Posted on 04/14/2005 5:58:52 AM PDT by Sam's Army
Public School Is Too Strict; Socialization Muted
My home-schooled granddaughter and I went to have lunch with my public schooled granddaughter at her school recently. She wanted us to come have lunch with her. It cost $2.50 for me and $1.50 for granddaughter.
It sure wasn't like when we went to school. None of the kids were allowed to talk at all to each other during their lunch hour.
After they finished eating, they had to read a book that they brought with them.
There were monitors with eyes roving to and fro. If they order milk, they are forced to drink it all. It seemed to me more like I was in a prison cafeteria.
They had to get in no-talking lines to arrive and to leave, all in the same uniforms, and no talking of course, even in the rest rooms.
If they talk in lines, they have to go to the principal's office.
I sure didn't see much socialization going on there.
My home-schooled granddaughter and I were glad to get out of there, and step back into freedom.
FRAN GRINER
Lakeland
These are nothing when compared with disciplines in Asian schools. I went to primary school (elementary school) in Hong Kong from 1984 to 90 and many of the teachers that taight me prescribed automatic detention to anyone who failed in tests and dictations (for language subjects). At primary school level failures are defined as getting less than 60 out of 100 right, and worse, dictations were held every week.
I remember a teacher in English language assigned a list of vocabularies each day and asked us to go home and memorize their spellings. When you went back to school the following morning your group leaders (classes were subdivided into groups) would grab you to one side without warning - and I stress this happened at the free time before morning assembly and the first lesson started each day - and tested you on the spelling. Those caught red-handed received automatic recess detention (you stand still in front of staff common room - a common mode of punishment in primary schools in HK). In addition, tests were frequent (about 6 for each subject every year), plus 4 exams every school year.
There were even contradictory teachers' disciplinary instructions. During tests and exams periods, there would be scenarios like teacher A would scold you for not revising when he found you relaxing and not reading anything. He would order you to get a textbook and revise. Five minutes later teacher B arrived and he would tell you "Put the book away! You were supposed to have prepared for the exams and revised last night!"
Nothing other than your stationery, food, and textbooks and workbooks were allowed in your school bag. There were tales that a student brought an electricity bill to school as he wanted to pay it on the way home. The school found out and confiscated it on the grounds "Electricity bills are items not related to school studies." If I remember correctly that poor student was 16.
All of these were true when I was a student there in 1980s. From what I understand they still occur in today's schools in HK.
That's a comma splice. :-)
Do these students participate in group projects? My 10-year-old's class was assigned a project for a social studies project on ancient Egypt. My daughter and her two little partners researched the game Senet, created a board and pieces, a set of rules, and taught the class how to play. They also learned why the game was important to the Egyptians, and they game a presentation to the class. Educationally, the project was successful in multiple ways. The girls also interacted socially, discussing the information they had found, deciding who would build what, etc. Yet, if these girls had been attending the school in this letter, none of this interaction would have shown in the lunch room.
Praise the Lord that my nephew, the first American-born member of my extended family and who is now near 3, never did anything like that when he flew with his parents from Detroit to Washington DC for Christmas holiday. They live in suburban Michigan so I'm not sure if his nusery's discipline is stricter tahn the children you had seen?
Very good, your parochial school probably allows such topics as God, the founding fathers, and personal responsibility to be taught in a positive light is my guess as well.
I used to live in Lakeland and it is very true. The schools are strict, mainly to curb discipline problems. The issue is that there really isn't any socialization at all. No talking during lunch and there is no recess or unstructured time at all. I think these policies are in place to make the schools look like they are concentrating on academics, but it is a facade. I saw the homework graded by the teachers and they couldn't tell correct answers for incorrect.
If underachievment was severely punished as you relate, was achievement equally rewarded?
Some of the schools have huge discipline problems.
Huge district=huge discrepancies in discipline.
I guess you can't believe everything you hear!
You can believe the situations at the high schools on the county perimeter are as serious as the parents say.
But it does, you see. The highly improbable movement from low order to high order hs happened in the universe. How do we know this? Because we see high order now. And we KNOW the original state must have been chaos. We just know it.
Oh, and I forgot to add: we work only with evidence. And don't forget it.
I like people who write "touche" letters like that. I'm quite sure it will cause some Leftist NEA members to wring their hands...and swill some Maalox.
While I'd guess the letter writer...embellished the story...I still like them.
See #46, it describes the local situation perfectly.
Formerly from Winter Haven myself. You indeed have the situation described accurately.
U can't? Geesh...I publik skooled...an a Okie 2 boot. heck, I figger it out.
Mayb...I need 2 run 4 congress.
Sorta of like....public school folks making conclusions about HS'er's after watching them play in the yard with two of their siblings?
I happen to think the letter writer was making a point...I like sarcasm, and I think the letter was dripping with it.
4)It gives them the opportunity to think about massacring other students.
Are you serious? Just... wow. I wonder what "ADHD" rate is there.
It depends on the individual teachers. Many teachers praise stduents in front of class who achieved over 90% in tests and exams, and they may put something like pretty stickers on the work. There was one who gave me a pack of 200g Toblerone when I came first in an English test, while another gave the stduent who came top in Maths a first day cover.
But in general, it was failures that attracted the attention. I heard a tale back in 1998 that a 7 year-old boy committed suicide after failing in a Chinese dictation. He hold the infamous record of the youngest person ever to commit suicide in the world:
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_434786.html?menu=news.latestheadlines
Correction. It was a 400g Toblerone rather than 200g.
i've yet to meet a homeschooled child who isn't a perfect lady or gentleman and very poised and confident around peers and adults alike.
A fairly recent change in our culture (20 years maybe?)
And your Toberlone prize would not be appropriate. Too many fat kids, but they still have done away with recess and Physical Education--go figure.
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