have fun with this

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

snopes verified
A lesson that should be taught in all schools . . . . and colleges.

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.

'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?'

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'

'No,' she said.

'Maybe it's our behavior.'

She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.

Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

By the way, this is a true story.

Please consider passing this along so others won't forget that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by U. S. Veterans and current military personnel.




its like hunting over bait. the libs will deride it as fake

[grampster]

that's the best idea i've heard in awhile

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

its almost like shooting deer with their head in the bait bucket

[HankB]

Teaching that much of our freedom comes from the actions of veterans who served honorably - especially those who went in harm's way - is a good thing, in my opinon.

The desks thing, though, was a silly stunt . . . even in industrialized commie countries, school students have desks. Heck, I've seen pictures of classrooms in Zimbabwe and students have desks.

[curmudeon]This was a high school? In my day, students would have walked out of the classroom, and the lesson would have been lost. [/curmudgeon]

[MicroBalrog]

My rights aren't earned. That's not what rights are.

[Doggy Daddy]

Perhaps a "free, public" education isn't a right.  It's a gift.  That's the lesson that was being taught.

DD

We can discuss the value of that gift in another thread.  I believe it's bad taste to berate a gift in front of the givers.

[MicroBalrog]

Perhaps a "free, public" education isn't a right.  It's a gift.  That's the lesson that was being taught.

DD

We can discuss the value of that gift in another thread.  I believe it's bad taste to berate a gift in front of the givers.

So you should never discuss any public service, lest you happen to meet a taxpayer.

[AZRedhawk44]

'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'

I'm with Micro.

I think the teacher was probably trying to convey a similar sentiment though, and the "ra-ra let's go yay veterans" crowd is distorting this a bit.

Rights aren't earned.  They are inherent, though they must be defended.  Veterans are the active force that defend our rights from threats abroad, and active and responsible citizenry defend our rights from threats within.  It is arguable that this teacher was infringing on the "right"* to an education with this lesson, though it's also arguable that is was a valuable lesson.

I think the teacher was looking for someone to:
-ask what a "right" was in context of the supposed/proposed right to education
-determine if rights are truly earned
-challenge the teacher to give him/her back his/her damned desk RFN. After all, if our military defends the right to education (this teacher's premise as presented to the class), then the right to education can be defended with aggression and force.  A student demonstrating aggression and impending force would be acting like the presented heroes who are supposedly the defenders of American education.  After all, the military doesn't defend education by means of eloquence or polemics.  Go try to take the desks at West Point.  See if they debate you.


*= I don't think an education is a right.  It is a privilege enjoyed by all members of our society, and it has evolved over the years, but it is not an enumerated right of our Constitution.

An aside:  I am grateful to veterans for their service, but they do not provide educations to our next generation.  It's well proven that China, Soviet Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and many other hell-holes of despotism (as well as bastions of robotic education such as Japan) provide educations.  Veterans stand to defend our freedoms from foreign threats.

[MicroBalrog]

After having read the post above, I'm now visualizing a teacher shouting "Show me your warface! You real warface!"

[Doggy Daddy]

So you should never discuss any public service, lest you happen to meet a taxpayer.

I withdraw what I originally said.  My first thought when I read your reply was:
"Which public services are you talking about?  I referred to "gifts".  Redistribution under threat of force is not a gift."

But then I realized that the free public education referred to fits the criteria of redistribution.  Which leads me to ask myself just what gift the veterans gave. 

Dammit, Micro!  You're making me think.   Pleeze stop the pain!

DD

[vaskidmark]

-challenge the teacher to give him/her back his/her damned desk RFN. After all, if our military defends the right to education (this teacher's premise as presented to the class), then the right to education can be defended with aggression and force.  A student demonstrating aggression and impending force would be acting like the presented heroes who are supposedly the defenders of American education.  After all, the military doesn't defend education by means of eloquence or polemics.  

While I believe the teacher was looking for a Starship Troopers "become a citizen" response I think the correct, appropriate and legitimate response to her question of how one earns the "right" to have a desk to sit at is the sentiment quoted above.

Then there is the issue of having a "right" to remain sitting at the desk.  Which seems to be an issue that the school/education system honors more in the breach by their oft-reported treatment of social transgressors vs. those who comport themselves within the limits on behavior imposed by the system.

But there is a part of me that wants to get up in the teacher's face and inform her that I have no intention of telling her how I "earn a right to sit at a desk" since she will be obligated, by denying me a desk to sit at and by extension an education, to support by ignorant ass for the rest of my life, and to also support my multitudinous progeny for their lifetimes as well, and that I am quite happy with that prospect.

As has been alluded to we do not have a "right" to an education, except in the most esoteric sense of that phrase as it applies to the philosphical construct of self-determination.  What we have is an obligation to offer the youth of society an opportunity to learn enough to become skilled enough to hold a job that will allow them to support themself and to pay taxes to cover the cost of their portion of the government's operation.  Deny them that opportunity and we find ourselves obligated to support them as a drain on the taxpaying portion of the population.

stay safe.