Well I have to admit that I never thought the Jay Leno humorous video would bring the interest & passion that it has but of course it was not as humorous as it was sad for our country. Below are three more responses that I received - the first one in my opinion sums up the root cause of our educational problem because it comes directly from a teacher who I have the world of respect for. My comments are in red to the other two.
---Response #1---
I taught school in the 60s....it was a whole different ball game back then, with the parents and teachers working together. I had great backup from both my principal and the parents. When I went back to teach in the 80s, it was nothing like my first experience....and I can very well understand what the writer is saying. How sad for our children!
---Response #2 ---
Well the teachers do pretty darn good in this township, I'd like to see their convention held in the summer not during the school months. I don't blame the teachers too much for what they are teaching, but I do blame the politicians, and head of program curriculum, and now the far left groups injecting the values in the class rooms, and the teaching of global warming before all the science is in. That's where the blame lies along with parents that have to work to pay for the teachers perks, so I have to blame who is connected to the education system - all of them not just one group - they are all to blame. Remember it's for the children ,, or is it really?
But who started the slide - it was the parents. When I got in trouble in school my parents were called in to see the teacher & no one even wanted to know my side - the teacher was thought to be right. I just knew I was going to get it when we got home. This has changed - now we start with the teacher being wrong & the children can do no wrong. What teacher of any quality would put up with this? It is the same for the military in Afghanistan or our Border Guards having no backing but putting their lives on the line every day - by comparison the teachers have it easier than this but who in their right mind would want to become a teacher today regardless of how good they seem to have it monetarily. After a while the teachers thought we need a strong union & then the leeches came in for tenure & the result we have is people graduating with honors that can't read, write, or measure.
All of the groups you mention are involved in the educational problem but the root cause of all of our educational problems is the lack of interest & involvement of the parents. We are going down the rat hole as clearly shown by the product of people demonstrated in Leno's video. Who would hire them? & for what? How could the parents let this happen to their children no matter who else is involved?
---Response #3---
No I am not going to blame the parents first, nor the teachers first. I blame the do-gooders of society. "Government" and everyone else just went along like a steam roller, DIFUS, court system, anyone that has the authority to put the parents in jail and strip them of their values, allowing children to sue the parents. DIFUS black listing parents for just a phone call and enormous court costs. Who was it that stripped the children of the authority figure, who you ask? - The progressive movement one nut and bolt one nail at a time it was the do-gooders. If any teachers read this they should know, look back and look for the changes, it was an onslaught of do-gooders, the progressives finally pried the nail holding the board tight to the floor and they kept pulling and pulling that board to where we are today. Parents now need a sledge hammer to put the board back in place.
We can talk about one amorphous group after another to blame to no avail but to me we have to ask how could the people shown in the Leno video exist if they had the parents you & I had who were civically involved in our country? Lose touch with that & anything can happen. Its the people who let Socialism & the road to the destruction of America happen - the children are not mature so that leaves the adult parents many of whom may be part of the groups you mention. How could the parents let this happen to their children considering love of them & country no matter who else is involved?
Hi Doug:
ReplyDeleteI read the very enlightening responses. Unfortunately, I cannot view videos on my computer due to a software bug. However, I have a response to the responses. Too often society forgets that we get the government and the school boards that we elect. With that said, it is difficult for me to understand how any of the respondents can blame anyone but themselves. I believe the contemporary word is "change". Remember, we/US over-whelming voted for it.
Please do not mistake me for a contrarian or rebel rouser. I am only looking at the landscape, both forward and backwards and reporting what I see.
Recently, at a family gathering the conversation became heated. One of the relatives was into his second year of unemployment and cheerful about the prospect of future extensions. This provoked ire from another relative who had his own business and was being penalized an addition $2400 to fill the coffers of the unemployment fund. The relative in his own business was a carpenter and hasn’t had a decent paying job in months. The hostilities were flying back and forth in between mouthfuls of ham and mashed potatoes. I thought my nose was going to be bloodied when I simply said we get the government we elect and their policies both the good & the bad.
Thanks for the discussion, Doug – this has been so interesting, and oh, how I welcome some honest-to-good debate and discussion amongst intelligent people!
ReplyDeleteI have yet another spectrum to pose to your readers:
…more on the role of parents and/or family for that matter … the school and teachers cannot instill good work ethic in our children. Yes, they can “lead by example” – but what about mom and dad? Or grandma and grandpa? Or whoever is the head of the family? Take a look around, I see seniors returning back to work, bagging groceries – some, yes for financial reasons – others? Their work was their life, or a way of life. Where are the 16-year-olds? Back when I was in high school (and no I’m not THAT old, but old enough), we could not WAIT to turn 16 and get a job, so we could earn money. McDonald’s was a right of passage – EVERYONE did their time working the food line! And now, even McDonald’s – the seniors are there too. I do not in any way begrudge the seniors the opportunity to work if that is how they want to fill their days – but why are kids not encouraged to get a job and learn how things work? They are walking (or driving) around with prepaid credit cards and cell phones paid by mom and dad (who, much to my astonishment, are paying text messaging bills monthly in the HUNDREDS of dollars) – and I just have one question? What is going to happen when someday these same children are handed a bill to pay for these luxury items?? How will they know to survive in the workplace once they graduate from college if they have never struggled as a teen working for minimum wage but VERY happy to have their own paycheck?
The teachers cannot teach children how to succeed in society – from a common sense standpoint. That has to come from home, and right now – parents today are getting a failing grade in properly preparing their children to be viable, contributing members of society. THAT has to change long before we try to make changes to the educational system that should be a continuation of what is taught at home, not a substitution for what SHOULD be instilled at home.
Thanks for the great discussion!
P.S. I recently had a discussion with a mom at the pool who told me her oldest son was going into teaching. He graduated from a private Catholic high school and presumed the rest of the world had the same dedication he had towards learning. He was absolutely shocked when he went into student teaching, in an affluent suburb – not inner city school – and the kids talked back to the teachers, and when he gave an assignment, came in the next day and only about 25% of the class had done the homework. They laughed at him at the suggestion of consequences for not turning in the homework. But he tried to stick with it. He called her last week and told her he is changing his major. He said you could not pay him enough money to go to work and face that environment every day. He asked her, “what has happened to the hunger for learning?”