On the move ... again

Ah, Spring ... time to look for a new job.

Luckily, this hasn't been as difficult a chore as in past years. On Thursday, I was offered and accepted a position with a business wire service in downtown Washington DC, and will be moving from eastern Connecticut sometime in the next three weeks.

My path into journalism has been kind of an odd one. I got into this almost 10 years ago when I turned 30 years old. Prior to that, I was in sales, selling business books to corporations, and I was pretty good it at, but I was also pretty miserable. When I got my first job in journalism, working for a division of ESPN in New Jersey, all I wanted to do, in my mind anyway, was be a sportswriter.

That was in 1995. Since then, I have been a sports editor, news writer, news editor and newsman with The Associated Press. I have lived in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Missouri. I have gone where I was needed and am ready to do it ... again. Now, I am getting ready to start another chapter in this new career. Wish me luck.

Now, would someone please help me up on my soapbox.

As I sit here wondering what to write about, nothing is really coming to mind. Finger in Wendy's chili? Nah. President Bush as a lying freak? No. Steriods in baseball and -- heaven, forbid! -- football? No, thats OK.

In Norwich, Conn., there was a recent incident where a student at a middle school, in repsonse to teasing by bullies, made an inappropriate comment by claiming he was going to shoot them. Not the best plan of action from a country that has seen shooting rampages in Colorado, Arkansas and Minnesota over the last six years.

The child who uttered the threat was suspended. I don't think this teen had any intention of shooting up his middle school. It sounds like, to me anyway, that he was being unmercifully teased by these bullies for whatever reason. My point is this ... its one thing to suspend the kid who makes a stupid statement, perhaps in the heat of the moment just to take some of the pressure off of him. It's another thing to do nothing to the kids who precipitated the teasing in the first place.

The junior high school and middle school years can be the worst for any kid growing up. Between trying to fit in and dealing with physical and emotional changes, it's hard to survive sometimes. If a child is perceived as different -- not fitting in because he or she looks different, acts different, things like that -- it can be devastating to a child's psyche and self-esteem.

I know. I lived it. For the most part, I'm OK ... there are still some things that I have issues with that I am working through, but things for the most part are good.

I guess what I am trying to get across is this ... if we're going to watch the actions of one school child, perhaps it is time to look at the ones around him or her as well. Things may not be as cut-and-dried as they seem.

Anyway, what do you think? ... I'd like to know.