I'm a parent so i automatically know more than everyone! About everything!
I promised a post on education reform, and here it is.
I purchased a book last night called "From Crayons to Condoms - the ugly truth about america's public schools." I knew it was going to piss me off, but I really had no idea it would get this bad. The content of the book is personal testimonies from parents (and a few students) who have encountered various horrors of the public school system. While some of these people are borderline logical, some of them are completely toontown. I thought I'd share one essay with you; my comments are in bold.
I have a lot to say on the subject of education, naturally, so this is a bit long.
The woman titles her essay
At one time I had great faith in our public school system. I thought America was best among nations at educating her children--especially in our district. However, my convictions have changed. The following events do not reflect my opinions; they are actual classroom experiences. I helped in the classroom every week, so I witnessed these events!
Okay, I hate these alleged "helpers" who feel like spending an hour a week in the classroom means they know everything. Did you study Piaget? Do you have a degree in early childhood, education, or psychology? No? Then shut up. Being a parent means you know your children best, but it doesn't necessarily mean you know what's best for them, and it definitely doesn't mean you know what's best for everyone's children.
I wanted to believe it was only an isolated incident when my youngest child did not learn to read in kindergarten and when the first-grade teacher always read to the class without their participation.
I'd like some input here - did ANYONE learn to read in kindergarten? I mean, yeah a lot of us knew HOW, but did your kindergarten class learn to read as part of the curriculum?
The curriculum for my second grader included literature about witches, and some sort of subliminal music played in the background when the children read.
Yeah, we just call that "music." It sets a relaxing mood and helps kids focus.
During the Christmas play, Santa Claus was hypnotized.
Hypocrite! Witches are unacceptable, but Santa Claus and Christmas plays are fine?
For the older children, the sex-ed class discussed dildoes. I'd need more context. Right now I'm going to read that as, the children in the class discussed dildoes. The children no longer sat individually in rows of desks but in chaotic clusters of four. This has been going on MY ENTIRE LIFE. It is a better method. During some tests, children stood their books upright in front of them if they weren't supposed to cheat; during other tests, cheating was allowed, and books could lay flat on the tables. My daughter sometimes got confused - she didn't know when she could cheat and when she couldn't.
Okay, say it with me - CHEATING IS NEVER ALLOWED. If you're allowed to do it, it's NOT CHEATING. My guess is we're talking about kids collaborating on open book tests.
Children received party voter-registration cards to fill out and turn in to the teachers. (I thought party affiliation in America was a private matter.) It is. Fortunately, schoolchildren do NOT HAVE PARTY AFFILIATION! In my ten-year-old son's drug curriculum, "Here's looking at you 2000," the students role-played drug addicts. Yes, I have done this activity. The goal is for the "addict's" friend to practice saying no. The science teacher told them, "When you drink too much alcohol you'll feel [good] and want to have sex with somebody." My child was shocked, feeling that the teacher was encouraging drinking and sex.
So, those brackets mean that the teacher didn't actually say "good" in that sentence right? I bet the teacher described the sensation of being drunk and said it might lead to bad decisions like unsafe sex.
When the school added "journaling" to my children's curriculum, I at first thought it wounded like a great idea, a chance for the children to be creative writers. However, the teachers began prompting them with very sensitive questions: "Does your family get along?" "What are your parents' occupations?" "Have you been blamed for something you didn't do?"
No, VERY SENSITIVE questions would be "Do you believe in God?" and "do your parents fight about money?"
One child's class wrote their own obituaries after having been "done in" by a family member! I just plain don't believe that. My nine-year-old had to answer the question: "Have you ever thought of going behind your parent's back? If no, make it up." My children were not graded on sentence structure, punctuation, or spelling (I never saw any red marks for these); rather, they were graded on such powerful nonsense as political correctness, a teacher's whim, or length of their babble. Okay, so I'm to understand that a) punctuation grades are more important to you than content grades, and b) your children's thoughts are "babble." Christ. These prompts tended to undermine and belittle parental authority and beliefs, and most distressing, seemed to attack the "trust" of the home.
My sixth grader chose a book called Sixth Grade Secrets from the suggested reading list. Unfortunately, she neglected to read the book until the night before her "report" was due. Shortly after she began reading, she came to me with the book and said, "Mom, I can't read this book anymore; it's not appropriate for me." I have to admit that, on one hand, I was proud of the fact that she used the word "appropriate." On the other hand, I was concerned about the content of a book that would elicit this type of response from a sixth grader. SHe and I sat down to read it together. I wanted to know what she considered inappropriate.
