Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/servant-master-or-partner

Comment #4701

2017-05-31T11:21:04Z

Hi, Grace! Thanks for reading and commenting.

Comment #4700

2017-05-31T04:39:11Z

I can't even imagine any one of my doctors, or staff asking such questions unless there had been some kind of incident. Or some inexplicable change in a patient's behavior. Someone who just isn't feeling well with no physical symptoms - yes, I can see psych questions coming next. Teenagers in their angst years - a little gentle and subtle questioning is probably okay. But to ask what that nurse asked in a preliminary exam? No way, no how.

Comment #4699

2017-05-28T11:24:55Z

I guess it depends on what you see as the purpose of a school. To me, it is a service available to families for the purpose of educating children. For some, it is conduit for social engineering. As the latter, what you say makes sense.

Is age or sex profiling better than racial profiling? If the one is acceptable, why not the other?

Who said the boy was not in school? Not everyone goes by the public school schedule. Why should he have been harassed by the police for being young and male?

Comment #4698

2017-05-28T11:02:31Z

I'm sorry, but your arguments don't convince me. Questioning for suicide and abuse prevention serve the greater good better than ignoring the problem. As for teenage boys on their own during school hours being up to no good, I tend to agree. I wouldn't go as far as dragging them down to the station, but I'd inquire where he lives, where his parents are, and why he's not in school.

Comment #4697

2017-05-28T10:38:04Z

I disagree, Diane. The "if I can just save one child/person/animal" argument has been used extensively to trample on millions of innocents. It is the same kind of logic that led to a shy young friend of mine being dragged off to the juvenile detention center because he, completely innocently and legitimately, was riding his bike in his own neighborhood. When I complained to the sheriff, he responded, "it's necessary to prevent crime; teenage boys on their own during school hours are probably up to no good." Efforts to prevent crime, abuse, or terrorist attacks rarely justify traumatizing the innocent. We rightly object to patting down children at airports, yet allow the mental equivalent to go on daily in our schools.

Comment #4696

2017-05-28T09:56:58Z

I understand your concerns, but there are two very important reasons why nurses and teachers ask uncomfortable questions: suicide and child abuse. The world we live in today is quite different from the one we grew up in. In that world, most kids did not experience the existential angst they do today, (and when they did, they did not seek suicide as a solution), and most adults were usually trustworthy. If the questioning might save just one person who is depressed to the point of suicide or who is being physically battered (by parent or spouse) or sexually abused, then it is definitely a good thing.