Wednesday, March 7, 2012

"New Normal" Is Not Justification

Do you ever read something and want to talk specifically to the person quoted in the article or story? That would be me reading this story and many other stories that discuss cutting physical education. In this article titled "Worries mount over lack of physical education in schools", there is comment by a school district's spokesman that is frustrating and lacks justification. When discussing the physical education cuts in their district, a spokesman says "We would love to have the money to fund our PE specialists and the many other positions which have been lost over the past five years, but we are also faced with living in the new normal." Wait a minute, "new normal"?  What exactly does that mean? So would people losing their houses to foreclosure be a "new normal"? If that's the case, maybe I should cut out the rational spending from my family's plan of money management. Or maybe I should quit my job, because the "new normal" is to be unemployed. Childhood obesity is running rampant in our society and his justification of cutting a program that has an opportunity to make a difference is it's the "new normal". Things like "new normals" and past practices do not make things right. One of my biggest pet peeves in education is when someone responds with the old "because that's how we've always done it" comment. That must make it the right thing then (that's sarcasm). If I were in this district, I would be very disappointed with that ridiculous comment. If you are interested in the story, here's the link:  http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/01/04/134803/worries-mount-over-lack-of-physical.html

No comments:

Post a Comment