jessica wrote:
] ] ASBURY PARK -- As she watched her niece graduate from
] ] kindergarten yesterday, Sherri Stanard's pride turned to
] ] shock and anger when a vice principal told the children
] ] to stand up to demonstrate that he believed one-third of
] ] a kindergarten class would not make it through high
] ] school because of alcohol, drugs or pregnancy.
]
] Wow... what a Kodak moment.

nice.

Rattle wrote:
] ] ASBURY PARK -- As she watched her niece graduate from
] ] kindergarten yesterday, Sherri Stanard's pride turned to
] ] shock and anger when a vice principal told the children
] ] to stand up to demonstrate that he believed one-third of
] ] a kindergarten class would not make it through high
] ] school because of alcohol, drugs or pregnancy.
]
] ] "He asked the kids to stand up, and he told us to take a
] ] good look at these kids because a third of them will not
] ] graduate from high school or make it to high school
] ] because they will be too busy drugging, drinking or
] ] getting pregnant," said Stanard, 42, of Neptune. Stanard
] ] said she also has a niece in first grade at the Bangs
] ] Avenue Elementary School, where the vice principal, Paul
] ] J. Banik Jr., has worked for three decades.
]
] ] Howard Mednick, the school's principal for the past two
] ] years, said that the context of Stanard's account was
] ] basically correct, but that Banik did tell the audience
] ] he was not talking about the children standing up.
]
] Hahaha.. Asbury Park, where the truth hurts.

Well, Mr. Cynical, I was going to leave this one alone until I started thinking about it this morning in the shower. It's called "self-fulfilling prophecy". Once someone tells you "you're ugly" enough, even if you're beautiful, you will start to believe it. If someone tells you "you'll never get anywhere in life" enough, guess what? You won't get anywhere in life. Yes, we all know Asbury Park sucks. And yeah, that probably is the truth...a lot of those kids will get involved in drugging, drinking, and getting pregnant... But at 5 and 6 years old, these kids don't need to hear that. Neither do their parents. These kids are off to the right start, you know... They're in school. Their parents are TRYING. Think about that.

jessica wrote:
] Rattle wrote:
] ] Hahaha.. Asbury Park, where the truth hurts.
]
] Well, Mr. Cynical, I was going to leave this one alone until I
] started thinking about it this morning in the shower. It's
] called "self-fulfilling prophecy". Once someone tells you
] "you're ugly" enough, even if you're beautiful, you will start
] to believe it. If someone tells you "you'll never get anywhere
] in life" enough, guess what? You won't get anywhere in life.
] Yes, we all know Asbury Park sucks. And yeah, that probably is
] the truth...a lot of those kids will get involved in drugging,
] drinking, and getting pregnant... But at 5 and 6 years old,
] these kids don't need to hear that. Neither do their parents.
] These kids are off to the right start, you know... They're in
] school. Their parents are TRYING. Think about that.

I was going to let this one go too, but then I took a shower, shaved, and trimmed my nails. I think the only thing you got right was my blog tone, which is cynical as hell.. The rest, I can only summarise on one word: Denial.

Asbury Park does certainly seem to have a thing for the self-fulfilling prophecy, that much I will give you. A perfect example is the whole "rebirth of Asbury Park" thing, which everyone is banking on being a self-fulfilling prohpecy. However, my cynical side - clearly the dominate one on this topic - tells me that this too, is denial. If anything Asbury Park is taking a road that will end in Atlantic City, Asbury's likely future. Namely, a every expensive beach front, with a very flashy road that leads to it (Cookman), and the rest will be another example of the crime, confusion, and general dispair that people commonly associate with cities in New Jersey. And thats if anything happens at all.. From what I've seen, the only thing that Asbury's rebirth has brought on is a wave of bennies from North Jersey and New York, real estate games, and an plague of property reassments that in the end are only going to make the land owner of Asbury park even more poor, unless they happen to be large land owners looking to capitolize on this said "rebirth".. The rest are going to be people getting screwed on land taxes, and the already amazingly large population in the projects and low rent housing.. Sound familar? Very Atlantic City. The only thing thats missing is the gambling, but I'm sure that will get taken care of, as there is already a building called "The Caniso" thats well loved.. Yes, I know I'm radicly simplifying everything.

Regardless, this denial needs to be snapped out of. Its pandemic reaches to all corners of this area. Take Toms River for example.. Now there is a place thats in total and complete denial about the drug and crime problem present in its youth. Its been biting Toms River in the ass since we went to High School there, and its still a taboo topic left only to the local punks to make themselves feel more punk. Their parents only continue the cycle, their kids continue to ride the horse. The towns seem to think that billboards by the mall that threaten jail times and encourage school sports make some kinda difference. The press, both the Asbury Park Press, and rags like the triCityNews, simply wave the flag and lead the march of yuppies to the beach front.

This administrator wasn't telling Asbury it was ugly, it was telling Asbury parents that they need to get off their asses or their kids will face the same reality as the classes before them. He was telling it to them at a time when they still have a chance, and the damage has not yet be done. If they are trying, they need to try harder, because its not working. That is the truth, and it does hurt. Silence has not worked thus far, might as well give some confrontation a shoot.. Maybe people need to be offended.