My son the terrorist.

[TMF]

1st day of school they made us come get my son's Star Wars backpack, b/c it had "weapons" (light sabers) depicted on it. I threw a fit, called them names...basically made an ass of myself for their stupid policy. Basically, I cemented in their minds exactly what kind of beer-swilling redneck I must be.

Sounds like they'd have a heart attack if they saw a Chuck Norris backpack.

[Wyldk2]

I was never saying all teachers are out of their minds. My mother was a teacher at my High school for several years. The ammount of time and effort she spent helping her students excell and get scholarships in their field( she taught cosmetology/hairstylists) which we think is an easy thing, it is not. Besides being an educator of young minds, these people are counselors, mediators, advisers and an alternate shoulder to cry on. Some teachers are bad, but majority are good and actually want to help the kids. It is the way society in this age has changed things.  The administration of these schools needs to not take everything so seriously but i guess in their minds, if they let one small thing go, they would have to let another small thing go.

[DaveTN]

Sure, some schools have problems, but that’s life. Home schooling should be illegal; you owe your kids more than that.

 

[RAJTENN]

Move to Gatlinburg where they take kids to a gun safety class and they are allowed to shoot a rifle, shotgun and hand gun. It is wher my daughter discovered trap shooting...and, years later, made it to the nationals.

[Steelharp]

Sure, some schools have problems, but that’s life. Home schooling should be illegal; you owe your kids more than that.

 

I disagree completely. Given the rat's nest that SOME schools/"educators" are, if you happen to live where the option is one of those, home schooling is necessary. That does require diligent research on the part of the parent... and there is where the Lion's share of problems are, anyway.

[sigmtnman]

Sure, some schools have problems, but that’s life. Home schooling should be illegal; you owe your kids more than that.

 

 

This is a joke, right?

[Smith]

Sure, some schools have problems, but that’s life. Home schooling should be illegal; you owe your kids more than that.

Glad that opinion is rooted in fact ...oops. The facts disagree with you.

I will say the problem wag not so much the teachers or principal in this case but the stupid policy that bound them. The principal told us it wasn't a big deal, but that it was the policy so they had to deal with it in this manner. For the most part the teachers and principals aren't the problem, its the school boards and politicians that make asinine policies from their ivory towers.
Biggest problem i see is the schools no longer prepare kids for the workforce our how to think. The "well rounded" education philosophy is a liberal philosophy of exposure that came out of the 70's. It abandoned a "solid core" philosophy where specific "advanced" courses were left for college level. The data, facts, testing, and current work force says it had been a miserable failure.

[UncleJak]

Schools are facing a lot of problems now.  Sumner county schools has a bullying problem that is gaining a lot of attention.  Additionally, a lot of parents are pulling their kids and going with the home school route.  I think people want to feel their kids are being protected and taught the right things.  Unfortunatley, they are not.  Sad stuff...

[mikegideon]

I disagree completely. Given the rat's nest that SOME schools/"educators" are, if you happen to live where the option is one of those, home schooling is necessary. That does require diligent research on the part of the parent... and there is where the Lion's share of problems are, anyway.

 

This is like anything else these days. They're OUR schools, and WE let them get away with it. Parents need to shove the idiots back into their places, even if they have to take their issue to the school board.

 

Home schooling is free spirited and all that. But, without teaching credientials or equivalent, you may be doing more harm than good.

[KaNuckles]

Fact is home schooled kids are usually more well rounded and make better grades than most public school kids. It has also been pretty well proven that home schooled kids don't really have any problems adjusting socially. And if a parent doesn't feel they can adequately teach a subject they can take them to the school for that class. 

[Superman]

Glad that opinion is rooted in fact ...oops. The facts disagree with you.

I will say the problem wag not so much the teachers or principal in this case but the stupid policy that bound them. The principal told us it wasn't a big deal, but that it was the policy so they had to deal with it in this manner. For the most part the teachers and principals aren't the problem, its the school boards and politicians that make asinine policies from their ivory towers.
Biggest problem i see is the schools no longer prepare kids for the workforce our how to think. The "well rounded" education philosophy is a liberal philosophy of exposure that came out of the 70's. It abandoned a "solid core" philosophy where specific "advanced" courses were left for college level. The data, facts, testing, and current work force says it had been a miserable failure.

