thisorthatorwhatever

By middle school, I was making magician type smoke pyrotechnics from things I found in the drug store and corner store. Based on sci-fi shows I was watching. This led to me read more about science.

I had middle aged drunk neighbor that let me use his blow torch, and my father let me alone in the garage to use whatever tools I wanted. I had to opportunity to build what I wanted.

If there is a maker-space in your area, maybe try going the nights they have an open house. When there start a 1960s kids project, that you'd like to do as well, perhaps using molten tin metal to make figurines, building some classic plane models, firing model rockers. The people there would help you, and teach the kid not to go down the road of toxic masculinity.

All I can think of at the moment.

Getting rid of phones in schools has no effect on grades.

God, imagine if an average person got a representative in office that they knew and met. The earth would stop and crumble.

Things like this bug me. That's the property tax for 20 people. That's a month's rent for 200 people. That's a yearly wage for 5 people in Ontario.

I don't think that there is much of a biological difference between girls not being fidgety and boys being fidgety. That line of argument tends to degenerate quickly into pseudo-science eugenics. I believe by grade 6, the heavy amount of gender marketing just means boys and girls have different interests.

I really don't think that many female grade 6 teachers have any knowledge or interest in guns/cars/planes/programming and can't even answer the most basic questions that a young male child might have.

I think that the solution is starting from grade 6, schools should have a specialized math/physics teacher. This would help both girls and boys. To teach physics properly you really need to be very well versed in it, that same with mathematics if not more. So many students fail to gain an interest in math because of a bad teacher, a teacher that was typically just winging it in math lessons.

Without shop classes schools have really suffered. They were a good way to get kids to learn to measure properly, and do applied mathematics. From that you had a natural way of teaching classical Greek geometry, then into sine tables.

I think that is the key issue.

Boys just aren't interested in school at an early age because it isn't really geared to them. Then they fall back, and can't catch up.

Boys are marketed things like cars, guns, and motorcycles from a very early age. If the boy doesn't have a teacher that has any knowledge of these things, they just aren't that interested. I doubt that many female grade 6 teachers could tell a young boy the different between a V4, I4, and flat 4 engine. Or even fain an interested in discussing things like how a jet ski works vs. a regular propeller driven motor boat.

I think that the solution is that schools should have a specialist math/physics teacher starting in grade 6. Just like a regular classroom teacher can't really teach music, a regular classroom teacher can't really teach things like math/physics properly. These are specialty disciplines.

There are very few letters being delivered, but people are ordering many more packages.

I think that each region needs to figure out what is efficient for it. In Toronto the governments have done a really poor job with subways. Each station should have a post-office station so as you ride public transit, you can pick-up your package. The subway should go to airport where packages could just be loaded onto trains and delivered to the subway stations. Places like Japan fund their public transit with commercial leases inside subway stations, something that Toronto doesn't do.

I could also see a, LCBO/Post Office/Service Ontario/Library, combination being a good thing.

The problem is that we really aren't imaginative or have a government ambitious enough to get things done properly. It's infighting between all our governments (municipal/provincial/federal) and our Crown Corporations.

Our riding are also too big, they should be 30,000 people max, not 100,000 people to 1 representative.

With all the quick technological changes we've had since the Internet, this would be a great time to experiment with classrooms.

In large cities try many different types of classroom education and see what works best nowadays.

Like you I'm not a huge fan of religious boards. But, I do think a city like Toronto needs to leverage language courses to be productive.

Ideally the TCDSB and the TDSB should be merged.
Then the trade colleges should be merged into the TDSB, like Humber and Seneca.

That way there is no gap for students. Kids don't have to apply to enroll in a trade like truck driving, or car mechanic, or carpenter. These are just extra courses starting in high school. This way the entry into the trades is streamlined.

In Toronto, every subway station should have a postal station in it, that you can pick up your package at the subway station/ post office. Instead of getting it dropped off on your porch. There should be a subway going to the Pearson Airport, there are 50,000 people working at Pearson. It should have been built years ago. This would greatly ease traffic congestion near the airport. It would also make getting packages easier, because they won't be stolen from the porch.

The problem is that the 3 levels of government never cooperate, so we can't have efficient things.

In a large city like Toronto, one of the city's strengths is how many languages are spoken. This should be encouraged.