Damn this thread has evolved.
I'll keep it simple.

The public schools (at least in the States) strip you of many of your civil rights. And there's nothing you can do about it. Just dance with a girl, I loved social dance in high school.

OK. Is it discrimination?

Are they giving you a lower grade because you danced with a partner of the same sex, or are they giving you a lower grade because you disobeyed the instruction to dance with a partner of the opposite sex?

If you're learning formal ballroom dancing, then your gender matters to how you dance. The man leads, the woman follows (yes yes, backwards and in heels, yadda yadda yadda.) As a man, learning to dance means learning to lead. If you dance with another man, either you or he is not learning the skill you are supposed to be learning.

They can easily take turns, whether it's girls or boys dancing together.

No, no, no. High School isn't about altering the things to accommodate individual preferences. High School is about learning, go along to get along so you'll be ready to kiss ass in the corporate world.

That said, it's not discrimination if everyone has the same orders.

Muahahaha...that's the price I paid then. Learning how to kiss corporate ass never took with me.

Its this type of thinking that is killing American youth and turning them off of school. America school's are absolutely horrible and are only going to get worse because they make it boring so you can prepare for the "real world" instead of actually learning and making the material interesting.

It is pathetic.

Pathetic maybe, but not new. They've been that way for about 60 years. I believe it was the boomers flooding the system that started it and the rush to the burbs sealed the deal, for the cities and burbs.

Before WW II going to college was rare and if the job you were shooting for only required an 8th grade education that's when you quit school. Parents felt that was normal. Post war GI Bill parents saw education would bring more wealth and wanted their kids to go that route.

Child labor was more universally frowned upon in most areas and plus there was initially a shortage of jobs. Keep the kids in school through 12th grade and see if they could make the cut for college, buck up the local sports teams and keep them out from underfoot.

I personally think we should redo the education system to stop producing drones and start making free thinking individuals.

Ooh, Open School Time :D








(my kids go to an Open School)

Open schools are great--I went to one for elementary school. I could never understand why more schools didn't use the same model.

I don't either. i have noticed that several of the local charter schools are adopting an open schooling approach.

I know you're not that old, so I'm not sure where you come up with this. Too sweeping a statement, perhaps. It certainly is not true for my family--both my parents (Mom, too), had college degrees before WWII. Perhaps they were in the minority, and I don't think it really makes much difference for the discussion here in the thread, but be careful of absolute statements.

There's no question that our school system sucks, though.

Yes, they were in the minority. Prior to the GI bill created a ton of college grads, the expense of college was far beyond most families unless the really set their mind to it and made sacrifices.

It was the exception, not the norm, partially because we didn't live in a technical society and there weren't that many jobs that required a college degree. Teaching, some scientific positions, lawyers, Doctors, maybe some accountants. Cities had separate High Schools for teaching trades, commerce and those headed for higher education.

By the late 50's all these grads had a dream of their children doing better and college became a more common goal. Tremendous leaps in technology meant more jobs for chemists, engineers, and scientists plus a surge in the number of lawyers and Doctors to service all the boomers.

By the time you get up to the eighties, companies wanted people they were going to train to have a bachelors degree before they would even consider them. There's a lot of college grads waiting tables and selling used cars

Yes I'm talking generalities and I can cite exceptions to, but I know I've got the trends right.

I'm confused. Are you the same Ibram who posted this in the why I'm happy today thread?

Girls aren't so bad as dance partners anymore, eh?

I think it's discriminatory to refuse to dance with a partner of the opposite gender. Or the same gender.

Now, please, Louise, pull me up from my knees. I'm getting too old for this.

I think Ibram mentioned earlier in this thread that he had posted that, and that he enjoys dancing with girls.

The question is about the policy.

If at least 51% of the people are doing it then it's considered "normal".

Ibram is bi-sexual wolf.

That's the rumor, but I don't think he's getting any from either side, so it's tough to tell.

I'm not getting any from ANYONE, bruce, but I do know who I am and am not attracted to - and gender does not have any bearing on attraction for me.

I know, but as you gain more experience you may find your desire to form a close relationship, especially a physical one, shifting to one or the other rather than both.

Well I'll openly admit that, as a bi person, I favor women a bit over men...

This is about how it goes.

An ugly man is a lot uglier than an ugly woman.
A REALLY ugly man is not as ugly as a REALLY ugly woman.
An average man is worse-looking than an average woman.
A hot man is worse-looking than a hot woman.
A REALLY hot man is a lot hotter than a REALLY hot woman.

It's kinda complicated. The top tier of hotness is almost all men, but under it its all women for a long way.

And as for closeness and non-physical attraction, I also favor women - only because I think most men are simply assholes, too concerned with machismo and ridiculous shit like that.

It's not all that complicated, simply personal preference as to what you find attractive, in order of preference.
But when it comes to dealing with a personal and sexual relationship, (which I'll bet money you will eventually do), with another person, it's a different ballgame then attraction or even social friendship.

Trust me, it will get complicated when that special someone thrusts their hand into your chest, rips out your heart, dribbles it around the floor, then slam dunks it into a Cuisinart.

But anyway, you may find your attraction shifting one way or the other when it comes to relationships. Just hang loose and let nature take it's course.

<sniff...sniff> I am truly moved by this. I MUST engrave this on a plaque and place over my monitor first thing in the morning.