21-40 What’s Wrong With This Picture?

<p>Episode 21:40 What’s Wrong With This Picture?</p> <p>Do me a favor and take a look at the picture that accompanies this episode.</p> <p>It’s a picture of my (Dr. George Burroughs) first grade class from approximately 50 years ago.</p> <p>Notice how many students there are:</p> <p>Forty-five.</p> <p>Then notice how many teachers there are:</p> <p>One.</p> <p>Yes, one teacher, Mrs. Manco, with 45 first graders (I’m the handsome kid standing right in front of her.)</p> <p>Now, answer me this question:</p> <p>What’s wrong with this picture?</p> <p>The answer, of course, is NOTHING.</p> <p>Nothing is wrong with this picture.</p> <p>What’s WRONG is the health of today’s children.</p> <p>Let me explain:</p> <p>Having 45 students in a first grade class with just one teacher would be unheard of today.</p> <p>Fifty years ago it was normal.</p> <p>Today, those 45 students would be split up into two… possible three classes.</p> <p>Here’s another thing:</p> <p>If for some reason there <strong>was</strong> a class of 45 first graders today, there certainly would be a “teachers aide” assigned to help the teacher.</p> <p>Not back then.</p> <p>Nor was there any “special ed” classes or teachers.</p> <p>Heck, we didn’t even have a school nurse… despite having nearly 700 students at the school.</p> <p>And, with the exception of possibly one student who may have had asthma (I’m not sure), no one in my class required a daily medication of any kind.</p> <p>To repeat: 45 kids in a first grade class with just one teacher… and we had NO problems.</p> <p>On top of that we were extremely healthy, well behaved, and intelligent.</p> <p>However, please don’t think I’m bragging on myself or my classmates.</p> <p>I’m not.</p> <p>You see, most classrooms were similar to this back then.</p> <p>It’s true.</p> <p>Fifty years ago it was common to see large classrooms filled with healthy kids... all fully capable of learning.</p> <p>Not today.</p> <p>Today it would be considered criminal to fill a first grade classroom with 45 kids and only one tea