Someone on my homeschool network posted this, and I thought it was interesting.
I'm extremely discontented with the quality of socialization and instruction in Poppy's high school, and becoming moreso every day. Unbelievable. I'm not at all happy that they've got my funding allocation. The school is a byword in the area for the drug and alcohol abuse, students having sex in empty classrooms, dealing, vandalism... The teachers spend their time putting out fires, literally and figuratively.
And there's my kid, someone who actually wants to be there and participate. Except there's nothing much to participate in.
(Why does she want to be there?
She likes to talk, and the audience at home has a limited capacity.)
But Mama's getting restless... Gonna be some changes.
The schools get a lot of money per head, certainly more than I'd ever see as a homeschooler, and yet we've got this mess. Stupid system.
The teachers have got their hands tied by parental apathy or outright facilitation, or what-have-you. I realize that. I also realize that I went to each of Poppy's teachers and volunteered to volunteer, just call me and let me know. Haven't heard from any of them.
You know, if there's going to be a public system, then why isn't the public responsible for it? I mean, if some wrong-headed teen-ager is bent on disrupting a class, why isn't one of his/her parents brought on the scene to shadow the child for a week? Why should the rest of the public have to pay that shot?
There's a lot of reasons why it isn't like that. Economics is the primary one. But you know, I think there's a little saviour-thing that can happen with teachers too, especially in areas like this, areas with a lot of substance abuse. They complain about the lack of parental involvement, but underneath there's the whiff of an attitude, a taste of superiority and rescuing, that the Loving Teacher shall wrest the Poor Child from the clutches of Family Dysfunction And Vice and set Said Child on the Road To Success And Enlightenment. A quiet tape playing in the background, you know? And that story doesn't have much room for the Nurturing Parent who raised the child not to need a saviour.
Teachers, sure. Messiahs, no.
I'm still cranky about the suggestions from some of the teachers when Poppy started school there, that she would "finally" get some "socialization". Snort. PLEASE! They call dealing drugs behind the maintenance shed "socialization"?
Harrumph.
6 comments:
One of our daughters would no doubt excel in school. All the more reason for her to never darken the doors. When school actually does its job, it is the most dangerous.
I'm sorry. That really is stupid, isn't it.
Sounds sadly familiar...
And the captcha today is 'obbled...
Wow. I'm not naive enough to think that none of that goes on in the rural schools around here, but that sounds like utter chaos!
You're a very talented writer, Mrs Madcap.
I found you via Don Mills site and am glad I dropped by; I've enjoyed reading your posts.
CG - Well in that case, we're safe. They're definitely not doing their job. The reason that I've agreed to Poppy attending at all is because she's such a willful, strong-minded person who isn't much taken in by propaganda, so I wasn't worried about the outright teaching, but socially the place has got the equivalent of a raging case of gonorrhea, and THAT'S not going to fly.
Annette - Yup. At first I wondered if I was completely out of touch with what was happening in schools across the board, but then I started talking to teachers who don't work here, and they let me know that this school is actually under a review process because it's so broken.
Laura - Oh, don't say that!
Deb - I think that yeah, it's happening everywhere, to some degree, but here it's all happening all the time. Chaos. You got the right word.
Kate - Thank you kindly! Please drop in anytime!
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