Half a Glass of Water

Half a Glass of Water

A Brief Commentary On Contemporary American Culture

Back when I was a youngster, way back in the day when I first attended elementary, then junior high school, I can still recall how part of the social studies or history curriculum involved our reporting on various "current events" taken from newspapers, television, or magazines. With items picked randomly as personal choices, these school projects were then presented to the teacher or class, along with written or verbal explanations as to the pertinent and relevant details of the events, and why they were important in both our daily lives and as world affairs.

Social scientists of today are very curious about the new generations of young people growing up in a very different world from the one in which I and others of my generation grew up. The outcome remains unknown as to what impact, if any, a "graphically adult environment" will yet have on youngsters whose earliest and most recent experiences and memories include everything from hardcore pornography to the most horrendous violence imaginable. Children whose minds and vulnerable, formative brains have -- largely via the internet -- witnessed and continue to do so, intensely disturbing images, writings, and other machinations of a harsh world rife with minimal heroes and maximum viscera.

The following ditty portends to describe a near future, hypothetical classroom session where the children involved have brought in their chosen assignments. A typical day where each is ready to present his or her selection of a so-called current-event deserving of everyone's attention.

The topics, picked from any newspaper or internet news site on no particular day, represent the disconcerting theme of this particular essay.

Johnny brought us his report on the latest scandal surrounding another Catholic priest accused of molesting children.
On a related note, Alice discussed the recent kidnapping, rape, and murder of another little girl found near the side of a dirt road.
Not to be outdone, Tommy described a terrorist bombing that killed more than a hundred men, women and children.
Betty, who has two mothers and no dad, gave the class some interesting statistics about the latest death toll, worldwide, from AIDS.
Speaking of wholesale deaths, David related the staggering loss of life from a recent major earthquake somewhere in South America.
Julie's report suggested that more people died or were made homeless by hurricanes and floods than from earthquakes.
Ann bested everyone with her clippings on global starvation, especially the hundred-thousand children or so who die each and every day for lack of food or medical care.
Bobby, a real serious type, tried to steal the show by telling the class that an asteroid is heading for Earth, and will soon destroy all life on the planet.
Anthony, a true sci-fi enthusiast, insisted that the proliferation of nuclear weapons will kill everyone sooner than any space rock. Or at the very least, millions will suffer lingering deaths from radiation poisoning.
As a change of pace, Megan delivered a provocative piece on abortion and women's rights issues. She even included graphic, full color pictures of dismembered fetuses, which caused most of the kids to scrunch their faces and giggle.
Michael, in a short snippet, described the newest headlines about terrorists on the loose, who had claimed another dozen victims or so.
Emily, holding back tears, discussed her report of other child kidnappings, mostly between one parent and the other. She explained her personal experience with her own parents who are still fighting things out in a bitter court battle.
The whole class sat up when Melvin called their attention to the latest suicide bombing in the Middle East. As bombings go, his was considered one of the more entertaining, even exciting. A whole school, it was said, with lots of blown-up kids. He promised to keep everyone posted on whatever retaliation might be in store. Neither he -- nor the teacher -- expected that it would be a long wait.
Rodger also had a report on the Middle East, which focused on how a nuclear arms race was well on its way because of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. Because he found another article all about more beheadings of Christians by Muslim extremists, he said it was hard to choose which news was more important.
Susan talked about how many more people die from various diseases every day, mostly children, than are lost to wars or bombs or terrorists. Too similar to Ann's report on starvation, the class seemed somewhat bored by Susan's report.
Dillon stirred things back to life with his explicit news about sex, and whether to abstain or go all the way, but especially the blurb on what turns people into Gays and Lesbians.
James stayed on topic and gave a riveting talk on hate crimes against homosexuals and other minorities. The class agreed that hate criminals should be given harsher penalties than other murderers, rapists, and muggers.
Brian, a child of color, used this opportunity to quote a group of Black leaders who insisted that racism is alive and well in America. He was surprised, however, to discover that many of his friends did not know he was a member of a minority group. They thought he was just Brian. His attempt to convince them otherwise met with mixed results.
Maria, a girl of Mexican descent, cited a series of articles that showed how people of color are treated unfairly when prosecuted for using drugs. The teacher had to cut her short when Mary claimed, without hard evidence, that she was often treated unfairly solely because of her race.
Jenny found an opening to introduce her topic on religion, and how everyone’s idea of God is different. And even others think God died a long time ago. Jenny’s report ended abruptly when someone from the back of the room shouted out that there never was a God.
Timmy changed direction when he delivered his dissertation on how marijuana is not a dangerous drug and, according to some experts, all drugs should be legalized. Some of the other kids, members of the near-defunct D.A.R.E. program, threatened to beat Timmy up if he didn't shut up.
Jesus talked about how the term, "illegal alien", is inappropriate and really refers to undocumented workers who are illegally prevented from crossing our southern borders. Especially since the gringos stole the land from the Mexicans in the first place.
Fists-Like-Rocks, an indigenous Amerindian, took Jesus to task by complaining that his so-called Indian ancestors had their lands stolen by the Mexicans.
Veronica used the argument to document the many similar kinds of wars still raging around the globe. Lots of fighting over whose land is whose. Especially between Israel and the Palestinians.
Samuel then told how modern civil wars prevented needed medicines from reaching remote areas. How various “warlords” made lots of money by stealing from charitable donations.
Grant stood up and explained that most antibiotics in use today are losing their effectiveness and pretty soon, most people would start dying from bacterial diseases for which no penicillin was available. A few of the kids who had the sniffles, didn't like Grant's additional report on the growing menace of "super viruses".
Marty chimed in with his debate over the world's contaminated food and water supplies, most of which is now fouled by numerous forms of toxic waste.
Ellen found the discussion perfect for her to introduce a stack of news reports which described how the oceans of the world are dying, with many important species of plants and fishes already nearing extinction.
Harriet broke in with a similar fact sheet on the rain forests which continue to wither away, although her particular article seemed like old news to those who listened.
Freddy got in a good dose of the most recent, up-to-date stats on global warming, despite the fact that most of the kids had to wear their jackets to school.
Barbara wanted to give her talk on local gang killings, especially drive-by shootings, but time ran short and the class still wanted to hear Billy's account of the latest celebrity murder case.