over. We were given no choice nor had any control over our ancestors, the country we were born in, the color of our skin, or who are parents and siblings are. We do, however, have a choice about how we react to those conditions. We can accept them as the will of God for us and begin seeking His counsel or we can make them an issue of contention in our lives and live out our lives in misery. The choice is ours. We make it and we live with it.

Many people try to excuse their bad behavior and attitude on their sinful character and nature. It is true that we cannot change our natural sinful condition. It is also true that we, by our choices, have shaped much of our character and many of our natural responses are a result of our choices. All men have the same nature, yet, not all men respond the same to a given situation which is proof that our reactions are a result of choice not our uncontrollable nature.

While we cannot change our nature we can change our behavior. Jesus gives us the characteristics of a happy man in Matthew chapter five. It is clear that these characteristics are the result of choices. Those characteristics are: poor in spirit, mourn (lack of pride), meek (gentle), hunger and thirst after righteousness, merciful, pure in heart and peacemakers. We can     build these characteristics in our life or we can develop our sinful nature. The decision is ours. We truly cannot blame God or others for what we are. We are the result of our choices.

Joshua’s clarion call to Israel, to choose their God (Joshua 24:15), has resounded down through the centuries and is as loud and meaningful today as it was when he first spoke. Like Joshua and Israel, we all serve and follow the God of creation, or the gods of this world. It is our choice. We need to be mindful that the natural results of following someone shape our character to resemble theirs. Yes it is true. Our own nature reflects the nature of the God or gods we serve and follow. Choose wisely!

Jesus instructed His followers to count the cost of discipleship before they made the choice to be one of His disciples. Notice His warning. “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.” (Luke 14:28-30 RSV) Jesus wanted His followers to think through their decision to follow Him. Failure is often the result of hasty decisions that are not meticulously thought through and the results of such chose’s are sometimes unchangeable.

Good choices and bad choices are not a matter of luck or happenchance. Bad choices are often the result of wrong information or a lack thereof. Instead of researching the question we usually just ask some disinterested person what they think and then go along with their thoughtless choice. Good choices are most often the result of a lot of thought, counsel and prayer. If we are making more bad choices than good ones we need to rethink our decision making operations.

We all are the result of the choices that we have made. We cannot change the past. We may have the opportunity to change ourselves and our future to some degree. If any change is to occur in our life it will begin with the choices that we make now and in the future. Before we make any change in our life let us consider the results and count the cost. Failure to count the cost is often a recipe for failure and nothing is more defeating than failure. Failure puts doubts in our mind about our abilities to succeed in other areas of our life and often causes us to take the easy road of least resistance.

Responsibility, accountability, dependability and reliability are character traits that must be developed in our lives by choice. No one is born with these characteristics. We are born with a sin nature that denies and defies these wonderful personalities. Our natural instincts tells us to pass the buck, look out for number one, don’t be responsible for others and put it off as long as possible. If we are not careful others will take advantage of our evil nature and use us for their advantage.

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” (Psalms 1:1-3)

Be responsible!

Be responsible for all that you do.

Make all things righteous from hat to shoe.

Let a pure heart control the mind.

Be certain no work is left undone behind.

Make sure that you have given your all,

When the trumpet sound and heaven calls.

            One of America’s biggest problems is its low-performing schools.  These schools need improvement to help their students reach higher standards.  In many cases this is not the students’ problem, but the schools’.  The school does not have enough teachers of high enough caliber to get these students to learn.  Also these teachers could not be caring for their students also harming their chances of success.  These teachers need to be responsible for the decisions they make.  If students fail in a teacher’s class, the teacher should be under review.  Depending on the percentage of students that failed, certain actions should be taken against the teacher.  Teachers should be more than just teaching the class, they should be engaging the students trying to get them involved in learning what is part of the class they are taking.  Caitlyn Scott, a consultant for the Center on Education Policy in Washington, stated; “‘If you don’t’ have access to a good pool, you can spend a lot of time rehiring and not actually have changed what’s going to happen.” (1)  Ms. Scott understands how hard it is without good teachers.  She notices an issue is with the teachers and not the students.  Too much focus is put on the students and increasing the standards of their education when it is needed for the teachers to have their curriculum enhanced and more easily attainable by the students.  A schooling environment is a serving environment.  The students are being taught by the teachers.  Jerry Weast understands what’s good for a schooling organization; “The best organizations are about more than the best leaders, the best product, or the best service. The best organizations create value for those they serve by bringing out the best performance of everyone who is a part.” (3)  Schools are there to better their students and that’s what serving is.  However in serving, there’s a responsibility, and there’s a need for those who can truly provide the services that are desired.  Many schools desire to have their students sent off to college, and the teachers are supposed to prepare the students for college but don’t.  Teachers need to be leaders in their schools.  “When you are an administrator, you have this built-in role. People expect you to make decisions and you don’t necessarily have to explain or prove you’re qualified to make that decision.  As a teacher-leader, you have to kind of earn that role a little more, and that takes a little time,” Callie Liebmann, a teacher at Blackstone Elementary in Massachusetts. (2)  Callie understands that teachers must be leaders to their students, and it’s not a title they receive when hired, but earned through dedicated work to their own students.

            The American schooling system needs to wake up.  Students may seem like the majority problem, but it all goes down on the teachers.  If schools can’t get good teachers because of a lack of funding, then they need to find some unfunded way to better their teachers.  Students deserve much more than what they are given in schools these days.  Teachers don’t teach, and don’t try to help their students.  Even in schools where the most help is needed, the teachers look at the students as unworthy, and people who can’t take in what they are being taught.  It’s time that teachers start taking responsibility for the actions of their students.

When did suicide become a public matter? Times sure have changed. In the past, suicides were not reported nearly as often as they are now. Not only are suicides reported more, but we feel the need to provide a reasoning for each one. Every time another child takes his/her life, the media shoves the story down our throats. The stories are almost identical. A person was bullied for this or that and they couldn’t take it anymore.

We seem to think by constantly reporting the story, we’re going to fix the problem. Instead of focusing on what the actual problem is, we settle on bullying and make another law. All of the bullying laws in the world will not stop bullying. Parents begin blaming the administrators and teachers for not putting an end to bullying. I hate to break it to you, but we teachers cannot always prevent bullying. We can’t see everything all of the time and what we don’t see, it’s hard to stop. Some of us don’t do enough to try to resolve the problem, but people need to realize there’s more than bullying going on.

Don’t get me wrong, suicide is an extremely sad situation. There are always people left behind wondering how they couldn’t see the signs, what they could have done differently, and why was the person so unhappy. Let’s slow our roll and look at all of the factors that these people had in common. I can guarantee you it was more than being bullied. There is usually something else going on such as depression, anxiety and many other mental disorders. Sometimes the person’s life has just been turned upside down by a catastrophic event like a death or a divorce. Some of those people thought they had no one to turn to in their time of need. They let it all build up until it was too much to handle and they felt it just wouldn’t get better. We have failed to notice any other problems these people could have had. In failing at that, we’re not learning more about preventing suicide. We make these people victims because we can’t believe that our family member or friend wasn’t perfect. We are a society that loves to blame everyone else when most of the time the blame can be spread around. At the end of the day, that person chose to end his/her life.

I am in no way saying that bullying is okay or that it can’t lead to other issues. I’m simply reminding you that with suicide it usually isn’t just one thing. I want you to look at the bigger picture to make sure that we’re trying to solve all of the factors. We want to focus on the programs available and make them better. If you suspect someone has a bout of depression, another mental disorder, or he/she is at the end of his/her rope, speak up.