Sixth Grade Secrets told the story of children who formed gangs. One gang called the "Pig Gang" discussed an initiation exercise that include boys stealing girls' panties and parading them around on sticks. The panties were referred to as "treasures." When a girl in the story went to the principal for help, he admonished her by saying that she should keep her underwear on under her skirt because that's where it belonged. While none of the panties were stolen off the girls' bodies, the girls were upset; yet the principal in the story didn't support them. The messages conveyed were of a sexual nature.
All right. I have actually read this book. The "gang" in question is a harmless club called "Pig City, after the slogan on the main character's favorite hat. As I remember, the initiation was that you had to submit a "treasure" of some nature, and to tell a secret the club had to protect. If I'm remembering it right, the underwear incident was regarded by most characters as crossing a line. Eventually, a parallel club sprang up, practicing open admission, after a student was rejected from Pig City. The message was one of acceptance, not sexuality at all.
I called our school's principal the next morning about the book, and she told me to have my daughter report only on the portion she had read and to return the book to her. After much thought I chose not to return the book and instead copied many of the pages and turned those in to the principal. I told her I had decided to keep the book; she didn't argue.
Theif!
The assignment for this "book report" was to make a postcard. That's right - not a written or oral report - but a postcard. My daughter drew a stamp with a pair of underpants hanging on a stick and girls reaching up in an attempt to retrieve their underwear. What kind of book and classroom assignment is that?
It's not unusual for book reports to omit written or oral reports. When one of my children was in fourth grade, the students made "mobiles, pictorials, or collages" for their book reports. Schools today encourage children to use pictures instead of words!
Cause god forbid we teach kids a variety of ways to express themselves. No, writing is the ONLY WAY, and if you're LD or not a great writer, you should NEVER get credit for having read and understood a book!
The following years grew worse; spelling was omitted in my fourth grader's class, math became an "open-ended" problem of the week (basically no right or wrong answers); science projects became "invention conventions" (nonscientific: creativity without knowledge).
If this is the worst stuff, she needs to provide examples. I don't even know what this means.
After opting one child out of PG-13 and R-rated movies, I faced harassment and intimidation by the classroom teacher and the principal. Such as? Then the school harassed and discriminated against my child after we opted out of a class that spent three months studying euthanasia and infanticide in a core book called The Giver. Oh my god, do not even get me started. Do we understand the concept of "dystopia?!" I think those who have read The Giver will understand my frustration here. Those who haven't read it, go do so right now, punks. Other reading material included: My Sister's Killer, The Loser, and the depressing Caleb's Brother. I haven't read any of these. If anyone has, I'd love to hear opinions. The assignments accompanying these books asked students to relate the story to events in their own lives by writing about their memories and feelings. These stories focused on death, depression, gangs, drugs, murder, suicide, and other negative and frightening topics. No rainbows or puppies? Real life issues? Oh noes!
My "A" student began receiving lower and lower grades on these assignments. My child's spelling, punctuation, and thought process were good but her had very individual beliefs, feelings, and memories. After reading The Loser and writing against gang violence, stating, "It takes a stronger man not to fight," my child was kept after class and told that unless the "correct" memories, feelings, and responses were written, his assignments would no longer be graded. Sounds to me like the paper he wrote wasn't what was assigned. You can be an individual and still address the question that was asked. He was told: "Someone at home must be keeping you from your true feelings." Sounds to me like someone is. He received an "F" for that report.
At this point we contacted a law firm. WHAT?! The attorney stopped the actions of the teachers, restored my student's grades, and protected his right to express individual thoughts and beliefs free of the teacher's political influence, discrimination, intimidation, and harassment. Well, if your lawyer agrees, you must be right! Wait, how much are you paying him?
As to the required "journaling," the attorney and I were informed by the assistant superintendent, principal, teacher, and their counsel that it was "dialectical" journaling. I researched "dialectical," and learned that it is oral argumentation based on theses, antitheses, and syntheses, and widely practiced by Karl Marx. He used this form of argumentation to change the thinking of an entire society! I am appalled and ashamed that our once great country is teaching this in public schools! Marxism in America!
...I have no words. Just...no words.
It is no wonder that America is in crisis. Something must be done - or is it too late? I have placed my children in private school, but our hearts are gripped with despair every time we see a yellow school bus. Isn't anyone listening?
-Name withheld by request Yeah, I wouldn't attach my name to this crap either.in
Well done, if you made it through that!
