Part 2

I get very aggravated at technology at times!!! There I was typing away when I hit a wrong key and ZAP. "Your blog published successfully" WHAT? I wasn't finished! It put the brakes on my train of thought! Let's see where was I?

The changes I mentioned before the infernal machine put the quietus on my activity, were life changing but the effects, while seemingly obvious, were ultimately more far reaching than I can express here at this time. Another blog on another day will deal with some of those changes. I am totally off track here but .....I'll digress.

When I helped write the" Student's Hand Book' about 30 or 40 years ago, we listed all of the rules and regulations that the students had to abide by. If they did not abide by the rules they would face consequences of some sort. Some as benign as 'no recess' and some as serious as suspension and some as drastic as expulsion. The students had to read this part of the hand book and sign on the dotted line along with their parents saying that they had read the rules and understood them, and would adhere to them.

The rules had to do with obeying the dress code, homework policy, behavior in the class room, the lunch room, recess, and above all the rules of civility. The students were expected to show respect and demonstrate the mores of society. It was the school's mission to render them capable of making the distinction between right and wrong. We advocated conformity with the generally accepted standards of goodness or rightness in conduct regarding their parents, teachers, class mates, and all in the community. We devoted one class period each day to a class named Social Values. We read stories that contained examples of values, Aesop's Fables, and many other books and articles that demonstrated the values that we should all adhere to.We would role play so that they could grasp the concept and maybe internalize it.

Where are they learning the mores of society today? Have the rules changed?

One of the rules that we wrote in that Hand Book was the rule regarding certain language. We made a distinct difference in the consequences for using profane language which by definition is showing disrespect or contempt for sacred things; irreverent. It is a much more serious offence than using vulgar language. Vulgar language is considered unrefined, coarse, obscene, crude and common. It is commonly used by people with a lack of culture, refinement or taste.

Vulgar language is used more and more today, a change that I think reflects the lack of civility or of restraint. It used to be, back in my day, that men for the most part, used vulgar language but only among themselves. They restrained from speaking certain words in the presence of ladies. Never ,never would they tolerate anyone speaking obscenely in front of their mother or a child. Now it seems that anything goes. Television shows are now commonly using words that were bleeped out in the past. What happened to respect and decorum?

A big deal has been made about our Veep whispering an obscenity into the Presidents ear, mostly people are laughing about it. He used the word as an adjective, the former Veep used it as a verb and directed it to our Congress. In regard to both of them, do they have such a limited vocabulary that they have to resort to the common vernacular of the uneducated to express their feelings?

As I keep saying, back in the day, both those instances would have been considered egregious offences against the mores of society. I hope it takes a turn for the better soon. There is going to have to be a major turn around among us. Ciao.