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This sort of behaviour by the teachers' unions is one of the reasons why over the last 50 years teaching has gone from a respected profession to no more than a baby-sitting service.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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last time teachers could call out kids not following the plan or disrupting class, send them to the principals office for talking to (with their parents), and identify kids that perhaps needed 'more help.' And yes, other discipline could be applied.
these days:
1. they can't do anything to them: kids can play up, act the fool, do nothing, even directly disrespect the teachers.
2. they can't even call out kids that need extra help - that's stigmatizing them (or some such nonsense)
- and the parents siding with the kids on and disputes wonder why the teachers get no results.
so yeah, teaching is no longer a "respected profession," not because they don't try,
but ...
... because they can't do anything to be respected
... because [putting it simply] the bleeding heart idiots took away their ability to get respect.
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the goat in your machine wrote: so yeah, teaching is no longer a "respected profession," not because they don't try,
but ...
... because they can't do anything to be respected
... because [putting it simply] the bleeding heart idiots took away their ability to get respect.
Agree
I have seen teachers getting in problems, just because they cared and tried to do more for some students. No wonder that they afterwards say: go to hell.
Of course there are other teachers too, that just got in this job for the big vacations and don't give a crap for their students.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
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Nah teachers were respected when, if you were a PITA, they could inflict pain and anguish ie the cane. I grew up respecting teachers because my bum hurt.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity -
RAH
I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote: those at kinder-garden are obviously can not 'teach' remotely
You'd be surprised at how easily most kids can pick up an iPad.
But I get what you mean: Kindergarden is little more than glorified babysitting, so the problem isn't the material being "taught"...you pretty much need an adult to be present.
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I wouldn't think so they're so Ice-o-lated!
I'll just get my coat now and leave!
I'm hiding from exercise...I'm in the fitness protection program.
JaxCoder.com
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One of several articles: [^]
And with winter there fast approaching, it'll probably stay that way.
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Uuuh... "who has been at the Concordia Station in Antarctica since November, said being in the southernmost continent already felt "so otherworldly" because of the increasing darkness and cold."
This is not the Arctic, but the Antartica! November is right before midsummer, it is getting lighter and lighter! By today, they have had a long period of midnight sun!
This is such a fundamental mistake that I ask myself whether the entire story is just made up. I cannot imagine any real researcher referring to "the Antarctic winter environment" when it is in fact the Antarctic summer. The story may be real, but the journalist was clueless and misunderstood some essential points. Then he might have misinterpreted just as badly whatever else the researchers told him.
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He's been there since November, has gone through summer, and now it's getting increasingly dark and cold.
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OK, I'll accept that as an excuse. But it is like people on the northern hemisphere complaining about winter cold and darkness in early September. It is a little bit early.
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Well, he's at Concordia Station[^], which is in the interior south of New Zealand, and the equinox has passed. It's not as if he's on one of those wussy stations around the Antarctic Peninsula.
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Mike Hankey wrote: I'll just get my coat now and leave!
Leave the coat; it's cold in here.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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21 days, nobody allowed to leave home for any reason.
And four hours notice before it took effect ... 
I can understand why, but there are going to be a lot of breaches, or a heck of a lot of deaths in the next 3 weeks ...
New York Times[^]
If you live in a city in India, I feel really sorry for you and wish you the best for the future.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Wow, gook luck to our Indian friends...be safe!
I'm hiding from exercise...I'm in the fitness protection program.
JaxCoder.com
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Wow... better quickly stock up tons of rice! 
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Super Lloyd wrote: better quickly stock up tons of rice!
And lentils! High protein, long shelf-life and easy to cook. A staple of Indian cuisine and delicious! 
/ravi
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OriginalGriff wrote: nobody allowed to leave home for any reason.
This was the part I didn't understand. Seriously? Who has enough resources to survive 3 weeks in home, except maybe JSOP?
One thing though, you'll be able to see the horizon with all the factories shut down, and maybe the Ganges will get a wee bit cleaner. 
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Marc Clifton wrote: Who has enough resources to survive 3 weeks in home, except maybe JSOP?
I guess that in India, to a fair share of the population it is not within economic reach to always be stocked up for four weeks of isolatin. (I am curious to the meaning of JSOP in this context, but that is inessential for the discussion.)
I am more surprised by how often you see the same in the well-to-do Western world. Lots of people who could easily afford to keep four months supply of food, toilet paper and whathaveyou. Often, the "socialist" Europe is blamed by Americans for not taking responsibility for themselves but relying on a "socialist" system, but in this case I think there are clear examples, also in Europe but to an even higher degree in the USA, that people rely on the commercial system to take care of them, in the sense that the shops and their suppliers are "obliged" to always provide whatever you need. We are living in sort of a modern type of hunter-gatherer society where we every day go out in the "jungle" to get what we need; we do not make any sort of private long-term preparations.
