New Article/We Are Daming Our Society

We Are Damning Our Society
Paul

What exactly is the purpose behind the gross amount of money we as human beings spend on entertainment? Why do these entertainment stars make so much money? And perhaps the most important question is this - why do these entertainers make more money than our teachers?

American football players make an average of roughly $1,400,000 US each year. British soccer players make an average of $1,177,000 US. Even high school coaches manage to make an average of $73,000 US. The average high school teacher, on the other hand, makes only $42,000 US each year.

Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?

Something about this isn’t right. Teachers are the people who give up their own time and money (since teachers are grossly undersupplied and are often forced to buy supplies with their own money) to educate our children. These people are raising the next generation of scientists, geneticists, mathematicians, writers, authors, composers, and playwrights. The children these teachers raise will go on to find the cure for cancer and AIDS, achieve heights of technology never before imagined, and will eventually discover a way to help us as a race transcend our own existence.

And yet you people would rather toss your money at people who are willing to entertain you for 30 minutes at a time.

Without teachers, we would have hardly any way to pass on information (for without teachers, who would have instructed us on how to use the internet?) Without teachers, we would all still be sitting in caves, scavenging for our lives (for without teachers, who would have instructed us on how to settle, to grow and harvest food instead of roaming?) A world without our teachers would be a world very different from the one we live in today.

Yet when money becomes tight in a city, where do those in power turn to for the first budget cuts? School systems. Every year, more and more teachers are losing their jobs due to budget costs, cramming more children into each classroom and reducing the amount of time and energy a teacher can spend with each child. Certain activities are often cut out entirely, with fine arts programs being the first to go (God forbid we lose our physical education classes before our fine arts classes!) Teacher pay is often sacrificed before politicians will even dare to think about cutting their own paychecks. And people wonder why teachers hate their jobs.

Despite all this, these teachers come to class every day - to classes where they are ridiculed relentlessly by youths, where they are under appreciated by the head faculty, where they are bombarded with complaints and compromises by parents - to pass along the knowledge to children that will one day mold them into greatness.

So why do we still pay these people so little, barely beans, to put up with all this crap, while sports stars and actors live the high life for doing nothing more than being able to play a game?

I think it’s time we get our priorities in order. If we don’t our society will be forever damned to mediocrity, and we will never become what we truly have the potential to be.