As we all know, gerunds save lives.

A few weeks ago I talked about H.R. 1895 and The Stand Up Act in regards to providing more strict guidleines for teen drivers.

It just smacked of complete common sense. Well, banning txting and driving is next up. This seems, to me, to be another one that just elevates itself to the level of NO-BRAINER.

See, when I click on this article and see a picture of a tow truck in a swimming pool, I gotta kinda laugh. Then again, I am not the 68 year old lady that went to the hospital as a result of this txting tow truck driver who caused one heck of an accident.

And alerting teens to the dangers of txting has gone international. Check out this PSA aimed at young-ins to scare them into keeping their eyes on the road and not their phones when operating a vehicle. (Warning: this thing doesn't pull any punches. It's gruesome!)


Are we, as teachers not responsible to bring up these issues in our class? I mean, I know it's not necessarily "standards-based" but still, is there not an almost moral imperative to teach right from wrong, as well as skills, in the modern day classroom? (BTW, this could easily lead to a standards based assignment, whether you want to tie it to reading comprehension, a written reply, and so on.) But does every little thing have to be standards-based?

Kids need to know that txting and driving is SUPER DANGEROUS. For me to teach this, to discuss this, to hammer this home, do I have to "lesson plan it out according to the California state standards" or is there room in my classroom for just some lessons about life? And when the national standards people meet in the secret halls of covert "We know what's bestness?" are they taking things like this into consideration? I really wonder.

Will I get "merit pay" if I happen to save a kid from a fate worse than choosing incorrect bubbles on a standardized state test?

I mean, I hate to say it, but dontchya get the feeling that the higher-ups would prefer I spent the time teaching gerunds?

Cause as we all know, gerunds save lives.