Why don't we all keep at least a four weeks stock of toilet paper, canned and dried food, toothpaste and whathaveyou? When you establish your stock, you will have to spend a little more than in an average week, but once it is there, on your shelves, the expense of restocking is no greater than the expense of buying as you need, without any stock. You can build it up gradually, you don't have to build a complete emergency supply of everything in a single week: This week you build up your toilet paper stock, next wee you build the stock of medicines you depend on, and so on.
Some do, but the percentage is very low. Most of those who do may say "Sure, I buy 24 rolls of TP at a time", or "Yeah, I've got a dozen soup cans" - but very few follow a systematic plan, having a check list of what they should always be stocked up on.
(If you are among those who do have a stock plan, I'd be curious to see your list of what you stock up!)
For years, I have kept a list of consumables (essentially food and health/medicine) for which I should always have a stock lasting for a minimum of four weeks. For some products, the average stock is significantly higher; 4 weeks is the trigger point for re-supplying. I had no need to panicly stock up for Corona; it was already there, both food and paper and other stuff.
Why do I feel so special, in this respect? Don't people have shelves available? Don't they want to sacrify any immediate consumption in order to finance a stock? Or is it simply that they never considered the possibilty that the commercial world might be unable to supply their need the next two days?
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Agreed.
I consider myself to have been very wise and have taken excellent precautions for lockdown: I have over 300 games on GoG, and about fifty more on Steam.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I have a lot of things. In case of a total lockdown but having water and electricity I am confident that we could manage 3 or 4 weeks without big troubles (frozen bread and vegetables available).
But without water and electricity... I would probably start having troubles in a week or maybe less.
This is something I will take care when we build our house.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
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First... you only stock things with long expiry date.
Second... once you have stocked, you do FIFO. You use one, you buy one. You put the new one in the back of the stock and get the first one to continue life.
You can stock at least the half of the usual things. Only fresh things, some vegetables (that don't tolerate freezing well) and some other stuff can't be stocked.
But you might still survive some weeks in an emergency without problems.
Energetic, wate security is more difficult.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
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Yes, I see water as major problem under a long term crisis.
It comes at two levels: Drinking water and other uses. If you've got enough storage space, you can keep drining water in sealed bottles, bought at the grocery store - they usually have a shelf life of many months. Of course you can fill up a large canister of tap water, but even though it is usually fine for drinking today, it isn't guaranteed to be bacteria free. Six months later you may want to boil it before drinking it. Bottled water is easily circulated in a FIFO manner, but few of us do that with tap water canisters, so you should have a routine refreshing that water every x months.
There is a second essential use of water: Even if water is closed off for as little as six hours (e.g. when they dig in the streets to do work on the pipes, or a pipe is broken): You can flush your toilet only once! The authorities always provide drinking water from a large movable container, but you can't run out to get a bucket of flushing water.
My (coming) solution to the problem: I will be digging a lot in my garden this summer, remodeling my house, and put a five cubic meter rainwater cistern into the ground. This is for several reasons: During a draught, 5000 liters of water for my vegetable garden will be substantial. During heavy rain showers, it helps prevent flooding. And, for emergency situations, I can pump up a bucket of water for the toilet. The cistern inlet will be equipped with a prefilter to keep most of leaves and particles out. If I pump up water, I can put it through a finer filter and boil it, as emergency drinking water.
I guess that I am lucky, having this option available. If you live in a 7th floor apartment, you probably won't be able to collect much rain water!
For the electricity:
I am switching to 12VDC LED lights. I just bought six large solar panels, 6*320 Wp, and two lead accumulators. The controller is hooked up to the grid, so in winter when the panels cannot keep the accumulators fully charged, they will be kept charged from the grid. I can also run my Internet fiber connection from the accumulators, the battery radio (when it runs out of batteries) and charge my telephone and laptop.
About 5 kWh of electricity (continously refilled by the panels if there is sun or bright daylight) is probably sufficient for lights. You can't run a freezer on it, or high-power equipment like a dishwasher. You can't heat water for the shower. For the fridge/freezer, I have got a small generator (originally bought for camping trips in my box car) to run them for a couple of hours every day.
For hot water, I am installing a propane heater, the kind intended for off-grid cabins, both as an emergency heater and in everyday operation as an after-heater when I need glowing hot water. The heat pump driven hot water tank is kept at about 50°C (except under the regular legionella desinfections) which is fine for showering, but not for everything else.
