"Could This Be the Final Century of Our Civilization?"

Last night ABC News showed Earth 2100, a 2-hour presentation, with Bob Woodruff, discussing the potential scientific scenarios of the future of Earth. It was bone chilling. All these things I know/knew are possibilities, but when it is presented in the format shown last evening it brings this even closer to reality.

Most of the program showed the direst possibilities. It showed the extinction of animals and birds we love. It showed the devastation of forested areas around the world. It showed the dissipation of water. It showed the collapse of cities, governments, and medical fields.

All of this was shown through the eyes of "Lucy", a child born on June 2, 2009, who lived through this dissolution of life as we know it. If this isn't an eye-opener to individuals around the world I don't know what is.

This information can be accessed by clicking on this link: Earth 2100 there you can read the articles and view the video.

I highly recommend that anyone reading my blog take the time to visit the above mentioned site. This will need to be a global effort. We already see the effects of water shortage & droughts in various parts of the world. Australia has suffered for at least a decade, Bangladesh and parts of Africa are suffering from drought & loss of ability to raise their own food, Lake Mead in the U. S. is an example of years of too little rainfall & snow runoff to support this giant reservoir. In my part of central Texas and my own back yard we have 80 foot pine trees dying from lack of rainfall. I fear the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s will be nothing in comparison to what is to come.

The last part of the program leaves us with an inspiring look into the future. It shows good and important choices being made to increase our chances for survival and for the survival of our planet. It is truly a look into better ideas for the future and innovative ways to rectify the mistakes we have made and are continuing to make as a global society. It will be up to the U. S. & European countries to share the knowledge we have with emerging nations so as to benefit the entire planet.

Visit: Earth 2100 a slightly different link and perhaps more informative from the one above.

Yet another quote...

This quote appeared in the Insight section of the Austin American Statesman newspaper on Sunday morning.

Sarah Brown - CEO of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, after reports showed that nearly 40% of the babies born in the United States in 2007 were delivered by unwed mothers.

"I wish people spent as much time planning when to get pregnant, with whom, under what circumstances as they do planning their next vacation."

These statistics are surprising to me. Of course this information does not tell us what percentage of the 40% were teen mothers, but still it is a surprisingly large number. It would behoove us as a nation to spend time & money teaching our youth how to prevent pregnancies. It does not do just to tell a person to abstain from sex. Precautions must be taken when having sex because just saying "No" does not appear to be doing the trick.

This is another reason to back sex education in schools. Parents must find this topic difficult to address with their children even though home is the natural place to hold the conversation about safe sex, making good choices, and planning. However, in lieu of home, schools can be a safe place to have these discussions. Specially prepared guest teachers, social workers, or health care providers could be brought in to lead these discussions with students while the regular teacher assisted. Options should be shown students. The supposed glamor of pregnancy should be replaced with the reality of it and the after effects. There should be no scare tactics, just plain truth should be offered.

A P. S. on Teaching

Thank you all for commenting on my "Teaching" post. I felt guilty because the post does make it sound as though professional teachers are the only teachers and wanted to add this as a sort of postscript to my last post. I did not mean to diminish the importance of the people who teach in any aspect of our lives.

We all have "personal teachers" such as mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, doctors, lawyers, dentists, caregivers of all kinds, and spiritual leaders/teachers - pastor's/priests/clergy who have been huge participants in our lives. There are a wide range of teachers/mentors out there in the world. Most good businesses have mentors who work with new employees to help them adjust & learn. New teachers have mentors to help them along in adjusting to their profession. Teaching is not just left to us professional teacher-types. We are all teachers. We all teach some good & some not so good things. The good things we usually try to teach, but inadvertently we teach the wrong thing from time to time. Here's to the good things we manage to teach.

Those who can... Teach!

Recently Rosaria at sixtyfivewhatnow and Reya at The Gold Puppy have written about good teachers being special people. The quote: Those who can, do; those who can't, teach." has been put out time and again.

I have many friends in business, in law, in the medical profession and not one has ever hinted that teacher's are not important. Teaching can be a thankless job if one needs to be told what a good job she is doing. However, a good teacher is rewarded every time a student comments intelligently on a subject, asks a question about how something works or why a certain thing is done. The inquisitiveness of students is reward in and of itself. When students inquire we know we are doing our jobs. We are causing them to think and question. Oh yes!

Yesterday a teacher friend of mine mailed the following story to me. Of course it most likely isn't a true story, but it does get the point across as to why some of us chose & choose to be educators. Teaching requires talent and perseverance. It is not for the faint-of-heart.

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One of the guests decided to explain the problem with education.
The guest argued, “What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?”
The guest reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: 'Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.'
To emphasize the point this question was asked to another guest; “You're a teacher. Be honest. What do you make?”

The teacher, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, “You want to know what I make?”

(The teacher paused for a second, then began...)

“Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.
You want to know what I make?”

(Again a pause and a look at each and every person at the table.)

''I make kids wonder.
I make them question.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.
I make them read, read, read.
I make them show all their work in math. They use their God-given brain, not the man-made calculator.
I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity.
I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the United States of America.
I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.”

(The teacher paused one last time and then continued.)

“Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant... You want to know what I make?
I MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Then the teacher asked the other guest, "What do you make?”

No words came from the arrogant guest; the jaw dropped; dead silence.