it's been a LONG time since i weighed into one of these threads, and in that time many of the solid voices of reason i spent my time in happy, productive argument with seem to have left (ah johnny, we miss your 4 page rants), but lets look at few issues here.
first and foremost as far as i am concerned, there is a real issue as far as privacy goes.
not so much privacy perhaps, as much as personal and civil liberties.
the state has almost unlimited power to control the lives of compliant citizens if they aren't stopped. at all times look for what is called "the thin end of the wedge". at what point do you mark a line.
i know of a child (ok, not child per se, 14 yrs old) who was suspended for giving a couple of nurofen tablets to a freind of hers who had period cramps.
the official write up for it was "supplying drugs". for 2 nurofen.
2 weeks suspention, and a note in her school record. for 2 nurofen.
where is the line? and who is qualified to mark it for us?
and checking for healthy lunches? WTF? who decides, and why?
what happened to education and personal responsibility?
we as a society have decided to abdicate all personal responsibility in favour of a "mother knows best " policy, allowing the government to assume all responsibility for our lives.
if you want to think of a scary sitaution, try this. what happens if, after deciding that certain foods are so bad for you that they can be banned from your life, they decide that the best way to make you safe is to decide what you can do as a hobby or sport. how long does it take to decide that riding a mountain bike is just to dangerous for people under the age of consent? or perhaps it shouldn't be allowed at all so you are safe.
if you think this all an over reaction, have a think about some of the enlightened descitions the various governments have made for us recently.
and more importantly look at the things some of the retarded muppets running around our neighbourhoods have done for us. suing macdonalds for making them fat, suing brewerys for making them alcoholics, suing car sales yards for selling them cars that allow them to lose their licence for speeding, suing tabacco companies because they can't stop smoking. and that's just a tiny sampling of the cases brought, not in the states, but out here in australia.
and yet no-one stands up and says "yep, my fault. i did it. i ate shit and got fat. i drank too much and made myself an alcholic. i drove my car too fast like a dickhead and lost my licence. i started smoking, even though i knew the risks". it's easier and more soothing to the ego to blame everyone else.
and it's the same with schools and drugs.
it's not the schools responsibility to do this. it's the parents.
it's not the governments job, it's ours.
it's not his problem, it's YOURS!
i'm only partly joking when i say to people that the great sheep-like herd of society shouldn't be allowed to breed without test to make sure they are capable of raising anything other than bottom feeding baby factories. (and yes, thank you, i am well aware of the inherent contradiction in that view, and in the opinion expoused in the rest of the post, but maybe we need to start somewhere).
but the fact remains that people need to take responsibility for their own lives, and for their own actions.
no more people bleating that it wasn't them, it was the drugs. or the booze. or their parents. or society.
just them. have reasons, not excuses.
and it all starts with parents teaching their kids some personal responsibility and discipline. it all starts with parents educating their kids to be something other than eating, drinking, spawning jerks.
so less talk about drug testing kids, and more talk about beating some sense into parents. remember that what you do is your fault, not someone elses.
hmmm, now i remember why i didn't respond to many of these. i now have an overwhelming urge to try and sterilize most of the people i meet on a day to day basis......