For cooking, I was laughed at, going for a split propane/induction solution: Around here, gas stoves are virtually unknown. (We know them only as something used in other countries.) But I was about to make a grave mistake: I had decided on one model, and made a final check of the specs before finalizing the order ... to discover that it had security mechanism that turned off the gas immediately at power outages, making it useless. There was no way to override this. So when I found another model, before ordering I got in writing from the manufacturer that the stove will work even during a power outage - the electric igniter will not, but I can ignite it with a match/lighter.
To keep the house warm, I have heat pump driven floor heating, which requires electicity to run. I discovered that high effect (4-5 kW) portable propane heaters are fairly cheap, well below a hundred Euros. So I got myself a couple of those, both for emergency situations, and as boosters to rapidly get the heat up e.g. when you return home after having been gone for a couple of days. Or you can put the heater in your car when you go to the mountain cabin, to rapidly get it warm.
Twenty years ago, the grid was rock steady, no outages at all. Nowadays, they do so much "optimization", tying various supply lines up in a tightly connected network, that everyhing depends on everything else. Problems anywhere in the grid, e.g. a transformer breakdown, ripples through the grid, turning off everything miles away from the source of the problem. The last few years we have had 1-3 outages a year, each lasting only a couple hours where I live (in rural areas, they may last for a day!). I can't recall any case were the real problem was in my neighbourhood; it was all ripple effects. A couple hours without electricity isn't disasterous, but keeping light and communication running certainly is good.
I think I have taken care of most water and electricity issues: Light, hot water, cooking, heating, fridges/freezers, communication. At least I am a lot better prepared than most of my friends!
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Only because I am paranoic, it doesn't mean I am not being followed
I will probably get a lot of "what are you doing?", "you are overreacting" and similars... but I think it is something not that impossible to get to really need it.
Last summer we had an outage of 7 hours. We were partially lucky it was during the day, so we could still see and have a "normal day" with the kids in garden and so on. As time was going away we already started thinking we have to throw a lot of the frozen meals, but it just got to the limit without crossing it.
I don't want to be independant for a year, but at least have a buffer of some weeks. That gives already a big margin until things settle down or get repaired
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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About "prepping": Personally, I tend to reject aything that is only for "prepping". It must contribute to my everyday life and security as well, like handling broken water pipes and grid fallouts and food shortages. You will never see me invest in something that will only be useful during WW3.
Then: More than twenty years ago, I had a slight mental breakdown. It started with my car, realizing how little of it I understood, how much I was dependent on experienced car mechanics. What would I do if they weren't there? I extended it to plumbers, electicians, whatever ... quite brutally getting an understanding of how dependent I am on people who understand the things that I do. If they were not there, what then?
These issues started me creating a literary world, a novel, where those who know how to handle, keep running, fix all the things I depend on, were suddenly gone, with noone to help me. Over a period of several years, I discovered new problem areas, and baked them into the novel - certainly not in McGyver style, more to the opposite: Considering as real issues in a post-apocalyptic situation.
After having mentally processed this situation for a few years, I end up viewing the Preppers, who sometimes take it to extremes, to be rather laughable. Mostly, they pick a few, very narrow aspects, where they are super-prepared, but then there are dozens of ignored aspects that will kill them, because they do not see the dependencies, do not see the long-term issue of supplementing and replacing what they've got.
I know why Prepping (with a capital P) is next to useless. It is a joke. If you end up in a post-apocalyptic world, it will essentially be a reset back to stone age - you won't even have the facilities to produce more iron, to keep you at iron age level! For a while, there will be enough iron around, but when that is exhausted, then what? It certainly will be "stone age with a head start", because you have a lot of books telling you how iron is mined ... but will you be able to preseve that know-how until you are strong enough to establish new iron works?
Or maybe you will consider it. Maybe you reconsider what you really, in a post-apocalyptic situation, would choose to spend resources on. After all, lots of the industrial products weren't that essential to quality of life, were they? What should you strive to reestablish? What would you abandon?
I made my own thoughts, and experienced that in the free Western world, you are certainly not free to question the very foundations of our society, of our culture. The very idea of our culture being reshaped into something that we always though of as belonging to "primitive tribe cultures" was so upsetting to those reading my manuscript that it brought me in trouble... (so the manuscript was never published).
Yet I do not regret writing this manuscript. I laugh at most Preppers, and believe that I can justify it. I have considered the situation thoroughly. That is why I prepare for the short/medium term crises, where society will return to normal, more or less, after some time. The post-apocalypse will be a return to the stone age, no matter how you twist it around. If you want to prepare for that, prepare for it that way. Don't expect ironworks, radio stations, weavers, glass makers, paint factories or whatever to be around, because they won't be. Get used to it.
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