YOU have to take the responsibility, with the right

I might have angered some people in my "Juvenile Justice in America" class tonight.

I'm okay with that.

It's my right. For the most part, I didn't disagree with what they (including the instructor) had to say, right up until classmates said they felt media should be somehow "regulated" to lessen the negative impacts on children.

That's where I diverge.

Do I think most of the so-called "entertainment" teens consume is ridiculous? Yes.

Do I wish teens paid attention to better, cleaner influences? Yes.

Do I believe our some of teen "idols" are abhorrent? Yes.

We watched "PBS Frontline: The Merchants of Cool" tonight in class. It's a 2001 documentary about all of the research that goes into the machine that is Viacom (MTV and just about every other cable channel), the four other major conglomerates that control media and message in this country and what how that research affects teen spending habits.

The show highlights scenes from the debauchery that is MTV's Spring Break each year. It touches on teens who buy into rage rock groups like Limp Bizkit and Insane Clown Posse. (Their fans hate the corporate machine, but like all "cool" things, eventually corporate America gets its hands on "alternative" guys, too.

You think the marketing was insidious back in 2001? I'd love to see an update of this topic today with social networking implications examined.

Most of you know, I don't have kids, so understand that's the point of view I'm coming from. That said, I kinda think it's the parents' responsibility to debrief with kids on what they're seeing. I'm not sure I'd want my own children listening to songs and watching shows fraught with awful language that also completely devalue women. I'd hope I could help them understand that that sort of thing doesn't fit in with our family's value system.

But, you know what, it fits in with some people's values. I know some of those people. If that's what they want to do, I can't control it and that's fine.

I think the other students got a little snippy when I said that society CAN'T regulate media - it's against the law.

My classmates mostly seem to think that it's society's responsibility to regulate the media children watch and the clothes they wear. (In fact, someone even spoke Tipper Gore's name: "Whatever happened to those sticker label things she wanted to do?" Um, the labels are on all "explicit" CDs today.)

But here's the thing: You can do say, think, believe and produce what you want in this country. The first amendment gives us that right. Everybody has it. In fact, some people I completely disagree with have the first amendment, too, but I don't have to listen to them if I don't want to.

My problem with "society taking responsibility for this trash" is that who decides who is in charge? What if I'm in charge, and I don't think anyone who has blue eyes should be allowed to say or do anything?

Society doesn't need to take the responsibility. Parents and families need to take responsibility for what their children are consuming. Be their parents, not their "cool friends" and tell them you don't want them listening to it.

Yikes. Things aren't looking good.

Anybody who hasn't been under a rock for the last year or so knows that the money is tight in a lot of places. The economy is "slowly recovering" according to some, but companies are laying people off, state budgets are looking awful, things are being cut, cut, cut.

Monday after school we had a meeting to talk about the district's budget forecast. It sounds awful. We've already cut $11 million between cuts made last year and cuts made during this year, and there are more to come.

Layoffs are on the table. Salary freezes are on the table. Program cuts are on the table. It's hard to know who's safe and what our jobs will look like next year. Some teachers might be teaching different classes, larger classes. I'm nervous. I pretty sure I won't LOSE my job, but if there aren't enough students signing up for yearbook, newspaper and journalism classes, suddenly I become an expensive proposition for the school and the district. I'm not certified to teach any other area, so I'm sort of stuck.

I spent last Thursday at the state capitol with four of my students. They competed in a contest sponsored by KSPA. Students interviewed our legislators to find out what they were thinking on the state's budget and so the school district's budget. Those we spoke to are not in favor of any sort of tax raises (not even on cigarettes). Their solution is to continue cuts. We're pretty much all the way through any fat there was, and we're getting into the muscle and bone.

Why not increase taxes on something that is NON-essential for life? Whatsa matter? Smokes getting to expensive for you? Well, QUIT. Or, help me educate the doctor who might save your black lungs someday.

I realize tax increases aren't a popular proposition, but when you are talking about schools, it's tough to to stomach cuts to programs. I saw that in my former district, they're talking about removing art classes from elementary schools. For some students, the chance to participate in art classes is a lifeline.

The scariest thing I heard on Monday during our staff meeting was that the district has already had to dip into our "reserve" fund to cover payroll three times this year. That means three times the state's payments didn't make it to the district in time to pay our salaries. That reserve fund sounds pretty important to me, but one of the possible "solutions" the state is proposing is districts returning those reserve funds.

