Austin Lewter–Publisher/Editor
A friend and I were talking about school and our kids’ accomplishments earlier this week.
We were discussing how arts and academics can often be overshadowed by athletics.
My friend is a well known native of Norhteast Texas and a respected school administrator, so I’m protecting his identity here— but he made a very interesting comment in the course of our conversation.
“Maybe one day, when I retire, I can write you an editorial piece about how our society places too much value on things that don’t really matter,” my friend said.
This got me thinking about things that don’t matter and things that do.
We live in a state that spends $90 million per year on a standardized test that— literally— is not working.
The STARR test was postponed earlier this month because of technical problems.
Think of that— $90 million on a test that didn’t work the way it was supposed to.
$90 million.
All the while, 20 percent of children in our state are experiencing hunger and food insecurity today.
At the same time, politicians and PR professionals tell us why we should care about first pitches at baseball games.
Stressing our teachers and applying undue pressure on our students matters.
Governors boycotting baseball games don’t matter.
One in four Texan kids going hungry do matter.
Why aren’t we trying to do better by them?
April is Child Abuse Awareness Month.
One in four little girls in this country are sexually abused before their 18th birthday.
And one in six little boys.
Outcries go unheard every day and abuse undetected because we refuse to learn the signs and be proactive.
Meanwhile, a nation is in mourning because the Kardashians are ending their reality TV run.
The Kardashians don’t matter but they have made hundreds of millions of dollars off the backs of the American media consumer while Children Advocacy Centers across the nations are struggling to keep their doors open.
According to U.S. Census data, 18.4 percent of Texas residents have no health coverage.
For several consecutive years now, the number of Texans without health insurance increased, securing our spot as the most uninsured state in the nation.
This is in a state that pays Steve Sarkisian $5.2 million per year to coach football in Austin and Scott Drew $3 million per year to coach basketball in Waco.
All National Championships aside— and don’t hang me for saying this— but big time college sport spectacles don’t matter.
If half the effort, enthusiasm and teamwork put into college sports in our state were put into finding a solution for our health insurance crisis— Texas would be among the top in the nation in terms of care, not the bottom.
Issues are easily distorted these days.
Celebrity is entertaining, sports is distracting and our politicians are manipulative.
I encourage you, as my friend did me, keep your eye on the prize and always remember what actually does matter.
In the end, we can do better because what we’re doing isn’t working.
Austin Lewter is the co-publisher and editor of the Jefferson Jimplecute. He can be reached at jeffersonjimplecute@gmail.com