Public Schools Are Totally Fucked Up

[RobBob]

edited

 

IMO volunteering is something that one has to be inspired on one's own to do in order to be effective. Re: My kids' school volunteering, I admit to having a self-centered motive regarding my own kids' performance. Maybe along the way I can contribute to other kids' lives too, but right now I am determined to give my own kids the opportunities I had, without inconsistencies or failures of the school system dicking that up.

[minx]

Jim said:

minx said:

i don't think you can tell any of us we should be volunteering.

 

Yea, I can. Just as you can disagree. My opinion is that we are a very privlaged society that is growing increasing self-centered and unwilling to help some of society's less fortunate, and fixated on the latest TV shows or Hollywood scandal. Yet it's easy to spit vile about anything, while doing nothing to fix it. You like to climb? Cool, so do I.

 

But I still find time to give something back. You should too.

 

of course you CAN tell anyone to do anything...you're right

 

i just think it's out of line. RobBob is right...you should be inspired to volunteer. Recently something has struck a nerve with me so i'm giving my time now. h/e in a busy world maybe the best volunteering we can do when we have kids at home is to be an active parent.

 

for some people volunteering is as much a hobby as climbing is for me and others who post on the board. i use my free time to spend with my son and climb. now i'm going to give up some of my climbing time to volunteer but it's not b/c i feel obligated to it's b/c it's something that matters to me.

 

back to education...unlike ChrisT my son is not a straight A student but he is doing better in public school than he was in private. because he has some wonderful teachers, he's improving by leaps and bounds. part of that is b/c of the effort and time they put forth to staying in contact with me. one of the teachers who has been the most helpful was one that wasn't even his teacher. talk about caring and going the extra mile!

 

i'm smart enough to know that i'm not a teacher. i tried very hard to help my son but i was doing a poor job of it and creating problems at home b/c of it. i found that when i went to his teachers and asked them how to help him, they had an amazing amount to offer. by involving myself a little more directly with his teacher everything changed.

 

people like to blame education funding, class size, teachers and a lot of people for the educational decline in this country. maybe we should look more at the parents?

 

 

[RobBob]

My old man used to rant "Religion isn't the opiate of the people---TV is!" The SOB wouldn't allow a TV in the house until I was 14. Now I'm glad my parents emphasized reading and withheld the TV.

 

My rant is that TV has been surplanted by gameboys and playstations as the opiate of kids today.

 

...and look where it leads...to time-wasting on the internet! ...never mind.

[Jim]

minx said:

Jim said:

minx said:

i

i just think it's out of line. RobBob is right...you should be inspired to volunteer.

 

maybe we should look more at the parents?

 

Certainly parent involvement is key. And there are two parent families that let their kids drift. But there are many famlies, for whatever circumstances, that are trying their best but the kid needs some additional attention.

 

I voulenteer when my kid was at home, sometimes I would take her with me, sometimes I had other kids come by our house. I don't mean that putting time into your community should be so structured - time helping others in your neighborhood or through your church or such is wonderful. My remarks were aimed more at the yuppies who would rather sit at home flipping thru the lates patagucci catalog or check on their investments than get off their butts and outta the house to make a larger contribution.

 

You would be surprised how much time you waste during the week. Why not several hours a week helping out. IMO.

[Scott_J]

minx said:

 

regarding school and parental involvement. this is a different issue. volunteer in your own home and be there to help your kids w/school work, be involved in their school day, get to know their teachers and in some cases be involved enough to know when you can't help. i'm not a teacher and have no experience in teaching a youngster basic skills. active participation makes a difference. it would help if we were each responsible for our own kid's education instead of blaming teachers and schools for their failures.

 

I cound not agree more

[JayB]

If I were to attempt to pinpoint the blame for the majority of the problems with public education today I would lay the majority of it on parents who send ill-prepared, undisciplined, and ill-mannered children in the classroom then expect teachers to work miracles in the limited time that they have with them.

 

The incorporation of some of the more voguish nonsense into school curricula and disciplinary standards hasn't helped the situation, but when a child fails in school it is the parent's fault. Period.

[Fairweather]

It may surprise some of you to learn that this Republican thinks the "voucher" idea is poor policy. If the parents of a child want to send their kid to private school, let them pay. Childless couples and single individual taxpayers pay into the system in a cumpulsory manner! What makes a parent think they are entitled to get back a portion of their edu-tax pay-in when everyone else in the country is helping with their burden?

 

I have two kids attending public schools here in Tacoma. Granted, the schools are far from perfect, but I truly believe that the education they are getting now is superior to the public education that I received back in the 70's. I propose that the kids coming out of our public schools today are at least as prepared as those of any previous generation.

 

Here in Tacoma the elementary schools are fantastic. The middle schools are abysmal, and the high schools (my kids are 9th and 12th graders) are good. As it has always been, the kids who want to learn and are driven will keep this society going.

[Dutch]

All sarcasm aside... The educational system I grew up in back in Alaska, was a crash course in politics (not spelling obviously). My family was in the district as employees, and I knew all sorts of things, like the reasons so and so was laid off or transeferred was because his wife was pokin so and sos principle and we arent doing this because we will piss dumb shit off and we wont be funded for that, and my Vagina is bleeding so we are going on strike....Students??? Oh yeah.

I loved it though because teachers like Sisu were there to inspire shit storms. But you cant expect honor or commitment out of teachers, they are surrounded by children who look to them for guidance....too bad the fucking teachers are looking to the kids on how to conduct themselves. Public schooling is a perfect model of Cut throat Big buisness and the capitalist way of life.