NEW NORMAL NOT ACCEPTABLE

NEW NORMAL IS NOT ACCEPTABLE

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD. Traditional Realist

The "new normal" has been repeated throughout the media. This slogan is supposed to ease the pain of ushering in America's demise.

When expectations and standards are lowered, mediocrity follows. People without goals of achievement are not motivated to try harder. They sink lower and lower into habits of “getting by” rather than excelling. They become dispirited and disgusted with the hand life has dealt them instead of attempting to improve their present situation.

Accepting "the new normal" is paramount to surrendering to hopelessness. It is what addicts tell themselves everyday to continue their self destructive lifestyles. It is the slogan of the defeated not the victor.

The United States is fast becoming a society of too many losers. They falsely complain they cannot find a job when they are unwilling to look for or accept positions below their vaulted expectations. They do not want to work back up the socio economic ladder. Rather they demand a similar or better position than they had before even in an economic turndown.

These unrealistic employment expectations result in increased frustration, anger and envy toward people in better circumstances. When these people realize their ideal position is not going to miraculously materialize, they think of other ways to beat the system. After many months and now years on unemployment they search out and accept a mental health diagnosis of a disability. This legitimizes their excuses for being a victim of unemployment without having to admit that his obstinance to take a lesser position has backed him into this lifelong debilitating lifestyle.

Our public school policies of dumbing down academic standards for several decades has created a “new normal” of ignorant, functionally illiterate, disabled students. Government schools are producing high self-esteem, non-thinking celebrity worshipers who are easy prey for indoctrination. The curtailing of the teaching of history, vigorous math and sciences, classic literature and even cursive writing has resulted in pathetic professional and skilled worker applicants with a dismal work ethic. Many American corporations are providing foreign professionals with powerful incentives to relocate to the United States for highly skilled employment.

American child rearing standards of appropriate behavior have been reduced to tolerate the most bizarre and counter productive behavior. Punishment for transgressions has become unusual. Non-parenting parents have become the role models of today's childrearing. This has led to family anarchy where all members go their own ways. Without parental leadership single parent families have exploded bringing down their standard of living and increasing the vulnerability towards negative lifestyles.

The churches of America have become non-judgmental institutions that have abandoned Biblical teachings. Christ has been removed from Christmas and moral values have been sacrifices so as not to alienate habitual sinners. Too much of our clergy is focusing on the financial bottom line and is failing to live Godly lives. Teaching God's word regardless of people's reaction is their professional duty rather than appeasing their congregation. Morality is the underpinning of all of America's exceptionalism and our nation is moving away from the power of God.

Even our leadership in the military has fallen. Instead of generals speaking the truth concerning military strategies and tactics, they are repeating politically correct talking points to further their career advancement. They are living “la dolce vida”, which has weakened their moral standing making them just another hypocritical leader.

America needs strong leaders and role models in all walks of life. Parents, teachers, ministers, businessmen representatives, military personnel and ordinary people doing extraordinary things have to bring us out of accepting decadence. Raising the moral bar at home, school, church, business and the military will change the direction and the spirit of the nation.

America will again become a can-do instead of a cannot-do society. Normal will be an ever increasing standard of excellence instead of a declining one. We will bring the best out of each of us.

The USA can no longer accept leaders and people preaching to the lowest common denominator to gain allegiance and converts. Most of us should do our best to upgrade all facets of our lives to build a ground swell to lift the level of righteousness. This is the only way to re-establish America’s exceptionalism. 

Dr. Maglio is an author and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.com.

TEACHER EVALUATION INFLATION

TEACHER EVALUATION INFLATION

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD. Traditional Realist

Television, newspapers, online news sites and advertising headlines are instrumental in shaping public opinion. Pharmaceutical companies make outrageous claims about their magic pills while by law quietly and rapidly recite the horrendous side effects. 

We are being told by the Department of Labor that unemployment has dipped to 7.7%. While at the same time millions of people have been taken off the unemployment rolls because they have stopped looking for work.  It seems to be an absurd way to calculate unemployment. They realize when you add the people who have stopped looking for work the true unemployment has to be at least double the announced federal figure. 

This double speak of government is working by desensitizing our values and wearing away our emotional and intellectual clarity. Citizens are being overloaded by ridiculous false figures that indicate things are good while our entire being says otherwise.

This same type of gimmickry is sadly working to disguise the obvious pathetic shape of our public schools.  School officials devise slick formulas to arrive at a particular outcome that is far removed from the truth. The validity of a claim cannot be determined by accepting the headline on face value but only by delving into the process of how they arrived at the conclusion.

The current headlines throughout Florida say that public school educators excel. According to the headlines nearly 97% of all teachers have been graded as effective or highly effective teachers. Only 2% of teachers are considered to need improvement and only .5% were deemed unsatisfactory. 

The methodology of determining the effectiveness of teachers was left up to each school district. It was supposed to be based on curriculum and student learning and performance increases. This data driven evaluation was supposed to scientifically differentiate teacher performance. The alliance between district school officials wanting to showcase their school performance and teacher unions protecting all teachers, especially the weakest ones, has produced these inflated results. Even with these incredibly favorable teacher evaluations, the Florida Education Association (union) has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of this method of evaluating teachers.

If these outstanding statistical headlines were valid, the United States would be ranked as the best place in the world to receive an education. In reality we are ranked 25^th out of 34 developed nations in math and science. Our scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, even after it was weakened, are lower when compared to scores of decades ago.  The graduation rates vary according to the state and are as low as 1 out of 2 in certain urban areas.

