The students do not want to work for a grade, they have been conditioned to receive credit and praise for their "effort", not the results. They plaguerize, cheat and look for excuses.
They don't know both parents anymore but they have a homelife where they have several siblings, all of different fathers. There is no longer any social stigma against that.
They watch MTV and other mindless entertainment where the kids are always smarter than the teacher and the adults, and they believe it, they mimic it and they play it out in the classroom. They listen to audio of words my mother washed out my mouth for learning, and I never used until I lived in the barracks.
The NEA and their teachers are constsntly experimenting on them in the areas of learning and socialization. They have been subjected to new math, no math, SRA reading, phonetic spelling, bilingualism and cultural awareness sensitivity. Science isn't even taught anymore unless algore endorses the content.
At the same time they are being suspended for drawing pictures of guns and are not allowed to meet veterans of wars or military recruiters. Patriotism is equated with fascism while they are bombarded with multi-culturalism, and are told they must embrace "alternative lifestyles".
I am retiring in two months, from teaching 16 years. The current system is broken and it is NOT Bush's fault. Our country has lost it's moral compass and refuses to set a new course. I used tho hope that I made a difference. Now, I only hope that I can make it for two more months without getting sued.
“The current system is broken and it is NOT Bush’s fault. “
I concur with all that you said. The schools are blamed for every failure of students, whether deserved or not. In the not-so-distant past, the attendance rate in most schools was in the 90th percentile. Now 80% and lower is common. In some classes of 30 or more, only one-third of that number show up on any given day.
It’s a bit better in the suburbs, but not much. I once had a student, a senior, whose mother allowed her to stay home whenever it rained (in the South).
When I don’t see them, I can’t teach them.
Then there are those who want to sleep.
Parents often support these behaviors.
It takes a village? I wouldn’t call it that, but I know that a kid becomes educated when schools, parents, and students do their part.
When things go wrong, it’s far too simplistic to blame the schools.
By the way, those dismal graduation rates? Chances are they are inflated because of social promotion and school administration who change grades on students’ cumulative record in order to pad the grad rates.
Your first sentence should be pasted on billboards, put on bumper stickers and t-shirts.
Oops - I mean your second sentence about them not wanting to work for a grade.