So today (not more than an hour ago) I was in my history class with a teacher that should most definetly reconsider his teaching methods. He spends the full two hours filling us with propoganda and today he went a little too far. This is what he said:
-Alcohol is worse, in terms of health, than cocaine, herion, ecstasy, marajuana, meth and all the other drugs combined.
-The Government is trying to get rid of the exportation of cocaine because it poses a threat to alcohol and tobacco companie’s profit.
-Only 15,000 people die from Cocaine, meth, ecstasy and so on.
Now, I would respect these opinions had they come from some other citizen; but teachers at public schools cannot be so opinionated. I don’t know if any of these are true, I just want to know if any of you have any information (with citations if possible) on this subject. I just don’t think they are accurate and want to hear a different side before I talk with him tomorrow privatley.
Thanks for your help!
(But it lighter news, my Graphics Art Class downloaded blender for 67 computers!)
You can find statistics slanted in any which way you want if you look hard enough, especially if you go back so far as the 60’s when it was popular.
But all in all it’ll be pointless, you’re teacher is a dick, speak to the school authorities about it. If you don’t have the courage or maybe don’t feel like going that far, then it isn’t really that big of a deal to you.
History class is not a medium for the propogation of your teacher’s wild conspiracy-filled fantasies. I had one who did that too…
Yeah, this guy is running a biased campaign here. Has he factored addictive properties in? 'Cause cocaine and heroin are rediculously addictive. If you use them you will get hooked. Not so with alcohol.
Still, why am I arguing? This guy is off the rails and should not be allowed to teach unless he alters his behaviour.
I’d go over his head by getting your parents to write to the governing body or head. Make out that you have been brainwashed by him into thinking of trying heroin or cocaine, because he says they are safer than alcohol . It’s not quite true, but something needs to be done about this guy or someone is going to go down just this road…
At least you are aware that authority is not always to be trusted. It is an important life lesson.
well technically speaking he is accurate in that alcohol related deaths add up to more than cocaine ones…
but compare that to the number of users… and then the stats are wrong.
just get into a debate with him and embarrass him in front of the class. that is the best method.
i ahd a lot of feminist teachers… all going on how evil and bad men were. so what did i do? i went on TV and told them that things were sexist towards males now. (my country has more women, women run the top 5 positions of the country…)
-Alcohol is worse, in terms of health, than cocaine, herion, ecstasy, marajuana, meth and all the other drugs combined.
It depends on what he actually stated. If you look at how many deaths, accidents, fetal mutations, etc. attributed to alcohol compared to other drugs than it does far outweigh those other drugs. If you look at negative outcomes per number of users it is a bit more difficult to acertain (mostly because those who use illegal drugs generally also consume excess alcohol). Of course you also have the question - is addiction alone enough to be considered a negative health outcome, is judgement impairment (and such effects as driving accidents). Healthwise a marijuana cigarette is estimated to be equivalent to 10 tobacoo cigarettes in terms of carcinogenic potential. It also has negative effects on memory with chronic use, and other negatives. If you have a undiagnosed (or diagnosed) heart condition - then extasy can result in heart attack. Also if you don’t take a vitamin supplement (can’t recall which, but allows a neurotransmitter to replinish more easily) it can cause brain damage if used frequently. There is also a possibility of heat stroke if you don’t drink adequate fluids.
The Government is trying to get rid of the exportation of cocaine because it poses a threat to alcohol and tobacco companie’s profit.
A better arguement could be made that marijuana decriminalization is opposed in part due to opposition from tobacco and alcohol companies. How much of US drug policy is attributable to US recreation drug lobby and pharmaceutical drug industry is very arguable. Even though I am sure that lobbying by legal drug providers is part of current drug prohibition, another significant part is due to lobbying by groups that feel that drugs are a moral harm.
Only 15,000 people die from Cocaine, meth, ecstasy and so on.
The statistics don’t say whether that includes ‘alcohol in combination’ (thus these statistics tend to be over inflated…) How close 15,000 is will depend on the year but that is roughly the right ball park for the US.
