OK, I'll bite -- it's looking like there's some kind of "plan" in the works, a 90 day plan, no less, that will be put in place to get GSS back on the track of doing right by the kids and staff... so I'm hoping.  Details will be coming in soon, and I'll eagerly be examining them for viability.  All I can say is, I hope whatever it is -- it works.

I do know of some approaches that work better than bribery, coddling, and excusing from responsibility.  Just about ANYTHING OTHER than the way things HAVE BEEN GOING would seem to be an improvement!



Apparently, only lip service lip (compared to tried and true mehods) is being fed new employees at Corsicana when it comes to how to "manage" the delinquent youth we are supposed to be in charge of?  Everyone else knows the REALITY of the situation is that things are NOT working as necessary on campus, despite their training... for whatever reason(s) may be.  One thing I think must be emphasized here is that in order to get good responses from kids, you have to get their attention.  I know it may seem old fashioned, but I'll bet I'm not the ONLY person who ever worked in corrections whose parents knew a sure fire way to get a child's attention, hmmm??



When I was a 7th grader in Amarillo in '66, the teachers knew how to keep us kids in line, and it wasn't with cup of soup, slip-n-slides and snow cones.  No, they employed other tactics that certainly got our attention and modified our behavior ... tactics that probably seem VERY old fashioned in this day and age, but they were methods that WORKED, for better or worse.  We got paddled, for example!  Imagine that!!



Yes, here to tell you they took whatever measures necessary to get the job done, and it was a byproduct of their ACKNOWLEDGED AUTHORITY.  Quaint notion nowdays, maybe, but when I was young, there was NO QUESTION that my parents, teachers, cops, etc were IN CHARGE and that I HAD BETTER do what they told (or just expected out of) me if I wanted to keep from being disciplined.  If I didn't, results were sure and swift, and not much to my liking -- at school OR at home.



In short, my parents, the teachers at school, and Society in general had an "18 year plan" that seemed to be a one-size-fits-all sort of deal... and that was to do what it took to raise kids up to succeed in life, and, at a job.  To keep them out of jail, to finish high school at least... to be happy, find meaning in life, and learn to develop meaningful relationships.  Along the way if kids learned morals, ethics, empathy, and stuff like that, well, all the better.  It wasn't -- and it ISN'T -- an easy job, but failure to follow a plan like that results in the total chaos we have nowdays on our streets and correctional institutions.  There's no reason we should relinquish our authority over those who NEED to learn what's expected of them, especially if they want to live out "in the free", is there?