Observations From the Spectrum

Should stop signs be optional or should we all all stop is the question. Rules and laws exist to govern society. All citizens, not just one group or another, or the government writing the laws is unfair and needs to be replaced. Where do you stand?

A stop sign is there for a purpose. All drivers are supposed to stop. It’s the law. But more importantly, it is our communal responsibility to stop. It signifies that we are part of society and looking out, not just for ourselves, for others.

Too often, drivers don’t stop. They roll through and resent having to stop. And when they are pulled over, they flip their lids, coming up with every excuse in the book. In other words, adults revert back to middle school tactics.

From a broad point of view, there are three types of kids in middle school. Those that follow the rules. Those that understand the rules and don’t follow them. Those raised by shitty parents.

The first group is easy. The teacher explains the rules, and the good teachers explain the why of the rules, and the kids accept the rules and do their best to follow them. For example, being prepared with a pen or pencil and paper. A teacher looks around the room and immediately knows which students are ready to learn. 

They are the driver that gets pulled over for running the stop sign, apologizes, signs the ticket, pays the ticket and moves on with their life, probably being a bit more cognizant of stop signs. They are the normal easy going members of society.

Type two are wiley but still good hearted in nature. They are the students that forgets their materials for class and blames everyone under the sun with the exception of themselves. They make a big show of it and go up against the teacher. But in the end, they accept their consequences as long as all other students are getting the same consequence. 

They are the drivers that make every excuse in the book and try their best to talk their way out of the ticket. In the end, they understand the purpose of the stop sign and agree with it so they sign the dotted line, pay it eventually and move on with their day, possibly being more careful about stop signs.

The third group are reared by entitled assholes. They look a lot like group two but they are not because of what happens at home. Group two at home is met with parents that support rules and laws. They ask the child something on the lines like did you know that you needed to bring pen and paper to class and when the child says yes, the parent supports the rule as being fair.

The third group goes home to parents, and I use the word lightly because there is little parenting happening, who view their child as someone who can do no harm. Their children are the perfect angels. No, the truth is their children are growing up to be perfect assholes. 

These are the kids whose parents enable them and support the child over the rule and are pretty much the downfall of a fair and just society.  These are the parents that when their children come home with a consequence for their action, the parents call the school blaming the teacher and unfair rules. That the teacher is picking on them or that the teacher should give the student paper and pen or whatever other bullshit they can come up with.

These people have kids but have no idea how to parent. It’s not an intrinsically learned skill like the ability to reproduce children to rear.

These are the drivers who roll through the stop sign, get pulled over and then go to court to plead their innocence. They are individuals living in a community and should be removed. They are self-entitled adults who have no care for anyone else but themselves and their own desires.

But, since removing assholes for being assgholes is not legal, maybe we should focus on the other end. Empowering teachers to teach and admin to have a backbone against bad parents. 

The long term effect of shitty parenting and weak education is here. A society in which almost everyone is led to believe that they are the exception to the rules. You are not. I am not. We are both required to stop at the stop sign. I am group 1. I stop. Do you?

• All works at Observations from the Spectrum written by Dylan Netter
• Observationsfromthespectrum.org
• OFTS.blog 
• On? a third point of view – book of Essays
• Marinehippie.com podcast w/ Docstodden.com – dialogue exploring politics and musings of life 
• Horizoncoaching.org – English Tutor and Guide