Randy Smith
"What separates entitlement from privilege is gratitude." Author: Brene' Brown
I have not posted anything in regard to the despicable situation at Ooltewah High School, and I have no plans to. We have so many problems in our community as well as our society, that looking back and churning things and rehashing them over and over is counter-productive.
Upon leaving the daily television business in 2009, I spent five years as a teacher in the public school system; three in Hamilton County and two more in Whitfield County, Georgia.
I have taught the privileged and the underprivileged. I've taught smart kids and the not so smart kids. I've taught good and bad kids and I've taught kids who never had a dog's chance in life. I dealt with kids who went home to a dark, cold house because their parent or guardian couldn't afford to keep the power on. I also dealt with students who only came to school to get two hot meals daily and to stay warm for a few hours before returning home to that cold, dark house or apartment.
I imagine you could say I've seen it all. That however is not the case. Five years in the classroom only made me aware of some of the problems our educators are facing today. If you want to hear from someone who has actually seen it all, talk with a teacher or educator who has spent the majority of their life in the classroom or in the school building for 30-40 years. They know exactly what the problems are, but they're unable to fix them because of their lack of support from the power structure.
I'm not saying money will cure everything, because it won't. I am saying our leaders need to let go of their election promises and forget about the "Good 'Ol Boy" system. You know the one I'm talking about; the one where elected officials scratch each other's backs, and cut deal after deal for no other reason than to gather votes for the next election and to take care of their "buddies." Education has changed greatly in the last ten-twenty years, and that change has simply not been good. We need leaders in our school systems and in our county commissions who aren't afraid of making people mad or making enemies. The end result should always be in the best interest of the students.
I hear a lot about a "sense of entitlement" among our students. Some people say it's because of the government's entitlement programs. They say they've made us weak, and totally dependent on others. In some cases that may be true, but I know for a fact it's not true to a majority of our kids. We have more kids on free or reduced lunch in many of our schools than we have students who can afford to pay for their own. That may sound like entitlement to you, but to many it's about survival.
If you think there is not a big difference in the way Hamilton County supports schools in the mostly white neighborhoods versus the urban areas of our county, you need to think again. Just visit Brainerd or Tyner or Howard and see for yourself. Then compare them to East Hamilton, Soddy Daisy, Ooltewah, or Signal Mountain. Students with fewer resources struggle to perform as well as those in a modern, warm and safe environment; one with decent and ample computers and equipment.
One of the best ideas I have heard about improving education is, "We need to bring back band, chorus and art classes and teach our kids something more than how to take a test." In other words, get back to real education. I agree totally.
Are we suffering from a sense of entitlement among our students and young people? Maybe. But they have every right to feel entitled to a good education. The problem is, they're just not getting it. Consider however the sense of entitlement among the power brokers...
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.