School Homework
It's an impossible situation to come to terms with. How could the parents of Eric Leighton not be anguished over the death of their 18-year-old son. Eric was in the safety of an ordinary school day. His parents both at work. He was busy doing things at school that appealed to him, working at a class shop at Mother Teresa High School in Barrhaven.
How casually it seems, that those in authority seem to feel about the manner in which they expose students to new and unusual situations. Teaching them practical applications. How to take discarded items and render them into something useful. Who could find fault with that? Certainly not the young people who are delighted with the end-product of their work.
Isn't it neat? Take a steel drum and transform it into a barbecue. Simply cut it in half. And there's the receptacle. Re-fashion something that is no longer useful into something that is differently conceived and represents an environmental challenge. Trouble was the 55-gallon oil drum Eric was slicing through exploded and killed him.
Well, why wouldn't it be known that something that held a volatile substance would be dangerous because of leftovers and because of fumes and because chemistry teaches basic lessons that could not be lost on even the casual observer. And teachers at a high school who take charge of shop classes should be in possession of that basic knowledge.
Shouldn't it be generally known, and shouldn't there be a note of caution, an expectation that adults have the facility and responsibility to guide their charges?
After the fact, Eric's father looked on the Internet and discovered that there was a notable presence there: "I googled oil drum explosions. It's unbelievable the number of people who have been killed or injured in explosions. You can count them all day long."
Elemental, my dear watchman; tasked with the care and security of certain charges, take it seriously. Do your homework.
How casually it seems, that those in authority seem to feel about the manner in which they expose students to new and unusual situations. Teaching them practical applications. How to take discarded items and render them into something useful. Who could find fault with that? Certainly not the young people who are delighted with the end-product of their work.
Isn't it neat? Take a steel drum and transform it into a barbecue. Simply cut it in half. And there's the receptacle. Re-fashion something that is no longer useful into something that is differently conceived and represents an environmental challenge. Trouble was the 55-gallon oil drum Eric was slicing through exploded and killed him.
Well, why wouldn't it be known that something that held a volatile substance would be dangerous because of leftovers and because of fumes and because chemistry teaches basic lessons that could not be lost on even the casual observer. And teachers at a high school who take charge of shop classes should be in possession of that basic knowledge.
Shouldn't it be generally known, and shouldn't there be a note of caution, an expectation that adults have the facility and responsibility to guide their charges?
After the fact, Eric's father looked on the Internet and discovered that there was a notable presence there: "I googled oil drum explosions. It's unbelievable the number of people who have been killed or injured in explosions. You can count them all day long."
Elemental, my dear watchman; tasked with the care and security of certain charges, take it seriously. Do your homework.
Labels: Particularities, societal failures
posted by Pieface @ 7:28 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home