Aging boomers retiring to a place with good weather, beaches, low taxes and cheap housing? Color me shocked.
"New census data show that Florida’s retirement-age population continues to grow faster than any other age group.
For 2018, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates Florida’s 65-and-over population at 4.9 million — a 3.4 percent increase from the previous year, and a growth rate more than double that of any other age group in the state.
One in five of Florida’s residents are 65 or older, the information available for release today showed. And their economic impacts are being felt statewide as more baby boomers choose this area as their retirement destination.
“Boomers lived through the years of great economic strength in America,” said real estate developer Pat Neal. “They are both big in numbers and they have the financial capacity to buy a new home.”
Add to that the ability to work from home while enjoying good weather and beaches and you get another population bump.
I had a “lightbulb moment” as well recently. On International Women’s Day, a third-grade (male) teacher asked the kids a riddle from back in my day, and the results were eye-opening.
Johnny and his dad were in a car accident. They were taken to separate hospitals. Johnny needed surgery. The surgeon walked into the room and announced, “I can’t operate on this child, he’s my son.”
When we were growing up, people really struggled with what the correct answer was. And at the time the “correct answer” was that the surgeon was Johnny’s mother.
Flash to 2022 and the majority of kids raised their hands to answer the question. The first kid to answer said, “Johnny has two dads”. Now remember, this is International Women’s Day, so while the teacher liked that answer, he also was waiting for someone to answer that the surgeon was Johnny’s mom. I think it was the 4th or 5th kid. The class then voted. The majority assumed it was his other dad. I asked the kids why they didn’t think it was his mom and the general consensus seemed to be that it wouldn’t be a riddle if it were (granted there are probably a disproportionate amount of kids in this school who have moms that are physicians because of where it’s located).
Now, what would happen in FL? The teacher never intended to bring up same-sex marriage. The kids did. He wasn’t going to deny that there are kids with two dads. (We were both kind of proud though that the kids saw the world this way and no one had issues with it. I guess we’d be labeled groomers in FL). Would some of the people that support this new ban have a problem with International Women’s Day? After all, it’s about gender.
I remember that riddle. I am glad that kids no longer are astonished that the doctor could be a mom. Pretty stupid example of sexism to bring up for International Womens Day, but whatever.
I would hope teachers might bring up the extraordinary gains women have made in becoming nobel prize winners, presidents, astronauts etc, or the continued wage gap.
We both know parents never objected to this type of lesson.
But is accepting a child for who they are political? I have a co-worker who I’m assuming has different political beliefs than I do based on some discussion. However, I know we both respect children for who they are and have no problem with pronouns, names, etc.
Another coworker recently had a 4th grader come out to her. He wasn’t “looking” for anything. Just stated that “he liked boys and has only told two other classmates”. He was just telling her about his life like lots of kids do. She did nothing to solicit this, but it did put a few things into perspective (like the child had a lot of questions/anxiety about bullying at the middle school). He didn’t tell her because of her politics. He told her because she has a great relationship with him. I’m sure much of that relationship is because he knows he can be himself around her and in her classroom which we are seeing a lot of (using certain phrases and inflections in skits and greetings). I wonder if in Florida we’d be considered groomers for not telling him to sit down and be quiet.
Interesting article and one that shows me there’s not a lot of difference between teachers thoughts in FL vs PA except our district pays a bit better.
FL was 47th for schools and has dropped to 48th. Sounds like they have a lot more problems to deal with than those they have chosen to focus on.
They weren’t that great in the past from my experience. We had to move to FL from NY for my 10th grade year. Dad wouldn’t let me go to public school because he said they were really subpar. Fortunately I got a scholarship to a nice private for the year (private full of rich kids, some of my friends had oceanfront houses - different world for me). Dad (and mom) taught in our local ps in NY so I’m pretty sure he saw real differences between what I would have gone to in FL and 2nd best at the time in NYS. But I have no idea where they were ranked among the 50 states at that time (either state for that matter).
What would that teacher say if the kid announced he wasnt a believer and he was not going to follow his Orthodox Jewish family’s religious standards anymore? Or a somewhat older child saying he was ready for sex even though his family disapproved?
Teachers do not need to affirm every decision kids make even if their relationship is close. It is ok for them to realize the relationship is professional and there may be lines they shouldnt cross.
I don’t see it as “stupid” at all. It was a way to show that for a long time, people were stumped by the fact that women were doctors. The thought was that these students would get it right away and he would discuss that, years ago, it was actually a riddle that people had a hard time solving. Believe me, there are plenty of examples of extraordinary gains discussed. And as to “knowing parents never objected to this type of lesson”, I wouldn’t be so sure about that in this political climate. Certainly, it wouldn’t happen at this school, but as it’s “outside of the curriculum” in many places it could be brought before the school board.
How about a baseline rule-do not discuss your own sexual activities or preferences with students and do not respond to their comments about their own sexual activities and preferences. Seems pretty basic and important for teachers to avoid any allegation of inappropriate conduct.
Interesting- I read the story of that boy sharing with his teacher that he likes boys as very touching. No where did the poster say they had a discussion about it or he was high fived or told he was brave etc. He felt safe and felt he could be himself with her. Not sure I see a problem.
