The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Jason, it still doesn't sound like the "Good Question" gig is hard: it just means that your earlier gig was even less work.

Ya, so take out the cheesecake party and the meetings, it took like, what, seven hours? OMG, that's like, a work day!

Actually, WCCO Viewer is correct... my main gig is easier than Good Question. I just had more time during my work day to blog, video blog, MNSpeak, etc. I always work a full day :-) Just sometimes there's more open time to multi-task on other things.

(And it's not really that hard... it's just more mentally taxing. No offense, but it doesn't take a genius to cover an overturned gasoline tanker. It's more mental work to think of questions that most people wouldn't think of, to make viewers feel like you've really answered the question.)

And kevin, I think the guy I called was really amused at me answering his question personally. If people keep giving their phone number with submissions, I'll keep answering them personally. I'm a giver.

It is. Maybe some MNSpeakers can help me with today's good question. I'll post it a little later.

If it bleeds, it leads. If a news story contains personal tragedy, property loss, or -- best of all -- gory detail, you can bet that the story will lead off the night's newscast or appear above the fold in the morning paper.

Don't forget the MetroBlogging thread, Jason.

Don't we have some teachers on MnSpeak?

I sent you an email Jason and I also included my wife whom is a teacher. Maybe she'll play along.

When did parents go from immediately blaming their kids if they got in trouble at school, to immediately blaming the teachers? And why?

When parents decided that their own parents were too mean to them growing up, making them do chores, homework and other unpleasant things, and resolved that they would be a friend to their kids, and not an oppressor.

Well, it's hard to tell a friend that what they're doing is, you know, like wrong and everything. There must be some other reason the kid's a screwup. The teacher is at fault. Yeah, that's it.

I stand by my friend/kid, dammit. He'll love and, well, expect me to stand up for my friend against the teacher, who is, afterall, just some lamo who lets me call him by his first name.

I went to multi-racial, inner-city public schools. In junior high, one of my classes was choir. The choir director was a Mr. Ben Zachary. Six foot six, 280 pounds of former gopher football player. He also lived in the neighborhood and was the choir director for the A.M.E. church. He knew all our parents. He went to school with many of them and went to church with the rest.

Coincidentally, all the thugs in the school were assigned to attend the choir class. When anyone started to act up, we would say something like, "Now Rufus, do you want me to tell your parents about what you just did? Maybe I'll just drop by tonight and have a little talk with your daddy." Rufus apologized and got real quiet.

Can anyone imagine circumstances like that today? Teachers knowing the parents personally because they live in the same neighborhood? Me neither.

Some of those cases described seemed to be based on pretty flimsy evidence (if true). Suspensions for holding a red cup? I['ve been to picnics and parties where the only drinks were water or soft drinks served in plastic cups.

Some of the pictures were also described as having been taken at family gatherings, or at times when the students were not covered under the schools policies.

As for Jason's question, schools now also have draconian penalties for even minor infractions. I've read of students getting expelled for behavior that only resulted in a call to your parents when I was in school.

There is also the increased stakes of ensuring the best opportunities, and even a small blemish on the record is seen as damaging those chances.

Can anyone imagine circumstances like that today? Teachers knowing the parents personally because they live in the same neighborhood? Me neither.

Not much of an imagination maz?
We live in the same neighborhood that my wife teaches in.

Then those kids are very lucky.
That's true.

I just got her e-mail, JACC, those kids are clearly very lucky. A lot of the e-mails people sent in will go on-line with my story tonight. Thanks guys! (Some will be in the story too).