Friday, December 9, 2011

Sad State of Affairs

I read this news article today and it really just irked me. So now I will hop up on my soap box and have a little rant.

“The news of the North Carolina boy’s suspension comes as a Massachusetts elementary school is investigating a first-grader for sexual harassment after the boy struck another boy his age in the groin.

The mother of the accused 7-year-old tells the Boston Globe that her son was fending off another child, who had choked him in an altercation on the school bus on Nov. 22.

“I think my kid was right to fight back,’’ said the mother, Tasha Lynch, 30. “He wasn’t doing anything except protecting himself.’’

 

A few things surprised me about this news story. The obvious being that a boy is being punished  and being investigated for sexual harassment for defending himself.The second and more surprising was that the child was defending himself from being CHOKED by another student and that these boys were in 1st grade!I can(sadly) picture teenage boys and grown men choking each other But 1st graders??Really?? Public school is scary!It is a broken system that produces nothing other than violence,laziness and an expertise at following orders.One of the many reasons we homeschool.

The thing that surprises many of my friends whose children go to public school is the fact that I WANT change for the public schools.They assume I just don’t care.After all my kids don’t go there. But this is our society we are talking about.These children who are assembly lined through this system are the future of my world,my kids world and my grandkids world.

Some of my questions about an institution that only became mandatory less that 200 years ago are 1.How did this  become the norm?When you talk about other alternatives than public school you still get looks as if your eccentric.  And 2. how has it held on this long when it is obviously FAILING? Why are people still funneling their children into something they  know doesn’t work?

I’m not sure what needs to be done.How things can be fixed. I do believe we need a “free market” system so to speak.A system that will encourage schools to compete for students.I believe we need to get the federal government out of education completely.Education should be a state issue.I can tell you one thing I know the education system DOESN’T need.That’s more money!I think the amount of money wasted (and yes I mean WASTED) on the current education system is obscene!The system is failing.Its not failing because it cant afford to educate.It fails because its not set up in a way that makes truly educating people possible.Its like standing beside a car with no engine and throwing money at it and expecting it to start right up.

What do YOU think about education in our country today.What can we do to help all the children in this country get a quality education?

2 comments:

Cari said...

That is so sad. I think one of the biggest issues is that parents rely 100% on the school to educate their children. Back in the day mom stayed home with kids and was involved, now many have no clue what is going on. It has also become a social arena more than a place of learning. There is no one fix solution but charter schools where parents are highly involved seem to have much better track records than those where the parents have no part in their child's education.

ChristinaB said...

You are so right Cari.We need involved parents.Whether they are homeschool,private school or public school parents!