Re: Getting Ahead, Cashwise.
^ Exactly.
It isn't that money doesn't matter. A decrepit, shabby school with beat up, out of date textbooks creates the impression that education isn't important. Not having materials, like paper and pencils for kids who really can't afford them, is a problem.
But a person can get an education, even under extremely bad circumstances - if the right attitude is there. Attitude toward education comes partly from ones environment. Student's in my classes with alcoholic or drug addicted parents, from families with long histories of joblessness start out behind the 8-ball right away, no doubt about it.
"Culture" kicks into it too. Forget what teacher's tell kids about the value of a good education. I'm a 50 year old bald guy, and no kid cares much about what I have to tell them about that - not when all the "cool" people who sing to them, or act in movies for them, are telling them something else.
When was the last time you saw somebody in a movie who embodied the much maligned "Protestant work ethic" - work hard and get ahead? Generally, when you see a depiction of a person who is trying to get ahead, you will see that person depicted as a slimy, back stabbing bastard. Really, in real life, it's usually not that way at all. But people only know what they are told.
However, a person can change ones attitude - it is certainly possible for a person from terrible circumstances to decide that he/she does not not like the life that is currently available to him/her, and decide to change - it happens ALL the time.
Ultimately, no matter what the circumstances, the responsibility for ones life rests on the individual. Change perceptions and the world changes with them.
^ Exactly.
It isn't that money doesn't matter. A decrepit, shabby school with beat up, out of date textbooks creates the impression that education isn't important. Not having materials, like paper and pencils for kids who really can't afford them, is a problem.
But a person can get an education, even under extremely bad circumstances - if the right attitude is there. Attitude toward education comes partly from ones environment. Student's in my classes with alcoholic or drug addicted parents, from families with long histories of joblessness start out behind the 8-ball right away, no doubt about it.
"Culture" kicks into it too. Forget what teacher's tell kids about the value of a good education. I'm a 50 year old bald guy, and no kid cares much about what I have to tell them about that - not when all the "cool" people who sing to them, or act in movies for them, are telling them something else.
When was the last time you saw somebody in a movie who embodied the much maligned "Protestant work ethic" - work hard and get ahead? Generally, when you see a depiction of a person who is trying to get ahead, you will see that person depicted as a slimy, back stabbing bastard. Really, in real life, it's usually not that way at all. But people only know what they are told.
However, a person can change ones attitude - it is certainly possible for a person from terrible circumstances to decide that he/she does not not like the life that is currently available to him/her, and decide to change - it happens ALL the time.
Ultimately, no matter what the circumstances, the responsibility for ones life rests on the individual. Change perceptions and the world changes with them.
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