If this keeps up, I might have to really get you clicking on the Google ads...we could be looking for some supplemental income.

Maturity Notice

I received a "maturity notice" in the mail the other day. At first, I thought maybe someone was patting me on the back for being a good girl, having a good job, nice house, etc.

It wasn't. It was something even better than that. We paid off our little red Ford Focus! Woo hoo! The montly payments weren't that bad, because it was a 72-month, zero-percent loan, but still. I think that's an accomplishment. And, anyone who worked with me at the Eagle knows that for a while there, I changed cars pretty frequently.

The Focus doesn't have a lot of miles on it, either, so it should last us a while more. We might not have a bunch of fancy stuff, but we have what we need, and now the only debt we have is the payment on my car. That's a nice feeling. I'm glad we don't have to spend our paychecks paying for stuff bought months (and in some cases, years) before.

For those of you with kids, be sure you're teaching them about credit cards and debt, because there isn't a class in the public schools that deals with that. We touch on it a little bit in our advisory classes, but personal finance is definitely something kids should learn before they head off for the easy-credit land of college.

You will be traveling and coming into a fortune

Well, I will be, according to my Chinese food fortune tonight. Let's hope that speaks the truth for what will be happening in 2009 for me, and for you.

The year 2008 was a great one for us - a great "new" house, continuing to have good jobs in the sketchy economy, incredible friends, half marathon, lots of knitting, and family and friendily time.

Before bed tonight, I'll tack that fortune to my vision board, and see if "The Secret" can make it come true for me this year. Maybe I'll earn a fortune from Google Ads? Who knows.

Here's to another year of blogging, tweeting, living, knitting, crafting, laughing and loving.

Happy New Year to all - hope it's a wonderful one!

I so wanted to be Tom Hanks in Castaway

when my mom and I tried to hang a ceiling fan in Jayne's room last night. I had my blog post all planned:

It would be titled: "I HAVE MADE FIRE!"

And there would be a picture of me dancing in front of the ceiling fan, light on and fan moving.

Of course, it wouldn't really have been fire, but I was at least hoping for some electric light. Unfortunately, when mom went to the basement and flipped the switch, and I flipped the wall switch and pulled the strings, nothing happened.

The fan looked damn good hanging from the ceiling, but when Jill said "Let there be light" there was no light. My best guess is that when we crammed the wiring back up into the piece that hangs from the ceiling, one of the connections got a little wonky. This is my best guess, because after screwing with the damn thing for three hours last night in waning light, we had to stop.

We left the fan attached to the ceiling, but had to leave the electric to Jayne's room turned off for the night.

I'm a big fat chicken when it comes to dealing with electrical. Twice in my life, I've been shocked by a household outlet - once while washing a car at my grandma's house, and once at mom and dad's when I was about 15. It didn't HURT, per se, it just scared the crap out of me (well, not literally). So, I was a little nervous when mom asked me to help her with the fan, but I thought it would be a good chance to learn something new, and accomplish something I hadn't done before.

I learned something new all right: Call a freaking electrician when installing ceiling fans. I think my three hours spent getting frustrated and standing on top of a ladder holding my arms up is definitely worth the fee for the service call!

Money-Saving Tip of the Week

It's been pretty quiet around the old Chittum house today. I woke up with a horrendous sore throat, and Adam had class, so I went back to bed when he went to school. You know I'm not feeling well when I'm on the couch, and I can't even really get the motivation to grab yarn and sticks.

My throat feels better, but I feel pretty lethargic, so it's been "Sofa City, Sweetheart" for most of the day. (Anybody name that movie?)

Here's my Budgetary Tip this week: Don't give up the massages if you feel like you need them, but check out the massage therapy school in your area if spending $80 bucks an hour sounds like too much to you. I got an hourlong Swedish massage after school yesterday for the low, low price of $25.

Sure, it wasn't the ambience of a "spa" but it was a quiet, dark room, with soothing music and the massage therapist did a great job. It was an hour I got all to myself, so no complaints outta me. I will definitely go back next time I'm feeling wigged out. The only thing is to make sure you get an appointment early, because I did have to wait about a month for mine.