They are the ones enforcing the policy. They could have just as easily let it slide.

 

I just dont understand why people are allowing this to happen. I dont even have kids, but if I learned of something like this happening where I live I would do my best to organize people to stop such nonsense. You get enough parents in that school fighting this, maybe it goes away. If we, as a whole, dont stand up and fight this nonsense it will only get worse. In a few years kids will be institutionalized for stuff like this if we dont stop it.

[mikegideon]

Fact is home schooled kids are usually more well rounded and make better grades than most public school kids. It has also been pretty well proven that home schooled kids don't really have any problems adjusting socially. And if a parent doesn't feel they can adequately teach a subject they can take them to the school for that class. 

 

I woudn't doubt that. I'm an old fart, and way past having to worry about it. My point was, if you pull out of the system, THEY win, and we're still paying them for their crap.

[TMF]

Fact is home schooled kids are usually more well rounded and make better grades than most public school kids. It has also been pretty well proven that home schooled kids don't really have any problems adjusting socially. And if a parent doesn't feel they can adequately teach a subject they can take them to the school for that class. 

I'm sorry, there are some very important social interactions that should be going on in the teen years that aren't happening at home or at the youth group meetings. If I had been denied that experience as a teen I'd have some pretty deep resentment towards my parents, no matter how successful and educated I turned out to be.

[buck1032]

Ok I'm a teacher so.... 

 

 How many of you have spent ANY time at all in your kids classes??

 

 

Awesome, you are a teacher! I have two cousins teaching at my son’s school and a sister
in law that also teaches. Not a profession I would want these days.

I spend 20 plus hours a week at my son’s school. I am a volunteer parent, and as
the only male volunteer I have been asked to participate in a lot of my son’s
school functions. I make copies; I sharpen their scissors and kitchen knives. I
have repaired doors, as the custodian is usually running around trying to do
everything else. I have fixed their paper cutters and installed cabinets. Today
I get to bring a desk home and repair the casters. I do try to avoid actual
face time with classes. As I feel that parent interruptions in the class room
just add more stress to the teachers. I justify that by saying that I taught in
the Navy for three years and having someone interrupt my class was the worst
thing to happen. When a teachers asks me to assist in a class I do.

There is a lot wrong with schools these days, but there is also a lot going right. As
you well know the biggest problem I see is the lack of parent participation and
support. Then there is the laundry list of “stuff” you have to do besides
teach. And let’s not even get into the lesson material you are required to
teach. LOL

 

[KaNuckles]

I woudn't doubt that. I'm an old fart, and way past having to worry about it. My point was, if you pull out of the system, THEY win, and we're still paying them for their crap.

 

 

I'm sorry, there are some very important social interactions that should be going on in the teen years that aren't happening at home or at the youth group meetings. If I had been denied that experience as a teen I'd have some pretty deep resentment towards my parents, no matter how successful and educated I turned out to be.

I wasn't trying to be an a-hole. I was pretty anti-homes school as well. but after meeting some people that have, some who have kids in college, my mind was changed. Personally my kids are in public school. Thank goodness we have some pretty good schools in Dickson County. But these people that home schooled said there was no problem. 

[JohnC]

Are private school any better these days? If so, I would take him out of the public indoctrination camp and in to a nice private (maybe Christian) school.

[mikegideon]

Are private school any better these days? If so, I would take him out of the public indoctrination camp and in to a nice private (maybe Christian) school.

 

That's the way it worked in my day.

[mikegideon]

I wasn't trying to be an a-hole. I was pretty anti-homes school as well. but after meeting some people that have, some who have kids in college, my mind was changed. Personally my kids are in public school. Thank goodness we have some pretty good schools in Dickson County. But these people that home schooled said there was no problem. 

 

I know one person that's home schooling now. She's more than qualified to do it. I know another that's considering it, and she's had teaching credentials for years.I don't know the requirements for home schooling. I do know that everybody is not qualified.

