R.I. School Bans Talking at Lunch (WHAT'S NEXT....BREATHING???!!!)

The Associated Press / http://www.saintroseschool.com/ ^ | 1/25/07 | JUSTIN M. NORTON

[metmom]

Schools are more and more resesmbling prisons.

Just prep for real life according to some on other threads.

[DustyMoment]

Thank GOD and the Founding Fathers for the 1st Amendment . . . . . . . . . oh, wait, it doesn't apply to these kids!!

[ChildOfThe60s]

Many times while she was in college she told us how glad she was to be homeschooled. Her college counseler said he loved HS students.

[paulat]

"Please, sir...could I have...more???"

[Don Corleone]

Sounds like a typical Liberal...doing all the Wrong things for all the right reasons.

[Clintonfatigued]

That was a great posting.

However, Public Education has never, at any time, been a bastion of academic excellence. It's always been boring and alienating.

[jwalsh07]

I'll characterize this thread as swallowing the AP whole. LOL

[colinhester]

It was this way when I was a kid attending on-base Army schools. This was more than 30 years ago, and I survived to become a Republican. It's not that big of an issue.....

[paulat]

I'll characterize this thread as swallowing the AP whole. LOL

I'll admit...I'm dim. I have no idea what your comment was about.

[jwalsh07]

My comment is based on an interview with a school spokesman I heard on the radio today where he stated that the silence thing is for the first ten minutes because they have had three kids nearly choke to death recently. Some advice, take anything the AP writes with a grain of salt.

[paulat]

My comment is based on an interview with a school spokesman I heard on the radio today where he stated that the silence thing is for the first ten minutes because they have had three kids nearly choke to death recently. Some advice, take anything the AP writes with a grain of salt.

Thanks for the additional info...you didn't give us that, originally.

Maybe the kids wouldn't be choking if they didn't have to gulp down their food so they could finally talk.

Something is wrong in this cafeteria, if that's the case.

[Nexus]

My public middle school cafeteria had a reversable sign on the main post with "quiet" on one side and "talk" on the other.
After any altercations or other shananigins, it would be "quiet" for at least a few days during lunch as punishment.
The area in which I lived wasn't the greatest, so "quite" lunches would occur more often than not.

[wintertime]

The administration mostly wants all the students AND teachers AND parents to sit down and shut up about everything.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Government schools trash the First Amendment every day. Well...so much for a citizen's right to free speech.

[Blowtorch]

When I was in fifth grade I had to go two days without talking for saying "shut-up" to a classmate. This wasn't my teacher's policy but some snub-nosed temoporary sub that my teacher didn't agree with but complied with the new "rules" until the sub left. It was a punishment that was more hurtful than constructive, and since I've grown older I realized how wrong it was.

Since this is a religious school I guess they can do what they want, but I'd pull my kid out in 2 seconds if this went on where he was going to school.

[wintertime]

FReeper teachers, take no offens
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Teachers are supposed to be professionals, or at least, they claim to be.

Other professionals are held to professional standards. If they don't meet these standards, choose to ignore them, or willing do action that hurts a client or patient, they are guilty of malpractice.

Teachers using methods that they know, or should know, are ineffective or harmful, are guilty of malpractice. These teachers absolutely should be blamed!

Yes, we should blame teachers. We should blame teachers who open the doors to schools that emotionally, physically, socially, or educationally hurt children.

If teachers were true professionals, they would do as other professionals do. They would refuse the job, or they would do what was right, regardless of how much parents or principals complained, nagged, or whined.

Instead of behaving professionally, teachers use ineffective teaching methods, and follow school policies that hurt children, and then expect to the President to award them the Mother Teresa award in the Rose Garden.

[Tax-chick]

I admit, I sympathize with the "silent lunch" (and breakfast and supper) thing. I put in a lot of time and effort making meals, and I really wish everyone would just close their mouths and chew their food!

[okie01]

Public Education has never, at any time, been a bastion of academic excellence. It's always been boring and alienating.

Beg to differ. I was educated in a smalltown school in Oklahoma, graduating in 1956 -- a class of 28. We received an outstanding education -- and an appreciation for learning that has continued to this day.

A lot of this is attributable to smalltown dynamics, to be sure. The arrangement was truly "local control". We knew the teachers outside of school, they knew us. They were friends with our parents, if not family. And they were absolutely committed to our excellence, while brooking no crap from any of us.

And, if I'm not mistaken, kids at every other smalltown school in our area got the same kind of education.

At one time, public education was a success.

[okie01]

I would imagine that FReeper teachers are true professionals in every respect and don't run afoul of any of your criteria (except when forced by an incompetent administration or a corrupt union).

That they're FReepers says they have the same standards the rest of us do.

[Hoosier Catholic Momma]

We have our oldest (8 y.o.) in a Catholic school (pre-K through 6th), and I can assure you that they are allowed to talk during lunch (I volunteer to do recess duty once a week). When the bells rings to end lunch, everyone must get quiet. Then they are dismissed to quietly dispose of their trays and line up for recess (where I can assure all FReepers, they are allowed to play things like dodgeball and swing and slide and climb monkey bars like we used to do as kids). If they break the silence rule after the bell ending lunch rings, they get to wipe down the tables :)

I know to some FReepers, anything but homeschooling is unacceptable, but the school we have chosen for our daughter (after 3 years of homeschooling) is quite firm on discipline, but the kids are happy and well-taught. Their test scores prove this, and the parental involvement is very high at this school (when you're shelling out thousands of dollars a year on top of paying your taxes, you have a huge stake in what happens at the school).

As a kid growing up in Catholic schools, we were never made to keep silent at lunch. We were not disallowed from playing dodgeball, kickball, football, or any of those other 'dangerous' games. I received a top notch education with good discipline.

Bottom line...this school is nuts!!!!

[SoftballMominVA]

FReeper teachers, take no offens - okie01

Yes, we should blame teachers. We should blame teachers who open the doors to schools that emotionally, physically, socially, or educationally hurt children. If teachers were true professionals, they would do as other professionals do. They would refuse the job, or they would do what was right, regardless of how much parents or principals complained, nagged, or whined. - Wintertime

Always gotta to get your digs in and make sure you insult conservative teachers who do their best every day don't you? Why don't you add the line you've added before, that Christian teachers SHOULD quit their jobs and work at McDonalds before they teach in a public school? Be sure to add that those that work at McDonalds have more integrity than public school teachers - another great example of your hyperbole.

So, to try to get an straight answer from you from a previous post - are Freeper teachers stupid, greedy, or evil? I'd like to know where you place me.