Budget cuts may affect the Bronx Zoo and NY Aquarium. For information on how to contact Gov. Patterson to voice your disapproval, see this link.
Here are some photos from my recent zoo visit:
Created with flickr slideshow.
It’s doubtful that you could find many educators that believe that most children read enough. When I used to work in education, many professor were moving away from the traditional “open your books to page x” method. They were utilizing computers and projectors in the classrooms, videos, transparencies, etc… It appeared that the emphasis was to move from text to some other visual format. In other words, from words to pictures.
Does someone really learn better with pictures instead of words? The Pro argument would probably say that since the most recent generations have been raised on television, they are more likely to respond to images instead of creating mental images through text. The Con argument would point to something like Keitai Shosetsu.
Keitai Shosetsu is a novel in a format for a cell phone. Apparently, these are hugely popular in Japan, specifically among school age children. The sentences are shorter and chapters are easier to digest, given the small screen format.
But isn’t it just a novel all over again? Sure is. So… the question might be, “Are children more attracted to the medium than to the content?” Are high school student more likely to pay attention to a page on the Internet instead of a printed page? Is the same image less impressive when printed than displayed on a monitor? Are we truly more impressed by the number of pixels or the “new” tag on the bottom right hand corner?
Places to try out based on reviews from some of my favorite food sites:
Chandni Restaurant
11 West 29th Street (between Fifth Avenue and Broadway)
212-686-4456
Reviewed by NYCnosh
Margon Restaurant
136 West 46th Street (between Sixth and Seventh Avenues)
212-354-5013
Reviewed by NYCnosh
Foo Shing Hand Fresh Noodle Soup Shop
2 East Broadway
Chinatown New York
212-925 5425
Reviewed by Plate of the Day
Bailey’s Smokehouse
136 Erie St
E, Blauvelt, NY
(845) 398-1454
Reviewed by Off the Broiler
Liebman’s Kosher Delicatessen
552 W 235th St, Bronx, NY
(718) 548-4534
Reviewed by Off the Broiler
Havana Sandwich Queen
888 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY
(718) 292-0017
Reveiwed by Off the Broiler
Kati Roll
49 w. 39th St. (btw. 5+6th)
212-730-4280
Reviewed by Midtown Lunch
Everyone has dealt with a fussy child in the movie theater. Whether it is the fruit of your loins or the hellspawn sprung from the demon womb of someone else, you’ve had the experience of a child disturbing your cinematic bliss. Generally, you can dismiss this with a grumble and maybe a dirty look. With luck, the child will be removed or reprimanded by the parent/s and all will be well.
However, the scary trend, and I’ve discussed this at length with many friends is the sheer number of children that are using foul language towards their parents and acting in increasingly outrageous manners.
Example scenario: Mother and child in supermarket in cereal isle. Child is somewhere between two and four. Mother is probably in mid-twenties or early thirties at most.
“Mommy, I want this one.”
“No baby, put that back.”
“But I want it!”
“No! Put it back.”
Cereal box is then thrown to the ground.
“No! I hate you! Fuck you!” (No kidding… straight up FU.)
“Why are you acting this way?”
“Fuck you! WAAAHHH WAAHHHHA WAHHHH!!!!!”
“Stop it. Mommy loves you so much, why are you acting this way?”
At this point, the child is on the ground banging his fists into the floor tiles and the mother is desperately trying to coo and coddle him. I’m ready to vomit.
Are you saying to yourself, “I never would have done this.” If I were to ask, “Why?” you might answer “Because of how I was raised.” “And how was that?” The answer to that question would probably be plentiful, but I’m sure that there is a good percentage of people that say, “Because my parent would have beaten the ever-living-shit out of me.” The correct word in this instance is “shit”, not “crap”, because “shit” properly exemplifies the within-an-inch of life, face-swelling, tear-inducing, run-for-your-God-damned-life righteous onslaught that would have ensued.
When I grew up, corporal punishment was just starting to fall by the wayside, but not in my neighborhood. I went to a local kindergarten. The headmistress (damn, that word is just evil) was Mrs. Bruce. She roamed the classrooms with a yardstick just to ensure everyone was in line. If you ever see Schindler’s List, it was something like when Amon Goethe would patrol the camps. Your head would hang low, you would stay quiet, but busy at whatever assignment was in front of you, and you would never make eye contact. Woe be the child that acted up in her presence. WHACK!!!
Here’s the worst part. Not only would you catch a smack from Mrs. Bruce, but when your parents came to pick you up, she would sit you down in her office with your mother or father and tell them what you did. Your parental unit would then usually say, “He did what?” and beat the crap out of you in front of Mrs. Bruce, just so that she would see that said parent knew how to discipline an unruly child. If you were lucky, both parents would be in the office. If not, you would be in for at least one more beating when mother or father got home.