It’s probably tough to believe, but in our high school we let kids make their own choices about things like religion. They do not have to follow what their parents want them to.
Sex has to be kept off school grounds, but otherwise we don’t get involved there either unless it’s an older kid with a much younger kid - we’re mandatory reporters for all types of child abuse. Most kids don’t talk specifics with that to teachers anyway. They aren’t going around talking about when, where, who, etc.
In the high school we sometimes hear a lot about parents. It’s not always bad either. Child abuse we’ll report. We have to. Anything else we just try to either sympathize or help a kid work through it.
Not all teachers are close to their students - some just want to “do the job and go home.” Those are very, very rarely favorite teachers. Many times they aren’t even good at teaching TBH. The best teachers are often those who care. It’s extremely rare that a teacher would try to position themselves between a parent and kid, but not so uncommon to try to help kids with poor parents try to negotiate the world while still being their parent’s kid.
By poor parents, ones coming to mind are those who spend all their money on drinking or similar and don’t have lunch money or things like that - not anything to do with their beliefs about religion or politics.
If there’s an exception for religion it’s letting gals know they don’t have to be bound to their parent’s wishes for life in this country, and that only comes up if the gal brings it up. It’s also a fact and one that doesn’t need to remain hidden.
I’ve heard many students discuss that their beliefs were different from their parents. I don’t think that is in any way unsafe. Why would a teacher not accept that that child has a different belief system than their parent? It’s not like the teacher is taking them to church or feeding them spare ribs. They are getting to know their students and how they think. As to if a child feeling they were ready for sex, it could possibly lead to discussions about safety, consequences, alternatives, etc which would probably be way more productive than other alternatives. Or it could just be left hanging… because while that might be the decision preferred by some, it certainly isn’t going to stop, change or lead to a better alternative behavior. Just as it isn’t a teacher’s right to push their beliefs onto a child, it is also not the teacher’s responsibility to uphold the beliefs of parents that a child has decided on their own to discount.
Again, I bring up that most people asking these questions haven’t spent time teaching. These things come up all the time. Teachers are trusted with everything from protecting students during lockdowns to making sure they have the necessities they need, to making sure they didn’t forget their lunch or miss their bus, but people seem to want to boil teaching down to “shut up and teach the curriculum” like it’s just that easy.
Just a suggestion-do not discuss sex with students outside of health class. It rarely ends well and opens the teacher and the school system up to charges, investigations, and litigation.
Age doesn’t matter and it’s not my business to tell a student they are wrong with their religious beliefs as long as those beliefs aren’t harming anyone else. I’m not teaching a religion class. I’m not even sharing my religious beliefs with them.
By learning about my kids I’m getting closer to them, which helps make me a better teacher. When they are less stressed in classes and like their teacher they learn better. There are a lot of studies on that.
Heck, even with just subbing I get closer to kids. I had one of the Special Ed teachers come to me yesterday thanking me for making a class great for one of her students. He took what we had done that day to show her what he had learned, and she told me he never does that. He hates doing anything in class. What made the difference, esp for a sub? I asked him about himself when he wasn’t working, allowing us to build some rapport. It psychologically make him want to work for me. I cared about him.
Win, win.
You’ll be happy to know he didn’t tell me about his religious beliefs or sex life, but for me it wouldn’t have mattered what he brought up. My goal is to help all of my students learn.
I can tell you a lot about many students I’ve had over the years and working with students gives me a lot of hope for our country’s future. Sure there are some “we” just can’t get to. I wish we could. But the vast majority are really good kids and will be successful barring something bad happening. Their “level” in school doesn’t matter. There are different paths for all sorts of kids.
I am certain you have noble intentions. Not everyone does, however, and parents are understandably concerned about what teachers say to minors about delicate subjects, particularly one-on-one. It isn’t your job to support the parents’ views but it also isnt your job to undercut them if you want public support for public schools.
Nowhere did I say that my sexuality, preferences or bedroom behavior was discussed.
As someone that doesn’t seem to spend the majority of waking hours with kids, I’ll just brush aside your “recommendations”. Thanks anyway, but if a kid wants to open up to me, the last thing I’m going to tell them to do is “sit down and shut up”. In a time where people seem to be so concerned about kids’ mental health, it seems that you’d like them to not have any real human interaction.
Homeschooling is always an option for those who don’t like public schools which are supposed to be there for all of the public. At our school we are. We regularly send students to Liberty and schools like Oberlin. We have teachers on all sides of various aisles.
To me, that’s what a public school is supposed to be like.
Oh, and if parents know they don’t like a particular teacher, they can contact guidance to be sure their student doesn’t get them - unless that’s the only teacher teaching X class, of course.
An amendment to the FL law that has been shut down for now would require teachers to inform parents of any knowledge of a child’s sexual orientation. I’m going to assume they did not mean for me to call the parents of the straight kids.
Fine with me. Just explaining what might be behind some PA parents concerns- perhaps teachers and parents do not feel they are on the same team anymore, and teacher comments to the effect that it is this way or you should go elsewhere for education likely reinforce that skepticism. Unfortunate for all.
If the public supports what you do, there shouldnt be an issue.
Child abuse we’ll report. We have to. Anything else we just try to either sympathize or help a kid work through it.