These scams of the distortion of the truth by phony statistics are becoming part of everyday life and our social fabric. The prevalence of institutional lying is fostering cynicism and fatalism. It is the disintegration of America’s faith in our leaders.

This has to be changed for the United States to remain the economic power in the world. Already bureaucratic “experts” are making proposals for a quick fix. One of these is a teacher test similar to the bar exam that a lawyer must pass to practice. However, the ability to be a good teacher should not solely be judged by the knowledge of the subject matter or answering pedagogical practices correctly.

Many people who did excellently in universities often do not make good teachers. Teaching is a dedication to help children learn and takes commitment and purpose. It is the actual daily, and yearly performance that should indicate a teacher’s effectiveness. This job performance should be measured by students, parents, colleagues and most importantly, by the principal in the actual in-class teaching process, not by a paper and pencil exam.

It is being said that this will be the first generation to be less educated than their parents. To reverse this trend school districts should downsized their schools to 400 students or less to give principals more direct knowledge to manage the learning environment and actually evaluate their teachers. For this on-the-job evaluation to be meaningful we must bring schools back to the community.

Principals should be held accountable for the performance of students.  Evaluating the staff should be the ultimate responsibility of the principal, not the school district or teacher union. Both these parties have political self-interest in inflating teacher’s evaluations. Let’s put an end to these false education headlines by becoming active in our neighborhood schools to ensure educational integrity.

Dr. Maglio is an author and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.com.

EACH CHILD HAS A UNIQUE PERSONALITY: MOLD IT:

EACH CHILD HAS A UNIQUE PERSONALITY: MOLD IT !

By Domenick J. Maglio, PhD, Traditional Realist

The hands-off policy of modern parents towards their children is either blissful ignorance or insanity.  Throughout the ages parents have not only helped their children survive but have assisted them to maximize their potential to be successful.

It is true each child is born with specific genetic predispositions. Some infants are loud and aggressive while others are quiet and pleasing. Each is born with unique traits that can be considered strengths or weaknesses depending on the situation and intensity of its use.

Parents being the adults and having the most exposure to their children in the past have taken on the responsibility to channel some behaviors, encourage and prohibit others. Today this is rarely being done. This sculpturing of the child's personality takes time and involvement. Parents have to have plenty of “quality time” to have the appropriate opportunities to more easily modify any behavior.

In our present culture parents are often not available to study their children’s unique behavior or believe they do not have the right to spank a toddler on the behind. This loving tap can put an exclamation point to a parent saying “no”. Timing is everything in ending a child’s blatant manipulation and tantrums. By a parent establishing no nonsense limits in the early years, the child gains greater respect for the parent’s authority.

All healthy children have excess energy that they need to expend. They are similar to a playful pup or kitten running willy-nilly trying to gain control over their bodies. An observant parent establishes rules to limit the child's harming of self, others and property. Without parental intervention many dangerous and destructive habits will be solidified as part of the child’s personality.

Modern parents are more removed from the daily activities of their children. The childcare providers have greater exposure to the child's antics than the parent although even they are limited by convention and law to tackle the more obnoxious and abnormal actions of the child. More than ever professionals working with children have their hands tied. Childcare workers are limited to putting the child in "time out" and reporting to the parent the inappropriate behavior in hopes that the parent will correct it at home.

A parent changing a child’s behavior after speaking with a professional is usually the fantasy of a novice who does not understand the dynamics of the modern family. In either a two-parent working family or the single parent family the adults are harried individuals who want to end the day with as little aggravation as possible. They do not want to get involved.

These modern parents do not have the patience at the end of the day to review and reprimand the child's behavior that they did not directly experience. Besides, modern parents are paying professionals good money to correct their child's particular issues. Today there are professional potty trainers and a host of other child specialists who receive more than $100 per hour for training.

After many parental half-hearted attempts and failures using various and often contrary approaches, a mental health provider is hired. This professional is supposed to rid the child of any obnoxious or self-destructive actions. As this child is passed down the conveyor belt of professionals the child will most likely receive a diagnosis and medication regiment that does not correct the behavior but masks it. The child's labeled disability unfortunately is an albatross hung around his neck weighing him down for life.

In defense of the professional, by the time they appear on the scene many of the child's problems are too firmly entrenched to readily change them. The best approach to many childhood disorders is to prevent them in the first place. Observant parents intervening early in the child's life can easily take a strong willed child and lovingly direct him towards a positive outcome.  They can use his personal inclination to further his development by showing him ways to overcome the frustration of not instantly getting what he wants.

With the help of the parent a hyper-sensitive child can be given words to express his or her feelings and understand others (empathy) to become less sensitive to criticism by others (more thick skinned). Parents are the ultimate role models in a child’s life and have incredible power to steer the child in the right direction before he deviates far down the wrong path.

Every person, young or old, faces personal challenges that have to be overcome. Parental guidance at the appropriate, sensitive time in the child's life can set him straight to solve the many complex issues that life throws his way.  Youngsters need guidance especially during the early years.

Parent’s involvement with their child is under-appreciated in today's culture.  We should start to realize the importance of parent accessibility in lowering counter productive behavior. This molding of the child's behavior is essential to improving the child's chances of success. No one else, including the most knowledgeable professional is in the natural position of a parent to positively impact the direction of a child. Parents, remember to prioritize your time to do it.

Dr. Maglio is an author and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.com.