Common Sense

In 1776, Thomas Paine published "Common Sense." His writings were focused on the situation of the time, however his introduction appears to have merit today as we consider employing "Common Sense" in the State of Georgia. His article was entitled:

"Thoughts on the Present State of American Affairs"

"IN the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense: and have no other preliminaries to settle with the reader, than that he will divest himself of prejudice and prepossession, and suffer his reason and his feelings to determine for themselves that he will put on, or rather that he will not put off, the true character of a man, and generously enlarge his views beyond the present day."

By now you may be asking yourself why does the Flower Child show a picture of a pair of "Air Conditioning Compressors" for a Blog entitled Common Sense. Please bear with me for a moment. These Compressors are running flat out today, August 10, 2007 here in Bibb County to cool a small portion of a Public School. I am also aware that the expected temperature in Bibb County will reach 105 degrees with a possible "Heat Index" number of 111.

Most citizens will agree that August is usually the hottest month of the year, especially here in Middle Georgia. Fact of the matter, the current situation as I view the evening Weather Reports, August is quite hot in a major portion of our United States. But that is another problem.

My concern today is why do school children in Georgia have to commence their education in August, when the temperatures are usually the hottest? This causes a lot of unnecessary expense to the citizens of Georgia, cooling homes and also cooling school buildings. School could start after Labor Day.

Now if Georgia had the reputation of having a stellar education system which other states attempted to emulate the extra expense of cooling buildings could be justified. However, we all know that with a bit of Common Sense we could easily re-invent the School System Calendar so that Children would not be subject to hot bus rides (Have you seen a Yellow bus with Factory Air?) and the idea of attending classes during the most uncomfortable month of the year. Admittedly the cool weather of Winter can be uncomfortable, but that can be corrected by laying clothing. Conversely, being uncomfortable in the Summer cannot be corrected by taking off clothing.

So, today the Flower Child is recommending that a bit of "Common Sense" be applied to the establishment of the education calendar. As energy cost continue to increase a bit of planning now may just help reduce our dependence on resources that we consume to cool buildings that could well remain hot until September each year. Yes, this would take an adjustment on our current scheduling of Summer Schooling for our educators, an adjustment to our current way of thinking that appears to be devoid of Common Sense and finally, allow our Students to participate in the plethora of Fun Summer Activities that Children can enjoy if they live in States where School does indeed begin after Labor Day each Year.

The Flower Child admits that this post was prompted by the recent victory of the Warner Robins Little League Base Ball Players who recently won the State of Georgia Championship and just last evening the Southeastern U.S.A. Championship. These young scholars should not have to even be concerned about School at this time, yet they will be involved in Little League World Series activities through August 30th. What a shame that we in Georgia have to require that our Students Study in the Sultry Summer Season. Again, I remind my readers, if Georgia had a reputation as a leader in producing excellent test results for the majority of our Students, the current schedule just may be justifiable. As it is, I would humbly suggest that maybe we should think outside of the box that we are currently enclosed in.

My final comment - Just last year 2006, the Little League World Championship Winners from North Columbus, Georgia experienced the same situation. I respectfully submit that the opportunity to meet young people from around the World and to also participate in such an event as the World Series of Little League Baseball is far more valuable than 20 some days of class room work in the month of August.