An idea for the school systems...

[hawgheaven]

I hope y'all didn't think I was putting any blame on teachers, or suggesting that they aren't doing enough. I agree that the parents need to get a handle on their kids and not depend so much on the teachers being baby sitters. Things are a whole lot different now than they were when I was growing up.

But, I do believe that my suggestion could be done and have a positive impact on the kids' future.

Sorry if I implied teachers are not doing their jobs... I did not mean that at all.

 

[rip]

I think the Teachers hands are tied and just do the best they can with what they have. Thats why my kids home school, it's not the teachers it's the system.

 

[dacdots]

Hawg,thats good thinkin,from the time my kids could crawl through the yard I had them out showing them how to live.My girls,while still very girlie,can out work I bet 75% of the boys in this country.Now once they turned about 14 I ran them into the house to learn how to live inside,cook,organize a house do their own finances etc.Here in WV thats normal behavior.There is method to this madness,its called free labor.

 

[homebrew & bbq]

I didn't mean to imply that you or anyone else was blaming teachers. I guess my comments were born out of frustrations I felt as a teacher. SOME parents would blame teachers if their kids weren't doing well in school. And there are some teachers who need to take some of that responsibility. Others were going WAAAAAY beyond the call of duty and parents would still get upset with them.

I think a lot of it is the philosophy that has crept into our schools and society that says we should do everything we can so little Johnny or Susie doesn't ever feel bad. I don't know how many times I heard that "we need to build up their self-esteem."

Now I don't know about you folks, but I don't recall any of my teachers being concerned about my self-esteem. They were more concerned about whether I was learning what I was supposed to.

The result of this philosophy change was that I was regularly getting 7th graders in the math classes I taught who didn't even know their multiplication facts.

I am in agreement with much of what has been said. There are lots of things that have been taken out of the schools that should have been left in there. And there are things that have been added that really don't belong in schools.

Again, I apologize if I implied that any of you were blaming teachers. I guess I was just venting some long held frustrations.

 

[hawgheaven]

It's all cool Terry!

I just wish things are more like they were when I was a yungin'... I learned how to survive. You are right, our teachers weren't concerned about how we felt, they were concerned about what we learned...

 

[deejaydebi]

Hawg I wish it was like when we grew up at home too! BEFORE they stopped letting you spank the little buggers when they were bad and before they started blaming everyone but the kid for misbehaving!

 

[ajthepoolman]

I certainly don't blame teacher either for the problems in schools. I do think though that the time a child spends in school, whether private or public, is partially wasted on subjects that simply don't matter.

Back to my son's history book, you would swear that nothing has happened since the end of the civil war. It has one paragraph that mentions WWI and WWII. Now, it is technically an "American History" book, but come on, what event in modern history has had the impact on America like the two world wars? Sure, maybe it wasn't fought on our soil, but it sure as hell had an impact on the country.

My son is learning about DNA and chromosomes in science. He is learning how to use creative writing in English. He is reading a book in Reading. Math is in to triple digit division. All of these seem like relevant subjects. But the history of the Spanish landing here in 1400-whatever seems like wasted time to me.