News! News! News!

I love my friends. But I'm shocked, appalled, and disappointed on a near-daily basis by how few of my peers (that is, college- and university-age people or students) have any idea what's going on outside of their schools. Even the most significant current events seem to fly blissfully under the radar. The most common excuse I hear for not keeping on top of world (or even local) affairs is, "the media is biased". To which I respond, "Duh. So are you. Everyone has an opinion. But you can still glean the basics of what's happening in the world around you through the midst of a reporter's take on events." The facts are always (mostly) there. Media bias is nothing new, and no excuse for ignorance.

With that rant out of the way, there are two very different stories that have caught my attention this week, both available in the Toronto Star: one, the re-opening of last year (and the year before's) debate on a re-vamping of Ontario's homework system, and two, the surfacing of a 16-year-old video, taken at a private discussion at Saskatchewan's Conservative party election headquarters, involving a slightly drunk MP making derogatory remarks about homosexuals.

First, the homework. This issue is baffling to me. What Ontario parents are claiming are that the standard formula of 10 minutes of homework per grade is too much and prevents children from having play or family time. They are claiming an increase in assignments that "require extensive parental help and have little educational value" (Dave Barry's classic article about the papier-mache ant comes to mind). They also claim that there is no evidence that homework improves academic achievement in elementary school, and thus is useless and should be abolished at this level.

I'd love to hear from people who attended elementary school in Ontario, because I can't speak for this province's system. I can say that when I was in elementary school in Montreal, from 1990-1996 (we go from grades 1-6), the alleged problems in the current Ontario school system were not an issue. I remember having simple assignments, like spelling, grammar, and basic math, and always being given time in class to being those assignments. I was always able to complete all if not most of my homework in class, for the simple reason that I actually worked during class time instead of wasting that time chatting and goofing off. I would suggest to many parents that bad behaviour in the classroom, and not using class time properly despite the teacher's best attempts to make children do so, is the reason so many kids are "burdened" by so much time spent doing homework at home. I also can't help but wonder what free time parents are championing so hard for their kids to have, as I'm pretty sure my generation is the last that was actually allowed to play outside in the street - not to mention the glut of GTA monster homes that have no backyard, so where do these parents expect kids to go? To organized sports that we also hear parents complain about to the news every few years as being "too structured" and taking up too much family time? A little long division never hurt anyone.

And don't even get me started on last year's Toronto District School Board decision to abolish due dates at the elementary and secondary levels and remove all penalties for remitting homework late - or not doing it at all.

The second big news story of the week is even more ridiculous. Sixteen years ago, Saskatchewan Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski (who did not hold a position in the House of Commons at the time), was caught on tape at a private gathering, which involved beer, making offensive remarks about homosexuals. Someone mysteriously decided to pull this tape out only now out of the woodwork, and you can bet that gay communities and MPs of both orientations are calling for his resignation.

Yes, his resignation. Over comments made in private, and seemingly somewhat drunkenly, sixteen years ago. I tell you, this new "tolerant" society, is really piss-poor when it comes to forgiveness. No bad deed goes unpunished here. Whether you made a mistake, or your great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents did, the tolerant vigilantes want your blood, and won't stop 'til you've been publicly humiliated and lost your job, your reputation, and your social standing. Even an apology is no longer enough - the moment the defendant makes one publicly, they are accused of insincerity. Doesn't matter what you say, nothing's good enough until you've been kicked to the curb. You intolerance is unforgivable.

I've watched the video. Mr. Lukiwski said some pretty stupid things all those years ago - they really were ignorant and offensive. But consider this: we haven't heard his name in conjunction with a scandal or verbal misstep before, so I think it's safe to assume that there is truth to his assertions that what he said then is not a part of who he is now. If what he said after a beer or two sixteen years ago was an opinion he continued to hold every day, surely we'd have heard by now about something else offensive he's said about homosexuals, especially during the recent gay marriage debate and subsequent legalization - but we haven't. Not a peep. Rien.

So, all you angry, self-righteous tolerators out there, why not try something radical for a change: forgive Lukiwski and move on.

And you! Kid who's reading this blog instead of doing your homework! Go do your homework!