I purchased a book last night called "From Crayons to Condoms - the ugly truth about america's public schools." I knew it was going to piss me off, but I really had no idea it would get this bad. The content of the book is personal testimonies from parents (and a few students) who have encountered various horrors of the public school system. While some of these people are borderline logical, some of them are completely toontown. I thought I'd share one essay with you; my comments are in bold.
I have a lot to say on the subject of education, naturally, so this is a bit long.
The woman titles her essay
At one time I had great faith in our public school system. I thought America was best among nations at educating her children--especially in our district. However, my convictions have changed. The following events do not reflect my opinions; they are actual classroom experiences. I helped in the classroom every week, so I witnessed these events!
Okay, I hate these alleged "helpers" who feel like spending an hour a week in the classroom means they know everything. Did you study Piaget? Do you have a degree in early childhood, education, or psychology? No? Then shut up. Being a parent means you know your children best, but it doesn't necessarily mean you know what's best for them, and it definitely doesn't mean you know what's best for everyone's children.
I wanted to believe it was only an isolated incident when my youngest child did not learn to read in kindergarten and when the first-grade teacher always read to the class without their participation.
I'd like some input here - did ANYONE learn to read in kindergarten? I mean, yeah a lot of us knew HOW, but did your kindergarten class learn to read as part of the curriculum?
The curriculum for my second grader included literature about witches, and some sort of subliminal music played in the background when the children read.
Yeah, we just call that "music." It sets a relaxing mood and helps kids focus.
During the Christmas play, Santa Claus was hypnotized.
Hypocrite! Witches are unacceptable, but Santa Claus and Christmas plays are fine?
For the older children, the sex-ed class discussed dildoes. I'd need more context. Right now I'm going to read that as, the children in the class discussed dildoes. The children no longer sat individually in rows of desks but in chaotic clusters of four. This has been going on MY ENTIRE LIFE. It is a better method. During some tests, children stood their books upright in front of them if they weren't supposed to cheat; during other tests, cheating was allowed, and books could lay flat on the tables. My daughter sometimes got confused - she didn't know when she could cheat and when she couldn't.
Okay, say it with me - CHEATING IS NEVER ALLOWED. If you're allowed to do it, it's NOT CHEATING. My guess is we're talking about kids collaborating on open book tests.
Children received party voter-registration cards to fill out and turn in to the teachers. (I thought party affiliation in America was a private matter.) It is. Fortunately, schoolchildren do NOT HAVE PARTY AFFILIATION! In my ten-year-old son's drug curriculum, "Here's looking at you 2000," the students role-played drug addicts. Yes, I have done this activity. The goal is for the "addict's" friend to practice saying no. The science teacher told them, "When you drink too much alcohol you'll feel [good] and want to have sex with somebody." My child was shocked, feeling that the teacher was encouraging drinking and sex.
So, those brackets mean that the teacher didn't actually say "good" in that sentence right? I bet the teacher described the sensation of being drunk and said it might lead to bad decisions like unsafe sex.
When the school added "journaling" to my children's curriculum, I at first thought it wounded like a great idea, a chance for the children to be creative writers. However, the teachers began prompting them with very sensitive questions: "Does your family get along?" "What are your parents' occupations?" "Have you been blamed for something you didn't do?"
No, VERY SENSITIVE questions would be "Do you believe in God?" and "do your parents fight about money?"
One child's class wrote their own obituaries after having been "done in" by a family member! I just plain don't believe that. My nine-year-old had to answer the question: "Have you ever thought of going behind your parent's back? If no, make it up." My children were not graded on sentence structure, punctuation, or spelling (I never saw any red marks for these); rather, they were graded on such powerful nonsense as political correctness, a teacher's whim, or length of their babble. Okay, so I'm to understand that a) punctuation grades are more important to you than content grades, and b) your children's thoughts are "babble." Christ. These prompts tended to undermine and belittle parental authority and beliefs, and most distressing, seemed to attack the "trust" of the home.
My sixth grader chose a book called Sixth Grade Secrets from the suggested reading list. Unfortunately, she neglected to read the book until the night before her "report" was due. Shortly after she began reading, she came to me with the book and said, "Mom, I can't read this book anymore; it's not appropriate for me." I have to admit that, on one hand, I was proud of the fact that she used the word "appropriate." On the other hand, I was concerned about the content of a book that would elicit this type of response from a sixth grader. SHe and I sat down to read it together. I wanted to know what she considered inappropriate.
