i just had the most depressing lunch. after sitting and listening to the teachers talk about all the crap that parents and administrations put them through, i've come to this conclusion: if i become a public school teacher, i will be a puppet. i will pretty much have to bend to whatever whim the parents throw at me, because unless i give parents the answer that they want (which is always going to be "my child deserves an A even though they did not do the work"), i will be belittled, abused, and demonized until i give in.
it was so incredibly frustrating to sit and listen to all of it. i'm just going to say it: parents, you are the problem. stop enabling your children to be weak. stop making them think they are entitled to getting something from doing nothing. stop allowing them to think that they must, and will be the exception to every rule. stop conditioning them to think that they do not have to face the consequences of their actions. you, oh misguided and petty parents, are the reason why the american public educational system is a joke. because you make it that way with your unrealistic and unmerited demands that make a mockery of order and responsibility.
granted, this is all coming from me, a childless single adult. i'm sure it is really difficult and infuriating as a parent to see your kid be a total doofus and screw up their grade. but when you fight tooth and nail to get your child a higher, undeserved grade, you are teaching them a few lessons:
1. you are teaching your child to stand back and let you fight their battle for them.
2. you are teaching your child that you value percentages more than responsible behavior.
3. you are teaching your child that if they whine enough, they can eventually get their way.
are these the lessons that we really want to teach the rising generation? i realize this post is terribly acrid, and i have no right whatsoever to comment on how to raise children. but this is from an educator's perspective. so if you have a problem, i guess just go complain to my principal about it so he can slap me around and make me go back and change my blog and write about how totally awesome you are, and how you get an A+ every time you can manage to remember to put your name on your assignments that you'll probably turn in a month late but we'll count it anyway just because you are so dang special.
deep breaths. 22 more days.
4 comments:
Amy! I love blog-stalking you and I love this post.
Have you heard of the documentary 'Waiting for Superman'? I think you would love it.
Ok, I just realized that I sent that comment twice... that's embarrassing.
i love this! being raised by a public educator, i have heard many stories of parents complaining about the teacher when really it's their own child's fault. my dad would applaud this post and give an "amen" after the 20 years he's heard parents belittle him and claim he is an incompetent teacher. or that he's "too hard." the sad thing is, which my dad found out the hard way, is you have to give in to the parents at times or else the school gets rid of you. and then that just enables the parents. it's a vicious cycle.
AMEN Amy - Another Young Adult who has her head screwed on right. Maybe you should go into public speaking?
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