kid by online
I hated school. But I also
went to a very strict school, with rules and punishments that would probably
not be legal anymore. Amazingly, I later became a teacher of third, fourth, and
sixth grade, and I did that for twenty years. It's hard to explain even to
myself, but I do like kids and working with them.
Now I am trying to be a U.S.
Senator and I've made my main guiding principle for running the country to "put
kids first." Let me say in clear and simple words what I mean by that. I mean
first of all that when adults think about actions they're voting on or passing
laws about, they should keep kids first in mind. They should do everything
possible to make learning fun, interesting, inspiring, and in general make
school a place that kids enjoy. There should be nothing more important than
educating children in a way that works for the kids.
We should listen to kids,
who often know more about what's really going on than the teachers--what's
really helping kids learn, what's working against that, what's important in
their own lives. What is interesting and what is a total bore.
I also mean no bullying, no
teachers hounding you all the time about tests, no absurd amounts of homework,
no principals that base their schools on punishment, no ridiculous classes that
don't get you really thinking about things.
I believe there should be no
overcrowding, no run-down buildings, no class disruptors who make life
miserable for everyone, no report cards. Instead of report cards, we should
have portfolios that show your actual work and that you can take pride in and
show others and keep for a permanent record.
There should be no
ridiculous "race to the top," whatever that means anyway. There should be
cooperation and real learning and school should not be based on competition.
Games are fun and great and I approve of those, but not as a measure of how you
compare to everyone else.
I believe every person has
their own abilities and talents and that these should be encouraged and
explored. Not everyone is an expert in every area, nor should they be. Not
everyone needs to be "perfect" in any area for that matter. I say we need to
encourage curiosity and show children things of interest that as teachers we
have come across in our own lives.
Almost certainly, you have
had good and bad teachers, and you know what makes them good or bad. Each year
I would have kids write on index cards three questions they wanted to know
about me. Can you guess what the main one was, about 75% or more of the time?
It was, "Are you nice?" or
something very close to that. My answer was that I would try to be the nicest
teacher they ever had, if they were nice. But the opposite was also true: You
be mean, and I'll be the meanest teacher you ever had. But somehow we always
became friends, as I think teachers and students should always be.
I also mean by putting kids
first that we adults should be thinking of all humans getting along, stopping
wars, ending pollution, working on other sources of energy, concerning ourselves
seriously with climate change, making our environment healthy for all animals
and plants, and making a society where people are not spending lots of time in
jail and court and doing stupid things.
I think we should be doing
everything possible to make jobs meaningful, both for your parents now and you
when you get older. No person in
We should not see people
begging for money on every other street corner. We should not see garbage or
have adults telling us we can't afford any of these things. Those who do are
simply lying to us, and they should not be tolerated.
We should not let people
make money by scamming others. Everyone should have a meaningful job, no
worries about healthcare, no concerns about where their next meal is coming
from.
I believe that educated and
thinking minds are our most important resource, and that these are the future
of our country, and even the world. I think college education should be free
for those who really want it and prove by hard work that they do.
I could go on and I actually
have, on my main website, voteutah.us (that I encourage you to look at, along with some of the videos and links on there too--or at least the sites I mention below).
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