I am not ashamed to say that I have been on the receiving ends of such beatings. Not often, but they did happen. The times I did not appreciate were when I was accused of an infraction that I don’t believe I committed, most famous “backtalking”. I thought I was asking a legitimate question. WHACK!! I was wrong.
Around the time I turned 8, the issues of child beating became a hot button issue. I think what brought it to mainstream attention was the death of Lisa Steinberg. The question of whether or not it was right to beat children was all around. Teachers started to check children for bruises at some schools. I remember saying to my mother, “Mom, if I told on you for beating me, you could be sent to jail.” I forget exactly what her response was, but it was something along the lines of “If you did that, eventually I would get out of jail, and then I’d kill you.” She was smiling, but I don’t think she was joking.
Nevertheless, gone are the days when your neighbors could beat you for acting up. Oh yeah… you’d better believe it. If I did something stupid around the neighborhood, any neighbor could beat my ass, march me home, at which point my mother would beat me senseless to show the neighbors that she could discipline her child, and then later I would get beaten again for embarrassing her. (Granted, this never happened to me personally. My mother had a back yard and a shovel.) The point is that parent don’t hit their kids, their kids are not being disciplined, so what happens when said child acts up in public? Nothing.
This does appear to be a mostly white phenomenon. Sorry, but it’s true. I remember seeing nearly the same supermarket incident with a black family, but it went a little differently.
“Mommy, I want this one.”
“No baby, put that back.”
“But I want it!”
“What did you just say?”
<shudder>
“Did you just raise your voice to me?”
<whimper>
“I just asked you a question?”
“But I…”
SMACK!! “Don’t talk back to me. Put that back before I give you something to cry about.” EXTRA SMACK FOR GOOD MEASURE!
I don’t have children, so I’m not one to give advice, but personally, reasoning with someone that does not possess the power of reason is just silly.
Additional Links:
Your Child Was Out of Line by Kathleen Deveny
Interesting take on child beatings. (I’m not sure if he’s joking or completely serious.)
Guidelines for beating
Beating Children can Lead to Sexual Deviance (I can’t believe this is serious.)
Do you ever see something that makes you shake your head? Ever feel embarrassment for someone else? Ever feel more embarrassed because you were somehow associated with that person? Remember when you had to do group projects in grade school, everyone would share the same grade, no matter what? If so, then you have some idea of what it is like to be black in America.
DeWayne Wickham’s article in USA Today strikes a fairly resonant cord. The subject is the appropriateness of black fashion, particularly jewel encrusted mouthpieces and low baggy pants. (Full disclosure: I’m not a fan. If you walk into my house, dittybopping, grillz in place, boxers showing, and you say, “Wuz up nigga?”, I’m hurling your ass out of my house.)
Vincent Holloman, a ten year old, was awarded with some grillz for examplary academic performance. No, they were not given out by the school board. These grillz were cemented in place by a dentist. A school guidance counselor found them inappropriate and tried to forcibly removed them from Vincent’s mouth, cause gum damage. (Read more here.)
According to Wickham, some states are looking to institute public dress codes to prevent exposure due to low riding shorts. Before anyone starts to cheer, remember, this would also ban the visible thong. Take that, White America.
Here’s the thing that everyone seems to have forgotten in all this talk about the appropriateness of black fashion. It’s fashion. It changes. It goes away. Give it time. Deplorable as you may find it, eventually, it’s gone. The Jheri Curl went away. You don’t see anyone rocking much kente cloth or Africa medallions anymore, and there was a time when those were the “must haves” of black fashion. Sad as the fashion statement may seem, and believe me, I can’t stand it, it’s going to run its natural course which eventually ends in termination.
There is a very poignant line at the end of Wickham’s article, “When blacks demean themselves, we give other license to do the same.” It hurts because it’s an unavoidable truth. I’ve said for a long time, “If you’re black and you do something exceptional, you’re special. If you’re black and you do something stupid, you’re a statistic.” Don’t take my word for it, pick up your local paper. Next time an incident involving a black perpetrator is reported, see if there is any reference to a “systemic problem”. See if the incident is “common in such areas”. Check if the words “ongoing”, “troublesome trend”, or “yet another” are used. Really do your homework. See if the same sort of crime is perpetrated by white people, and see if the incident is reported on in the same manner.
It’s a sad reality, if you’re black, and you do something stupid, it embarrasses us all. However, is the current fashion trend really so bad? As I admitted, I’m not a fan. If I had a child that walked into the house with his underwear showing and talked like his mouth was filled with marbles and punctuated every sentence with, “Knamean?” I’d beat him within an inch of his life. Nevertheless, that’s just my own personal taste and proclivity. Where is the harm in wearing a mouthpiece (in the appropriate circles, granted)? Are we making too big a deal about something that will eventually fade away?