To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Difficult Choices
The boys had to do Language Arts profiles this week at school. One part of the profile is to write an essay on a given topic (there are several that are randomly handed out). T1 didn't have any problems with his topic, but T2 wasn't so lucky. His topic was "talk about a difficult choice you had to make." uh... um... huh?
Granted, some middle school kids have some pretty tough choices to make. Peer pressure can weigh heavy on a tween, and the lure of the "grown up" world of drugs and (ACK!!!) sex can be too much for some kids. Some middle schoolers might have to choose whether to stand up to a bully or not, or some other form of "do the right thing." Other kids, unfortunately, have other choices based on the poor homelife that I don't think I can even imagine.
Then there are my kids. They've lived an incredibly normal middle class life. Their choices revolve around what video game to buy with their gift card or what to put on their Christmas list. Are they going to watch "Dr. Who" or "Battlestar Galactica" on TiVo? Do I do my chores now, or do I do them later? That's about it.
As I thought about the topic, I figured that some of the students didn't have any trouble coming up with a difficult choice they've made. But not T2. He had some problems with it.
So... what did he come up with? The difficult choice that he had to make was... what to write his essay about. Yup... he's writing about how he hasn't had to make many tough decisions.
One of these days, I'm going to get him his own blog. But not today.
Granted, some middle school kids have some pretty tough choices to make. Peer pressure can weigh heavy on a tween, and the lure of the "grown up" world of drugs and (ACK!!!) sex can be too much for some kids. Some middle schoolers might have to choose whether to stand up to a bully or not, or some other form of "do the right thing." Other kids, unfortunately, have other choices based on the poor homelife that I don't think I can even imagine.
Then there are my kids. They've lived an incredibly normal middle class life. Their choices revolve around what video game to buy with their gift card or what to put on their Christmas list. Are they going to watch "Dr. Who" or "Battlestar Galactica" on TiVo? Do I do my chores now, or do I do them later? That's about it.
As I thought about the topic, I figured that some of the students didn't have any trouble coming up with a difficult choice they've made. But not T2. He had some problems with it.
So... what did he come up with? The difficult choice that he had to make was... what to write his essay about. Yup... he's writing about how he hasn't had to make many tough decisions.
One of these days, I'm going to get him his own blog. But not today.