Sixth Grade Secrets told the story of children who formed gangs. One gang called the "Pig Gang" discussed an initiation exercise that include boys stealing girls' panties and parading them around on sticks. The panties were referred to as "treasures." When a girl in the story went to the principal for help, he admonished her by saying that she should keep her underwear on under her skirt because that's where it belonged. While none of the panties were stolen off the girls' bodies, the girls were upset; yet the principal in the story didn't support them. The messages conveyed were of a sexual nature.
All right. I have actually read this book. The "gang" in question is a harmless club called "Pig City, after the slogan on the main character's favorite hat. As I remember, the initiation was that you had to submit a "treasure" of some nature, and to tell a secret the club had to protect. If I'm remembering it right, the underwear incident was regarded by most characters as crossing a line. Eventually, a parallel club sprang up, practicing open admission, after a student was rejected from Pig City. The message was one of acceptance, not sexuality at all.
I called our school's principal the next morning about the book, and she told me to have my daughter report only on the portion she had read and to return the book to her. After much thought I chose not to return the book and instead copied many of the pages and turned those in to the principal. I told her I had decided to keep the book; she didn't argue.
Theif!
The assignment for this "book report" was to make a postcard. That's right - not a written or oral report - but a postcard. My daughter drew a stamp with a pair of underpants hanging on a stick and girls reaching up in an attempt to retrieve their underwear. What kind of book and classroom assignment is that?
It's not unusual for book reports to omit written or oral reports. When one of my children was in fourth grade, the students made "mobiles, pictorials, or collages" for their book reports. Schools today encourage children to use pictures instead of words!
Cause god forbid we teach kids a variety of ways to express themselves. No, writing is the ONLY WAY, and if you're LD or not a great writer, you should NEVER get credit for having read and understood a book!
The following years grew worse; spelling was omitted in my fourth grader's class, math became an "open-ended" problem of the week (basically no right or wrong answers); science projects became "invention conventions" (nonscientific: creativity without knowledge).
If this is the worst stuff, she needs to provide examples. I don't even know what this means.
After opting one child out of PG-13 and R-rated movies, I faced harassment and intimidation by the classroom teacher and the principal. Such as? Then the school harassed and discriminated against my child after we opted out of a class that spent three months studying euthanasia and infanticide in a core book called The Giver. Oh my god, do not even get me started. Do we understand the concept of "dystopia?!" I think those who have read The Giver will understand my frustration here. Those who haven't read it, go do so right now, punks. Other reading material included: My Sister's Killer, The Loser, and the depressing Caleb's Brother. I haven't read any of these. If anyone has, I'd love to hear opinions. The assignments accompanying these books asked students to relate the story to events in their own lives by writing about their memories and feelings. These stories focused on death, depression, gangs, drugs, murder, suicide, and other negative and frightening topics. No rainbows or puppies? Real life issues? Oh noes!
My "A" student began receiving lower and lower grades on these assignments. My child's spelling, punctuation, and thought process were good but her had very individual beliefs, feelings, and memories. After reading The Loser and writing against gang violence, stating, "It takes a stronger man not to fight," my child was kept after class and told that unless the "correct" memories, feelings, and responses were written, his assignments would no longer be graded. Sounds to me like the paper he wrote wasn't what was assigned. You can be an individual and still address the question that was asked. He was told: "Someone at home must be keeping you from your true feelings." Sounds to me like someone is. He received an "F" for that report.
At this point we contacted a law firm. WHAT?! The attorney stopped the actions of the teachers, restored my student's grades, and protected his right to express individual thoughts and beliefs free of the teacher's political influence, discrimination, intimidation, and harassment. Well, if your lawyer agrees, you must be right! Wait, how much are you paying him?
As to the required "journaling," the attorney and I were informed by the assistant superintendent, principal, teacher, and their counsel that it was "dialectical" journaling. I researched "dialectical," and learned that it is oral argumentation based on theses, antitheses, and syntheses, and widely practiced by Karl Marx. He used this form of argumentation to change the thinking of an entire society! I am appalled and ashamed that our once great country is teaching this in public schools! Marxism in America!
...I have no words. Just...no words.
It is no wonder that America is in crisis. Something must be done - or is it too late? I have placed my children in private school, but our hearts are gripped with despair every time we see a yellow school bus. Isn't anyone listening?
-Name withheld by request Yeah, I wouldn't attach my name to this crap either.in
Well done, if you made it through that!