Or start with scene 1 at http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewshortstory.asp?AuthorID=84575&id=61052
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The U.S. poverty rate in 2012 for children under age 18 was 21.8% (16,073,000).
(http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p60-245.pdf)
“It is well documented that poverty decreases a child’s readiness for school through aspects of health, home life, schooling and neighbourhoods. Six poverty-related factors are known to impact child development in general and school readiness in particular. They are the incidence of poverty, the depth of poverty, the duration of poverty, the timing of poverty (eg, age of child), community characteristics (eg, concentration of poverty and crime in neighborhood, and school characteristics) and the impact poverty has on the child’s social network (parents, relatives and neighbors). A child’s home has a particularly strong impact on school readiness. Children from low-income families often do not receive the stimulation and do not learn the social skills required to prepare them for school. Typical problems are parental inconsistency (with regard to daily routines and parenting), frequent changes of primary caregivers, lack of supervision and poor role modelling. Very often, the parents of these children also lack support.”
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2528798/)
Then there is the violence.
The CDC reported that, “In 2009, about 20% (5 million) of students 12 –18 reported that gangs were present at their school during the school year … 5.9% (1.45 million) did not go to school on one or more days because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to or from school … 7.4% (1.82 million) reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property one or more times in the 12 months before the survey…”
“Exposure to youth violence and school violence can lead to a wide array of negative health behaviors and outcomes, including alcohol and drug use and suicide. Depression, anxiety, and many other psychological problems, including fear, can result from school violence.” (http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/school_violence_fact_sheet-a.pdf)
These facts reported by the U.S. Census, the National Center for Biotechnology Information and the CDC should concern everyone in America, but the federal government, Congress, and Presidents G. W. Bush and Obama demanded that America’s public schools and teachers successfully teach one hundred percent of these children anyway or risk job loss and replacement of the school with one run by corporations or private sector non-profits, where the CEO administrators are already paid hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for running a school that often performs no better or worse than the public schools. The biggest difference—so far—has been that these private sector schools do not have to be successful with one hundred percent of the students, and their teachers do not have to be highly trained or certified.
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Thank you for taking time to read these scenes from Crazy is Normal, a classroom exposé. If you read the rest of the book, please consider telling your friends and/or posting a short review on Amazon. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated.
“Crazy is Normal” goes on a promotional tour starting October 1st that ends in the middle of November, 2014. During the promotion, the e-book of the memoir will be on sale for 0.99ȼ. The price will return to $3.99 at the end of the promotional tour.
Scenes from "Crazy is Normal, a classroom expose" will appear here Saturdays in thirteen installments covering the first ten percent of the memoir or 12,455 words.
The paperback and eBook may be found through its Website: http://www.crazynormal.com/
The Introduction, which comes before the Prelude, may be found at:
