Lifes Like That

There are currently 7 responses to “Where were the teachers???”

Why not let us know what you think by adding your own comment! Your opinion is as valid as anyone elses, so come on... let us know what you think.

1. 1 On December 18th, 2007, Nic Stage (Who am I?) said:

   Kids leave school because they don’t want to be in school (For whatever reason). It is virtually impossible for the staff at any normal sized high school to keep kids that want to leave from doing so. The only methods I could think of that would ensure that the staff could keep track of students’ whereabouts 1005, would be quite Orwellian and would create an environment that students would want to leave even more.
   

   Rate this:

   2.5

   posted on December 18th, 2007 at 4:27 pm

2. 2 On December 18th, 2007, Mojo Goodbarf (Who am I?) said:

   Blame the teachers, blame the school! Take no responsibility for it yourself! Give me a break! It’s the parents’ fault 95% of the time. There are laissez-faire homes, crazy-making homes, homes where no one is actually interpersonally present though their bodies are there. Be there for your kids. Find out what they are doing. Monitor them closely. Read and sign all the homework. Insure that they get to school on time and make sure they actually walk in and attend. Talk with them every day. Ask about their day in detail. Persist although they will resist. Keep at it. Visit the school often. Create a relationship with the teachers and the counselors and the principal. Now you’ve done what you need to do.
   

   Rate this:

   2.5

   posted on December 18th, 2007 at 8:17 pm

3. 3 On December 18th, 2007, GD (Who am I?) said:

   I work next to a high school. Throughout the normal school day I see a steady stream of students leaving campus. Some in cars, some walking. We’ve already heard of at least two students getting hit by cars in recent months.

   When the student hide in/on our property, we try to send them back. Sometimes we get lucky and make contact with the sheriff’s deputy stationed on the campus- they at least follow through. But more often than not, they’re already busy with something more pressing.

   Once I actually heard an administrator ask the student why they even bothered to show up, that it was just more paperwork for them.

   Don’t blame the teachers alone. I’ve heard stories of irate parents threatening lawsuits against teachers who won’t let students come and go as they please, and I’ve repeatedly seen and heard of administrators at campus and district levels instructing teachers to “let it go” when they come against these insane parents.

   Current education systems are only successful for the 10% of students who are either solely intrinsically motivated, or have intimately involved and deeply passionate parents who have the time to stay involved.

   For the rest… it’s a battle to keep students on site when they don’t want to. The parents want them secured on the campus, but not treated like prisoners. They expect teachers and administrators to be strict disciplinarians to every child but theirs, who should be nurtured and allowed to explore their place in the world. Administrators and teachers alike prefer to let the hostile, hateful, resentful students slip through their hands if it means that they can spend more time actually teaching. But administrators have to balance that desire against meeting minimum legal obligations to force kids to stay, but to find away as so that it doesn’t reduce their campus rating, or reduce the amount of funding their eligible for. Plus administrators of all levels have begun to think in strict terms of liability, which means either passing on the responsibilities of dealing directly with problem students, or grudgingly going through the various state and federal mandated processes that rarely are relevant to the student.

   And in the midst of all of this- sometimes the good kids, who want to learn, but for some reason don’t speak up… sometimes the good kids get lost too. and sometimes its just easier for them to leave a situation as messed up as the average high school campus than to try to make it work for them.

   I say this as an ex-teacher, the third generation of teachers in my family, having taught or worked in 5 districts in the last 20+ years.

   Don’t blame the teachers.

   not all of them lumped together at least, some (many) of them are trying their best.

   not without blaming parents, counselors, principals, parents of the kids friends, community members…

   not without blaming the student….
   

   Rate this:

   2.5

   posted on December 18th, 2007 at 8:35 pm

4. 4 On December 18th, 2007, Larry (Who am I?) said:

   Where were the teachers? Well, if they’re like me, they were in their classroom, answering questions about assignments, homework, etc.

   We had a similar incident a few weeks ago in my middle school. Two boys shoplifted a bottle of vodka from a local supermarket on their way to school. They then redistributed the booze into several water bottles and put them in their lockers. They blended in with the rest of the students who walk around all day with water bottles.

   The faculty wouldn’t have known if another student hadn’t spilled the beans.

   It’s pretty easy to judge teachers. My advice–go get a substitute teacher certification and spend a few days in the classroom before you blame teachers for not policing the hallways and sniffing water bottles.
   

   Rate this:

   2.5

   posted on December 18th, 2007 at 9:36 pm

5. 5 On December 19th, 2007, Kim (Who am I?) said:

   First of all I would like to thank you all for your comments. I really do respect what each and everyone of you had to say.

