David A. Hancock
Back-to-School Terror
It’s a new school year. Are our parents and students ready? I doubt it!
Oh yes, it’s that time of year again. Time for a new academic school year—purgatory for many—to begin. Time for teachers to act as affable paragons, moms, dads, police, nurses, therapists, social workers, and nutritionists as well as teach our subject matter.
In a way, I empathize with students because they are probably thinking, Oh no! Back to the assembly-line, factory-model prison with seven or eight forty-minute periods, four-minute hall-passage traffic jams, twenty-minute Zantac lunch, rush-hurry syndrome, memorizing, proficiency-test preparation, sitting down, being quiet, lack of enough recess and physical-education time, nonsensical homework overload / overdose, and a perfunctory routine with no air conditioning on hot, humid days. The school Zeitgeist syndrome?
Nowadays, with the perceived “external, psychological, academic-stress” achievement disorders and to be human robots, Dennis the Menace would be on Ritalin and Charlie Brown on Prozac.
I hope parents did a good job of homeschooling their children, especially character-social skills, for the past eleven weeks.
An example of the “thirteen-year sentence” begins with education malpractice and education terrorism with the school supplies lists. I will use Mayfield public school kindergartens as an example, although most public and parochial schools are very similar, unfortunately.
- Three boxes of Crayola Original Markers—fat ones, basic colors
- One pair of child Fiskars school scissors with rounded ends and metal blades
- Two Expo 2-in-1 Dry Erase Markers—thin, black
- Ten two-pocket folders, no fasteners—two red, two yellow, two green, two blue, two purple
- Ten large Elmer’s All Purpose School Glue Sticks
- Ten sharpened pencils
- One fat yellow highlighter
- Two packages of baby wipes
- One family box of tissues (probably for crying)
- One container of Clorox wipes
- One bottle of Elmer’s Glue—7.625 ounces
- One large T-shirt that fits over clothing to be used while painting
- One ream of white copy paper (no way)
- One eleven-by-fourteen spiral-bound sketch pad, no lines
- Pair of tennis shoes for physical education (good idea)
- Large, nonrolling backpack to carry belongings to and from school daily (preparing your child for lumbar vertebrae surgery)
I would like to add some essentials that have been overlooked: American flag, cell phone, phone number of child’s therapist, calculator, dictionary, thesaurus (English-Spanish).
The shibboleth of “Leave no child behind” has been changed to “Leave no child a dime.” For enlightenment, read The Schools Our Children Deserve by Alfie Kohn and Why Schools Fail by Bruce Goldberg.
David A. Hancock
Chesterland
It’s That Time of Year
Oh yes, it’s that time of year again. Time for a new academic school year to begin, time for teachers to act as moms, dads, cops, nurses, therapists, social workers, nutritionists, and affable paragons—which should equal a salary of $100,000!
I’m writing this after I recalled the Staples TV commercial where Dad is smiling and overwhelmed with joy, running around getting school supplies, while Daughter and Son are standing there looking very sad and unhappy.
As a very happy retired public school teacher (thirty-five years), I empathize with Daughter and Son because they are probably thinking, Oh no! Back to the assembly-line, factory-model prison with six or seven forty-minute classes, five-minute rush-hurry hall passage, twenty-minute lunch (indigestion / Zantac time), memorizing proficiency test preparations, sit-down-be-quiet attitude, lack of physical exercise and personal autonomy, and nonsensical nonsense homework (which I never assigned). When do I get to relax from the perfunctory schedule, let alone get a drink of water and visit a restroom?
It’s a paradoxical paradox when we encourage them from birth to two years of age to walk and talk, then all of a sudden, to sit down and be quiet. Humans are not like Skinner’s pigeons or Pavlov’s dogs. What if Pavlov used a cat?
I hope parents did a good job of homeschooling their children in educational experiences / activities as well as attitude-character and social-interpersonal skills for the past eleven weeks. However, it’s been my observation and opinion that over 75 percent of parents would earn a D or F on their report card.
A person said to me recently that “schools are prisons, Saddam spider holes in some cases, and day care centers / warehouses staffed with overpaid babysitters.”
This reminded me of a cartoon that said, “Mom, Dad, we are not learning anything in school because we are taking tests.”
I suppose it all depends on one’s point of view / perception. The college professor said, “What are they doing in the high schools of this nation? This student can’t even think.” The high school teacher said, “What can you expect? Those middle school teachers just aren’t doing their job.” The middle school teacher said, “Good grief, those elementary teachers didn’t teach this child anything.” The elementary teacher said, “What did that kindergarten teacher do? This child isn’t prepared for school.” The kindergarten teacher said, “This child is impossible. What must his/her parents be like?” And the mother said, “Don’t blame me. Have you seen his father’s side of the family?”
In all seriousness, let’s put the responsibility of personal deportment and academic achievement where it belongs—on our children, with parents’ and teachers’ leadership and guidance in a safe environment—and hope for the best.
Let us recall the wit and wisdom from the literary legend, Mark Twain.
“Education is what you must acquire without any interference from your schooling.”
“Out of the public schools grows the greatness of a nation.”
“In the first place God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.”
David A. Hancock
Chester
Minority Achievement Must Be Studied Locally
To the editor:
In reference to the black/white achievement gap in schools, the Harvard Education Letter has published numerous articles on this subject.
Pedro A. Noguera taught at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education, and was the leader of the Diversity Project at nearby Berkeley High School. He is now professor of communities and schools at the