I had a lot of feminist teachers too. In fact a lot of women I meet these days are like that. Feminists are just the female equivalent of male chauvinists. I imagine there would be more in Australia what with all the hairy nipples.
How did you get on TV?
@OnGodsGreen - I wouldn’t worry too much about ‘teachers’ in High School. The exams aren’t that hard anyway. My teachers talked a load of rubbish sometimes. My geography teacher actually argued with me that water contracts when it freezes and it expands when it heats up and it breaks rocks open when it heats up. I don’t even know why I bothered going to class sometimes.
At university, I had a Quantum Physics teacher who blabbed on for a whole hour about the history of some famous physicists and then said at the end that none of it would be in the exam. Freakin’ idiot.
I actually didn’t go to one of my honours university classes for the whole year, crammed for 5 days and got 16/20, which is a ‘B’ I think. Who needs teachers when you can teach yourself?
Just thought I would chime in here and agree with LetterRip.
I have a question: have you considered that perhaps part of this teachers point was to say something controversial enough that you would go and find out answers for yourself?
It’s a really old trick to either stimulate the brain and learning process, or find out if anyone is paying attention. If the goal of a teacher is to stimulate young minds into being able to think and reason for themselves, then I would say he was quite successful with you, as you have obviously come looking for answers. Perhaps you should be applauding this teacher, instead of villianizing him for his propoganda.
Either way, you are going to learn something out of all of this, its too late now!
Just be glad your teacher wasn’t Socrates (poor Plato!).
And, of course, there are 3 kinds of lies in the world: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Is it only worthwhile to learn things if you’re going to be tested on them? Otherwise, what is the point of learning anything after you graduate?
Sometimes, things are worthwhile to learn simply because they’re interesting things to know. Now maybe this lecture wasn’t … but I see kids all the time who only want to know stuff they’ll be “tested on”.
Is it only worthwhile to learn things if you’re going to be tested on them? Otherwise, what is the point of learning anything after you graduate?
Sometimes, things are worthwhile to learn simply because they’re interesting things to know. Now maybe this lecture wasn’t … but I see kids all the time who only want to know stuff they’ll be “tested on”.[/quote]
Ah no, I agree with you that learning stuff outside of the coursework is fine so long as it’s interesting and relevant. That particular example was neither.
Add in what Shbaz said. When you go to something like 5 hour-long lectures a day for 5 days a week and some nutsack just wastes your time, it’s quite annoying.
Also, although I disagreed with people who would specifically study past exam papers to see the most likely questions that would come up, that strategy tended to work better. In fact, I had quite a few professors who encouraged it. After all, when you look for a job, I find that employers are really only interested in what class of degree you got.
I agree with pld. In 100 yrs from now the history books will tell you about the (ludicrous) ‘war on drugs’ and nothing about alchohol and tobacco. Just like that history book that’s in your bag says Columbus ‘discovered’ the ‘new’ world and it was inhabited by ‘savages’ that didn’t know what discover meant.
Yeah… kick out all the teachers that don’t conform to your brainwashed communitie’s mores. We’re all republicans now!
I don’t really agree with your teacher, but reading some of the replies here, it seems fairly clear that a number of you have no idea just how much of an issue alcohol really is.
I recently spoke to a doctor who stated that nearly 50% of all people that go to ER’s on a friday and saturday night are there because of something alcohol related. What’s more I could almost taste the venom and frustration as he said it. Try getting stats even close to that with any other drug (or with all drugs combined). You won’t come close.
I should also mention that last time I went out I saw someone beaten into a coma, do you take these things into account when you make a judgement on how bad for your health alcohol is?
Way, way back in grade 7 I had a social studies teacher that taught us that all technology comes from Japan. She taught us that fashion comes from North America, and Technology comes from Japan. Because the Japanese were so busy creating all of the technology, they didn’t have time for fashion, and so North America ‘traded’ fashion with Japan for technology.
Being the nerd that I was (and am ;)) I knew she was full of B.S. I discussed this with the other kids and we ended up educating each other much more because of her prejudices than we would have if she had been teaching something ‘correct’.
