Two strands that are linking for me this morning:
Schools are tapped for funds; these days, everyone is. As such, everyone is looking to squeeze a bit more out of each other, or spend a bit less themselves, to keep programming sustainable.
Yet, there is enough money out there - like blood it exists in sufficient quantity, the question is how well is it circulating between systems.
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Schools could lease space, after-school service providers should charge parents, parents could save on gas and frustration, knowing their kids were in a safe place and still getting useful knowledge. For families that don't have so much money, there could be other activities in the school that are free or pay-as-you-can. There's a working model in here.
Story #2:
People fundamentally don't get mental health. The mind is a black box, as it were, with notions of individuality and self-control all locked up in the equation. The idea of mental health is stigmatized, although nobody would suggest they don't have a mind (indeed, "brainless" is an insult implying stupidity).
Because we aren't spending time exploring our mental health or figuring out how to build our mental fitness, we're essentially using a computer as a hammer and getting frustrated when it doesn't respond as commanded.
This stigmatization is costing us billions, fostering a culture of short-term decision making and adding more stress to an already-stressed population. When you get right down to it, student protests, ORNG, how employment works and is retained is about mental health, too.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0oOAJngnuv4Xph4v-MW4Fhqr-ZGqrUuRGWD8tkwzG4NKZ703sAOiLNcACaZpy3s1Tm0QAfjqaCog3l8vycdkZbEpMh6FsfnYoD6pP0-Sjv5pdPTrlrqitxw07YjgnXR0s817dEaLXB8WO/s200/Berlin+Wall.jpg)
As I watch strands unfold in multiple sectors - health reform, democratic engagement, education, the economy, foreign affairs, technology, etc - I can see where all these roads connect. We are in the process of unlearning our accepted limitations and starting to look more favourably on out-of-the-box solutions.
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