I Have Questions

In journalism, and as far back as middle school or maybe earlier, the main questions to ask (according to experts) are What, Where, When, Who, and sometimes Y. I mean Why.

Why is sometimes more difficult to parse out, because it's often subjective.

Why, for instance, is a baby sucking on a pacifier or a bottle until their first birthday an acceptable practice, but heaven forbid they use these comfort items even once after 365 days of life? I mean, I get that there's a lowest common denominator issue here, but maybe realize that all children are different?

Why do people trust X until Y occurs? (Example: they trust science until they don't want to vaccinate or they don't want to believe in climate change or they don't want to admit they're in the wrong... about anything, really.)

For that matter, why are ADHD assessments so vague (on the parents' side at least; the teachers' side is more measurable because it has to do with grades and engagement and so forth). I mean, one of the questions on the form I just filled out for my 14yo was, "Does the child talk too much?" By whose standards is "too much" measured? In our family, she does not talk too much, and the survey also covered interrupting (that's more measurable) but did not cover volume at all (which is the thing we notice most about my kid (and her half-brother); they have no volume control at all.)

Why does the US health system suck so much? Wait, I know the answer to this one: Money. Unrestrained capitalism. Patriarchy.

Why are police officers paid more than teachers? Wouldn't it be better to keep kids in school and out of jail? More teachers with better pay. And the other school personnel, lunch ladies, bus drivers, etc. But no, the loudest parents (at least in my neck of the woods) want a private school education on a public school budget and think that they need an expert with a Master's in Education to teach their little darlings the ABCs. For a pittance or just because they love kids or whatever.

In fact, one delightful (note: this is sarcasm) parent stated (in response to a teacher-supporting post describing why teachers are so burned out) that if teachers disliked their jobs so much, why don't they just quit? The following arguments (including focusing on one line of the entire list of burnout reasons) suggested to me at least that the same logic would work for the parent themself... if they could only see it. Don't like your school district? Why don't you just move?

It's about that easy for teachers to "just quit" after all. Because they (usually) do love their students. Must be nice to think they could just quit.

Naturally, these same parents are usually privileged not-Karens who haven't the imagination to come up with any real solutions. Also the sort of people who think that their taxes mean they're your boss. Or that they're allowed to blow things up because they're "patriots." These are also the same type of folks who think that because they play X game (and might even have spent real money), their preferences should rule.

Please.

You're just not that important in the grand scheme of things, I promise.

Wow, I got a little off-track there, although it is still vaguely related, I guess. It's not like I haven't written about this stuff before (see the links above).

I'm just having a touchy day, I guess, as I'm repeating myself here.

Honestly, just try to be decent to other people. They've got their own issues. Wouldn't you want them to be decent to you?

That is the question.