And the funny thing is, home schooling textbooks and co-op schooling is just as biased about stuff! Just it’s prettymuch from the opposite point of view, I have had many debates with co-op teachers (co-ops, it’s kinda like when the homeschoolers get together and other parents teach you, works some times, but more often not) and parents (the parents often sit in the backof the class taking up teacher time and being rather stupid and uninformed) about the things they are teaching.
Once when they where saying no non-christian based/founded country had ever become succesful, I quoted some stats on Japan, so one of the parents stood up and started saying how that was because we traded them all our technology, etc… and that when in the 1940’s made in japan was the same as made in china today, and that when she was growing up (mid 50’s I’dguess) all japanese made stuff was crap, etc… About when she was growing up I stated some more stuff about their cars and technology, some facts about their culture from pre-western contact, and about the 1940’s thing I simply said “Where you there?” the look on her face was awesome even most of the other parents saw her uninformedness, although she had her little group that were badmouthing me. The funniest thing was that my teacher agreed with me later after we talked about it a bit
I have a reputation with all the homeschooling parents around here as the kid to expect trouble from (although I have been liked by all the philosify/literature teachers I have known, since unlike their other students I don’t try to get credit by putting in lots of christian references to try to up my grade, I actually think out my points of argument, and I don’t blandly accept everything they say.). I simply do not like to believe everything I am told without researching it, and am not into all the pro christian bias, and I make that known, I have no problem with argueing with adults about such things. I am a christian myself, but biasing teaching is wrong, the facts should be put forth so you can bias them according to your own beliefs
History is created by the winners not the loosers so it’s usually half lies.
I can belive that alcohol, kills more than drugs, In Britian its very serious, a few years back I heard that Britian had the highest amount of Binge drinkers than any other EU country.
Your teacher is widening your mind to the future history, you’ve probably noticed that by researching what your teacher said you have now got a better understanding on what he said and it taught you how to search for the truth on these type of matters.
And not just the winners version of history.
Exactly. Britain is where I live, and I can tell you for a fact that it is becoming a huge problem. There are no less than eight pubs in a 5 minute walking distance from my house, but only three restaurants…what does that tell you?
Ongodsgreen:
Ever considered that your teacher might just be right on the money? Except for the part about the government trying to get rid of the exportation of cocaine because it poses a threat to alcohol and tobacco companie’s profit. That’s just stupid (Assuming you live in America, that is)
While on the other points he got it wrong, you shouldn’t think that alcohol is a “safer” drug than the others. Alcohol is an extremely addictive drug, one of the worst with nicotine and heroine. While the short term effects of alcohol doesn’t seems as destructive as the other drugs, on a long time it is as dangerous as the others.
Alcohol is considered “safer” because it’s accepted in our culture, but it’s a really bad drug. “Drink with moderation” not more than one glass of wine (two beers) a day.
Alcohol is considered “safer” because it’s accepted in our culture, but it’s a really bad drug. “Drink with moderation” not more than one glass of wine (two beers) a day.
What about six or seven in one night, then a month with no alcohol at all?
I believe the only long term health risks are liver/kidney damage, right?
I’d hate to be killing my brain cells as well… I need them all for blending.
alcohol is, in my opinion, dangerous to some extent.
The fact that getting “addticted” to alcohol is far less commun than getting addicted to cocaine or other drugs. Cause for such hard drugs, the addiction is praticly instantanous.
but stopping the exportation cause it’s killing the alcohol and other stuff economy? haha…aren’t they just stopping the export because … it’s illegal? lol…
6-7beers in a party, 1-2 party per month is, in my humble opinion, quite correct.
I wouldn’t take 2beers (1 glass of wine) per day because imo that is stupid (well maybe not for wine, but for beer). I don’t believe beer have such a good taste, some taste better than others, but in the end, not a single beer can taste better than a good fruit juice or something like this. What we all like about beer is the effect that goes with it, the feeling you have after a few one. So, as far as I go, I only take beers in party because otherwise, I find it useless
. It’s not quite true, but something needs to be done about this guy or someone is going to go down just this road…
