It's like circle surfing - going around to all the sites you read over and over to see if there is anything new.

My big worries about video games/television and kids:

I have students who are reading 2 - 3 grades below grade level. They never read at home, but they play video games/watch tv for hours. I know this from talking with them and their parents. The parents will restrict the activities for awhile, but they won't take that time to read with their kids.

Lack of parental involvement - I can't believe some of the games/shows/movies my students are allowed to watch or play. I would feel differently about it if the parents were then discussing the inappropriate things in the kids see with the kids, but they don't. I do a few read alouds that are a little on the edge in my classroom, partly so I can discuss these things with my kids because the parents aren't stepping up to the plate and doing it.

I don't know what parents are doing with their children these days. It baffles me. And I don't want you to think I have 30 hoodlums in my class. I have 26 kids who are typical - they make mistakes, they shock me with their generous and caring natures, some of them are diagnosed ADD, a couple are on serious meds. They work hard and they get lazy. They mess up and they have remorse. They drive me crazy; they make me smile.

The other four make me question daily why I am still teaching. These 4 have the ability to bring about ten of the others down to their level and influence them in ways that scare me. These 4 don't show remorse. They are bullies, instigators, defacers of property. They are well on their way to being hoodlums and thugs. And they encourage that behavior in too many of the other kids.

I've always thought it was the parents job to instill community values into their children. But I often wonder if that notion is old fashioned, pie in the sky and there are no community values anymore.

Veronica