Time out, sports fans.

Don't blame the schools.

Where are the parents????

Discipline-Yes, teachers would love to discipline the students. It has
been curtailed, mostly due to parents! ("How dare you discipline my
Johnny. He would never do that! If you touch my Johnny I'll sue you,
the district, the city, etc.")

Self Esteem-Parents again. (My Johnny is just as good as all these
other kids. I demand that he/she is captain of the team, gets to play
quarterback, sing the lead part, blah, blah, blah.)

Fault. Parents. (It's not Johnny's fault. He missed the test because
had to keep him out of school so we could go to Aunt Mabels. Johnny
couldn't do the assignment because he had to race in the skateboard finals.)

Move them along anyway. Parents. (You can't flunk my Johnny! I'll sue
you, the district, the city, the state.)

Teachers today spend countless hours substituting for parents (and
others) who think that the education system is responsible for every
facet of a student's life. Many of these kids come to class with no
manners, common sense, respect for authority, discipline, or basic
social skills.

Many of these kids also come from abusive, broken homes where the
parents have the same problems their kids have-brought on by their own
parents. In addition, many kids are coming from households where the
parents are too drunk, stoned, or not even there to care about their
kids. They're hungry, scared, defensive, and possibly already looking
out for themselves.

Self Esteem? When your own parents don't care or beat you, you do need
some self esteem.

All of these factors challenge our kids today.

But, it's the teachers fault if the kids don't learn.

Want to see the biggest problem in America's education system? Look in
the mirror.

Get involved with your kids. Get involved with your schools. Be part
of the solution. It's easy to stand on the sidelines and be a Monday
morning quarterback.

-end rant-

Al
1964 Skyhawk
Spokane, WA

kontiki wrote:
Matt Whiting wrote:


No longer can schools punish students as it is either illegal or will
harm the students' self-esteem. When a student fails a class, we
blame everyone but the student and find a way to move them along
anyway. I know you have public school connections (your wife as I
recall), but the reality is that public schools HAVE contributed to
this phenomenon of sending subtle, and sometimes not so subtle,
messages that nothing is YOUR fault it is the fault of the "system",
and don't worry as the "system" will take care of you anyway.


I submit that this is to a significant degree due to the fact that
it is not taught or even encouraged in the current education system.
There are other factors of course, but I our education system is
probably the most important one. If someone is not educated enough
to recognize that a problem exists there can never be a solution.