Let's Talk About Why They're Mad

 Events happening in our school district make me sick. I lie awake at night and wonder how I can change the way things are going. I compose speeches in my head, but many well-spoken people have already tried that and got nowhere. We can't make certain board members listen when they don't want to, when they've already decided what they're going to do.

As a result, I decided to do what I do: write. In this blog, I will try to interpret what I see in terms of what I know. It might help like-minded people to understand. It probably won't change the minds of those who feel the opposite way. As I said, they've already decided. 

You can answer my posts if you like, but it's my blog. I control what gets seen, and I expect polite discussion and truthfulness.

I realize that people get upset with the way things are in a society as big and complicated as ours is. They feel powerless. They feel like no one in government really listens to them. They hear things that make them scared or mad or shocked. We all experience those things, but how we react is important. 

What some people tend to do is lash out at the target closest to their level. When I taught at Onaway, my students used to blame the principal for everything they disliked about the school. "He doesn't want us going downtown at lunchtime," or "He won't let us wear hats." Of course, those weren't the principal's decisions. His job was to enforce the rules set up by the school board. The same type of thing happens in work situations: people tend to blame the manager closest to them, the face they know, rather than the unknown people creating policies and making decisions.

Feeling unheard in the bigger world of government and politics, some people turn on local entities like city councils, county commissions,  and schools. This has been encouraged by national leaders over the last few years, because the people who want power (or want to hold onto power) have figured out that controlling small, local organizations is a big help in gaining control of larger, national ones.

Sadly, our school has fallen prey to these tactics, supported by people who have no business interfering with education and no factual basis for the stories they tell to justify their actions.

If you're mad at society, okay. I get it. It's messy out there. What I ask is that locally, each of you work to find out what's true and what's not. Examine and question. Look at who's telling you what's "wrong" with our school. Look at what they're claiming and who they say is doing these awful things. And ask yourself why they might be saying that.

(Hint: is money involved? Power? The chance to "get even" or "take down" someone they're jealous of?)