You might say, this is a revenge column. That's right, payback time. Been waiting my entire life, to get some of this off my chest..Yep ... it's personal, not business Sonny..I'm talking about the Ontario Catholic School board, which tortured me for 13 years. Why? Well ... I personally think, it's just their way of having fun..It's not like anything I learned there was useful, and, Grade 13 was a complete waste of time..Except for typing, of course, English lit and a few teachers ... a few ... who strived to make it worth the effort. A few who actually cared..The idea for this column came to me when I heard a story from my niece in Costa Rica. She has two young boys whom she home schools. Not only that but she does it well: After breakfast, it's time for school. It just takes dedication and discipline..And then in the afternoon they go to a private school, for a few hours of activities and lessons with an international nature. It's a good balance and it seems to be working..The other day, her eldest came back from the private facility, and she asked him, "How was your day?"."Well," he shrugged, "you're paying for it, but all we did was watch a movie.".Wisdom from a child..Let's face it, kids know BS when they see it and we saw it too in Ontario, where the quality of teachers and teaching was woeful.As far as I'm concerned, all that the school system in Ontario did, is try to break us. Just like any military or government program..They want to break you, and they will succeed in breaking you. The fact you could even keep your sanity by the time you are spit out of the system, is something to be happy about..I fact, I would argue, the only thing, that was accomplished, was the monstrous Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP)..One of the biggest in Canada, it has its fingers in many pies, around the world. Perhaps too many, I don't know..According to a report from the UK-based watchdog group Hong Kong Watch, the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, the British Columbia Investment Management Corp. and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan have invested more than $12 billion in companies reported to be involved in human rights abuses, including the Chinese government’s persecution of the country’s Uyghur minority group..All I can tell you is that when I lived in Windsor, I had two options: Work in an auto factory or become a teacher..My parents, hard-working Ukrainians from Manitoba, had no political or business connections. And I had no intention of being a lawyer or doctor, nor could my folks afford anything of the sort. I toyed with the idea of being a pilot and I did become one, but bailed because there were few pilot jobs then, and requirements were ridiculous..What I'm saying is that built on the back of this awful Ontario school system, many of my friends and my brother's friends all got teaching jobs. And, I 'm sure that some of them did some good in that role..But it spawned a giant, corporate pension fund, a dragon that is now gobbling up investments around the world. Some of them, apparently questionable..Am I bitter that they have bigger and better monthly pension payments? You're damn right I am. Even though I have no one to blame, except myself. One has to follow their passion. But I worked just as hard, if not harder in my journalism career, which launched when I moved West and after I got my Comms degree at the U of Windsor..My media pension, plus my government pensions, doesn't even cover my monthly rent in Calgary. If not for a good investment manager, a bit of luck on the markets and the fact I continue to work, it would be tough keeping the wolf from the door..And another thing, some of the meanest, cruelest teachers, existed in that Ontario system. Catholic you say? Yeah, right..I once watched my science teacher, take a black magic marker and write all over a student's face because he couldn't understand what was going on with a lesson, using one of those stupid overhead projector things..That incident traumatized that kid for a lifetime..My brother Jim recounts an incident, where a teacher was punching a student..Jim stood up in class, and told him to stop it — the teacher said, "Shut up and sit down, Makichuk.".Jim said "No, what you're doing is wrong.".It would end up in the principal's office, where the authorities sided with that big ape of a teacher. But he never, ever laid his hands on Jim..Drops in the bucket folks, drops in the bucket — I had my traumas too, things I don't even like to talk about. One teacher in particular loved humiliating kids, and one day, he targeted me ... mocking me, my appearance, my culture, everything I stood for in front of my friends. And I took it. I didn't fight back. If I ever saw him walking across the street, I don't know what I would do..To this day, I regret I didn't stand up for myself. Worse, I did nothing to provoke it. For some reason, he just decided to pick on me..So let that be a lesson to one and all. Stand up for yourself, but take the high road. Always, always take the high road..I avoided much of the horror growing up, because I was a class clown. I made people laugh. They liked me. So I managed to avoid the direct line of fire..You do what you do, to survive. So if some parent, wants to home school their kids, I say go for it. As long as they have friends and activities as well, then fine. I have no qualms with it, whatsoever..I'm told by those in the know that home schooling has come a long way. There is also something called the Internet..Also, some parents don't like the idea of their kids sitting at a desk all day, with a few breaks, then racing home to eat dinner and do 2 hours of rushed homework..This is the regimen we are being handed, but is it necessarily the correct regiment? Can we do better? Should we do better?.I must also add, I'm sure the education system is better today than it was in my day — it may even be the exact opposite with better trained, thoughtful teachers. Professionals who care..Kids today, seem to like school which is great and I do not mean to paint all teachers with one brush, just because of what I experienced growing up..But let's face it, our kids, yours and mine, are the future of Canada. There is nothing more important, in the grand scheme of things..To quote the great Socrates, a fellow who taught Plato and Aristotle: "Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”