 

BTW Smiffy, your son probably wouldn't have the terrorist problem if you would give up on those commie guns and get you some 'merican rifles :)

Edited February 15, 2013 by mikegideon

[maroonandwhite]

For me it's more or less my child's safety I will be concerned about. I don't have kids yet but we are trying so it will be at least another 6-7 years before they would start. Who knows what conditions will be like then. MY only two options at this time would be private school or home school. I don't feel like either of these two schools are unsafe so if nothing changes my children will attend. I will have a problem if they try to suspend my child for playing with an invisible light saber or talking about shooting guns for sport.

 

With that said I am not too concerned with the schools trying to indoctrinate my child with liberal, leftist ideologies. As long as they are being taught how to read, write, add, subtract,etc. I will make sure to take an interest in what they are being told outside of those lessons and also be sure to instill them with the morals and beliefs that I think they should be learning. I was surrounded by bad influences in high school just like everyone else and while I did make some mistakes my family taught me right and wrong and showed an interest in my well being. The schools are only a fraction of the problem. As can be said for most anything; it all starts at home.

[TMF]

I wasn't trying to be an a-hole. I was pretty anti-homes school as well. but after meeting some people that have, some who have kids in college, my mind was changed. Personally my kids are in public school. Thank goodness we have some pretty good schools in Dickson County. But these people that home schooled said there was no problem. 

I didn't think you were being an ahole at all, and sorry if I came off a little strong. It's just I think the numbers on homeschool children are a little misleading in regards to their success and this is why:

Folks like to point towards homeschooling as it generally has better results than public schooling when it comes to education and later life success. What I don't think is taken into account here is that parents who homeschool are naturally going to be parents who take a greater interest in the education of their child, so you're not going to have a large sampling of under-educated homeschool children the way you would for a similar pool of children in public school, where there is a mixture of parents who care and those who don't. For the parents who don't care, it wouldn't matter if the kids were in the best school with the best teachers, they're still most likely to turn out crappy if they have crappy parents who aren't involved in their schooling. Every time a child graduates from public school and goes on to higher education (academic or vocational) and begins a successful career, that is an example of the system working, but it takes parents and teachers together.

I'd think homeschooling wouldn't be a problem if it weren't the things those kids miss out on. They need to learn many of those childhood life lessons on their own, not having mommy within arms reach. Especially once they start hitting puberty. They need to be around the opposite sex, have girlfriends/boyfriends, get heartbroken and learn about real friendships. Those shouldn't be lessons they learn after they've left the nest.

[peejman]

Glad that opinion is rooted in fact ...oops. The facts disagree with you.

I will say the problem wag not so much the teachers or principal in this case but the stupid policy that bound them. The principal told us it wasn't a big deal, but that it was the policy so they had to deal with it in this manner. For the most part the teachers and principals aren't the problem, its the school boards and politicians that make asinine policies from their ivory towers.
Biggest problem i see is the schools no longer prepare kids for the workforce our how to think. The "well rounded" education philosophy is a liberal philosophy of exposure that came out of the 70's. It abandoned a "solid core" philosophy where specific "advanced" courses were left for college level. The data, facts, testing, and current work force says it had been a miserable failure.

 

 

If the administration disagrees with the policy, why do they enforce it?  Particularly in cases as silly as this?  They should take cases like this back up the chain to the school board to illustrate the stupidity of the policy.  If they're blindly following stupid rules, they're just as guilty as the uninvolved parents they like to bitch about.  Quit being mindless minions and think for yourself.

[TMF]

If the administration disagrees with the policy, why do they enforce it?  Particularly in cases as silly as this?  They should take cases like this back up the chain to the school board to illustrate the stupidity of the policy.  If they're blindly following stupid rules, they're just as guilty as the uninvolved parents they like to bitch about.  Quit being mindless minions and think for yourself.

Kinda like if I'm overheard in an airport saying, "man, that Lo Mein from Panda Express was the bomb!" I'm likely to be handcuffed and buttraped by TSA for the next 48 hours.

"Sorry sir, just following procedures. I don't make the rules, I just blindly follow them because I am not intelligent enough to exercise judgement on my own."

[LagerHead]

The permanent record thing is a myth. This will not affect him beyond next week.

[Chucktshoes]

Sure, some schools have problems, but that’s life. Home schooling should be illegal; you owe your kids more than that.

 

[Metalhead]

I was home schooled for a greater part of my education, and I wouldnt trade that for anything. Some of the best years of my life growing up.