   In my original post, I did explain that the parents were are are furious with the child. She is being punished and disciplined over this matter.

   But, one thing I don’t understand is how can you blame the parents? They send the child to school first thing in the morning and expect that she will be in school for the entire day. Except for going to school with her each and every day, how do you honestly expect the parents to monitor her activities while she is at school?

   And yes, I do believe that the child should be blamed and she needs to accept any and all consequences for her actions.
   

   Rate this:

   2.5

   posted on December 19th, 2007 at 11:12 am

6. 6 On December 21st, 2007, GD (Who am I?) said:

   perhaps “blame” in the context of “laying sole responsibility” is a bit harsh for the parents. I don’t know, I openly admit I’m far from the situation and don’t know the intricacies.
   In a more, whole-picture-kinda-way … and please notice I lumped in many persons in the same statement…
   a) she got the alcohol from somewhere, there is a probability that an adult facilitated or enabled the action. in my own experience it was the friend’s parents who would “rather have them drink under their own roof, than out partying unsupervised.”
   b) the odds are that someone off campus noticed her not in school: neighbors, people driving down the street, etc.. anyone of them could have called the parents and pointed out the girl wasn’t in school.
   c) I would imagine/ in my experience- kids very rarely windup passed out drunk at home at 4pm on their first dabbling with alcohol. maybe hindsight has shown that she’s had other instances of acting oddly, or evidence of changes in her life? I know I don’t spend enough time with my children, and I know I would/will dwell on the “I should have…” noticed/asked/been more suspicious.. etc.. not blame per se, but opportunities missed.
   d) education can’t be a “drop the child off in the morning, wash your hands of them till afternoon” arrangement. no, I don’t expect a parent to keep tabs on the child every instant. But being familiar with the teachers, keeping lines of communication open and not confrontational, being familiar with the campus and other parents from the campus, keeping the child challenged and involved with the help of whatever is available on the campus, knowing the kids’ friends and their parents, talking with the child about the day… there are ways of not necessarily monitoring, but at least being somewhat aware of the situation and environment your child is in. take a sick day to volunteer on the campus. (double bonus with opportunity to mortify). I know, I have a 70-80+ hour a week job already and am on call 24/7 and I know I don’t do enough, but all any parent can do is try.
   e) everything in (d)? aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors, godparents, etc.. can do it too. as much as I hate the phrase “it takes a village” .. … it does.

   again- these comments may or may not be applicable to your friends situation directly… but I’d guess in 90% of similar situations… the majority are relevant.

   and a separate clarification:
   IF the child was drinking odoriferous alcohol in class and acting suspicious.. then go ahead and blame that teacher.
   I won’t lie, I know there are teachers out there who will avoid conflict like this as long as they have plausible deniability. But if she was home, passed out, its more likely the drinking was at home or nearby.
   

   Rate this:

   2.5

   posted on December 21st, 2007 at 9:14 am

7. 7 On December 21st, 2007, Jenn (Who am I?) said:

   I have to agree that she most likely wasn’t drinking on campus, and I unfortunately say that from experience. My high school years ended 7 years ago, and I have to admit there were plenty of times I ditched school to do stupid things.

   It was harder for us to sneak out w/o punishment because I live in a small town, but it still happened. Any teenagers spotted off school grounds during school hours were almost always stopped by the cops. If you were caught ditching, you got suspension, but most of the time you weren’t caught because you could get out of the main part of town and away from the school before a cop could spot you. It really did take a community effort to make sure kids were where they were supposed to be though.

   It was easier for me. I had classes at the career center for 2 years. Our high school had 1 lunch for the entire school at 11:30, but the other schools in our district had 2 or 3 30 min lunches, so our career center classes wouldn’t start until 1:30 to accommodate them. We had 2 hours to kill every other day between classes, so we’d often go to the local Mexican restaurant to drink margaritas because they would serve us.

   Not once did our teacher ever question us. I’m sure if we walked in a little extra bubbly she probably thought we were just being teenagers. I can say I never got S**Tface drunk during school hours, but we did have a means to drink, and the teachers didn’t realize it.

   And whether she’s a great kid or not, there’s no telling what a teenager will decide to do. My mom would tell you I was the perfect teenager…straight A’s, did everything that was asked or expected of me, minded and respected my parents. They would also tell you that not once did they know their daughter was drinking during school ours or skipping classes by copying her mom’s signature on fake dismissal slips.
   

   Rate this:

   2.9

   posted on December 21st, 2007 at 10:59 am