"Abuse" a short story by Craig Zimerman

When Michael was young, he used to throw rocks at Fred. Sometimes Fred would cry, but Michael cared little, tormenting Fred was fun.

 When Michael was twelve, he  pushed Fred down a hill and broadcast the event on social media. The video got thousands of hits and for a while, Michael was a minor celebrity.

As Michael got older, he began to think of more creative ways to abuse Fred. In the middle of a snowstorm, he put Fred outside. Michael thought it was hilarious that Fred could hardly move after being out in the cold for two hours.

During his high school years, Michael began to lose interest in Fred except maybe to occasionally throw some food at him. He once posted a photo on the internet of Tomatoes dripping off Fred's face. Everyone loved it.

 Just before graduation, years of abuse finally took their toll and Fred just collapsed. Michael's parents were mad for a couple of days, but then went right out and bought him a new robot.

Education and Democracy by J.M. Tewinkel

The following was written by J.M. Tewinkel Principal of North Central High School , Spokane, Washington in 1949. Some of the statistics  mentioned in his short essay have improved, but the message is still relevant:

"Everyone likes to think that the job he is doing is important. Sometimes a student wonders whether he is spending enthusiastic years to the best advantage by finishing high school.

All the evidence proves that he will hold better positions and earn more money through his lifetime if he sticks to his high school course. That's the selfish side.

But our nation has a comparable interest in each one of you. America's chances for survival are better whenever a student moves over into the "upper one-fourth" in educational status.

America is a democracy and each votes counts once. but the number of voters who didn't reach sixth-grade education equals the population of 29 states. Sixty percent of American voters have not had a year of high school. They couldn't have had more than a smattering of history, civics, economics, and government.

LESS THAN 25 PERCENT of the  American electorate have gone through high school ! 

So America says to each one of you, "stick to your education guns ! We shall expect better judgement and better accomplishment from you then from the less-favored three quarters."