School Matters Week of 12/06/2021

Several years ago, we were watching our granddaughter for the weekend. She was about 3-years old, and she demanded our every minute of our attention. At one point, I actually counted the number of times (which was 24) in one hour in which she said, “Look at me!” Regardless of what she was doing, she always craved our attention. She wanted us to focus on her to ensure she was the center of attention. I suspect this is a relatively common phenomenon among young children. They constantly need validation that we are paying attention to them.

It seems that we are living in a world in which many are always attempting to get others to look at them. It is estimated that we take over 93 million selfies per day in this world. Over 1,000 selfies are posted on Instagram each second in the United States. The average person will take over 450 selfies per year. The average person will take approximately 25,000 selfies in their lifetime. Over 82% of individuals, from 18-34 years old in the U.S., have taken a selfie. The sale of selfie-sticks is projected to exceed $200 million this year. More people die from taking a selfie than are killed by shark attacks. There is even a medical term (selfitis) for those who are addicted to posting selfies. Thousands of people are taking pictures daily and uploading them to various media sites in an attempt to get the world to look at them.

This need to have the world look at us does not end with just selfies. Since the invention of the more accessible social media venues, people have posted a variety of different challenges and accomplishments. Some of these challenges seem to be very trivial, while others are extremely impressive. A couple months ago, there were countless posts of individuals twisting the top off of a bottle without using their hands. I was amazed at the different methods that individuals utilized to accomplish this feat. People were blindfolded and used a leg-kick to twist the top off a bottle. A motorcycle jumped from a ramp and allowed the back tire to barely touch the bottle top to spin it off. I have seen individuals attempt to throw a playing card across the room and have it lodge in a clothes pin. Hours are spent attempting these trivial endeavors.

Thousands have posted ingenious, and extremely innovative, ways to dunk a basketball. Athletes have dunked basketballs using a trampoline, being thrown from an elephant’s trunk, jumping from a balcony, and even being shot from a cannon. There are incredible videos that seem to defy the ability of a human body to perform. Highly athletic people are jumping from the tops of one building to another. These same individuals are performing gymnastic moves on the street which could rival many routines in the Olympics.

A nine-year boy grossed nearly $20 million dollars last year by reviewing toys on YouTube. Mr. Beast, a director of several interesting games, which gives millions of dollars to winning participants, made over $24 million by posting these games on YouTube. Mr. Perfect made $23 million and Rhett/Link made $20 million by posting short videos on YouTube. All these sites are begging everyone to “subscribe” so they can gain more permanent viewers.

Canadian singer, Justin Bieber, is the most popular musician on Twitter with over 114 million followers. Portuguese footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, has over 95 million followers. Katy Perry, singer, has over 108 million followers. Rihanna has over 103 million followers. Thousands of celebrities spend an enormous amount of time doing bizarre things to get us to look at them. Even the simplest events of these celebrities seem to be followed with unbroken attention.

A couple of years ago, we were visiting one of the assisted-living facilities with our student leadership group in Colorado. I specifically remember one conversation which I believe will remain with me the rest of my life. One of the students asked one elderly resident what he liked to do when he was 18 years old. It was hard to imagine this individual being 18 years old. He could not get out of bed, his body looked so frail, and he could only whisper when he talked. However, you could still see that steely resolve in his eyes when he engaged with you. The old man said that he did not do much when he was 18 years old because he had to work every day of the week just to survive. With a slight smile, he said that the most impressive time in his life at 18 was when he took a long run on a crowded beach. Few of the students understood the magnitude of what he meant because he had delivered it in such a humble manner.

I later explained to the students that he was one of the lead elements in the invasion of Normandy in 1944 and was decorated for courage on that day. He landed on Omaha Beach and had to fight his way ashore under a hail of machine gun fire. After the war, he became a teacher and pastor of a small church. Of course, there was no Instagram at that time, but I am fairly confident this man would not have taken selfies. He would not have posted moments in his life in an attempt to get others to follow him. He spent his entire life quietly serving others without searching for the spotlight. I am confident he never asked others to look at him. He possessed a servant heart and never expected attention, or payment, for doing the right thing. He was an incredible human being who had a life well lived. I wonder if our youth would have second thoughts at posting the events in their life compared to what this man did in 1944 as an 18-year old.

Please review the following information and contact us if you have any questions or concerns. Also, please remember to email Mrs. Webb (webbk@hcboe.net) if you have other questions you would like us to address in future articles.

1. Our COVID numbers are slowly rising after Thanksgiving break. Toward the end of this week, we had 27 total active cases in the district. This involved 21 students and 6 staff members. We have also heard of a new variant of the virus. We certainly should not allow the virus to paralyze us, but we need to be conscientious of our actions so that we do not experience the same type of restrictions we have had in the past.

2. The last day of the first semester will be December 17. This will be an early dismissal day at 11:15AM. Students will return to school on January 4.

3. We are beginning to experience severe shortages in commodities and other food items in our nutrition program. Often our orders are delivered with half of the items being listed as out-of-stock. In other situations, the vendors will substitute different products for those which are unavailable. It is very difficult running a food service program with the unavailability of so many food items and products. In addition, prices for items that are available have risen dramatically over the last few months. We are still providing a nutritious meal to our students, but it is important to understand that the menus may change frequently and without much notice. It is also important to note that meal options may be limited until these supply chain issues are resolved.

I was once in a leadership program where the presenter began with the question, “When you enter a room do you shout here I am - or do you look at others and say, I am so glad you are here!” We live in a world where Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, and others provide platforms for people to scream, “Look at me - Here I am!” We may have lost some of those servant leadership qualities which the greatest generation possessed. I am confident a relatively quiet life which was well lived will have more of an impact on this world than those who burn brightly for a short amount of time but fade quickly. The message and life of that World War II veteran described above will burst from his grave because he lived a life worth living. Perhaps all of us could make this world better if we took less selfies and posted less about us. Instead, we could use our efforts to shine the light on others and turn our attention to those needing help. Thanks for your attention to this article and remember, School Matters!