This is something everyone involved in education should read.
Holly L. made a mistake at 13. She and a couple of girl friends took a car for a joy ride. Her license was suspended even tho she never had one. Because the damage in the fender bender was over 1,000 dollars she became a felon. As a as a result she was wasn't allowed to take Drivers Ed. At 16 she got a job in a child care facility. Two months later she was fired because she was a felon. When Holly turned 18, I paid 1600 dollars to try and clear the debt and suppress her juvenile record...it had No effect. The court refused to suppress her juvenile record..Since Holly got a good job with a Name Brand Co. she has worked diligently to remove the barriers to becoming a licensed driver and employment..
Today I'm happy to report that Holly L received her drivers license at age 29.. She is almost done with the State Bureaucracy. A Bureaucracy that prefers to criminalize our children. Tough on crime Spokane, Wa. prosecutors, are bent on filling our prisons. Our schools are on lock-down . The school to prison routine is standard practice here in Spokane Wa. A Right Wing city that wants to increase its prison population especially our children .. Our children by law must attend school...and school is where misbehavior is criminalized.
The security guards walk around like they're the boss, when in actuality, they are at the bottom of food chain and are personally failures in education. They become the arm of school administrators who wish to statistically improve education scores and make themselves look good.. We have the same dumping ground for kids with problems here in Spokane Wa as other schools across the nation. Its called Havermail School and Crosswalk School. Most of the children in these schools are there because they have problems going through puberty. Many of them are victims of abuse. They settle their problems through fighting and promiscuity. The school system identifies them, marks them, demonize them and excludes them. Then they brag about how great they are... In actuality, they are as much a failure as they children they purposefully classify, demonize and criminalize.
As a retired school teacher, I have watched with horror the turning of our schools into prisons. School administrators, Teachers and Security all work together to bring about a desired conclusion. Of course, the desired conclusion changes with every generation of Doctorates that are graduated from our Universities. They have tinkered with everything involved in education. Every generation of Doctorates think they have the Holy Grail of education. The classic one was teaching rote reading memorization rather then phonetics and sounding out of words. Thank God the parents of American children yelled so loud that the sounding out of words which leads to the sounding out the meaning of phrases and entire stories, has been re-established.
As I write I'm hunting and pecking. Every word that comes to mind is phonetically written. Most are spelled correctly (thank god). After putting these words phrases, sentences my thoughts gradually take shape and I have less correction to make with spell check. It has taken me 72 years to realize that I'm smart, organized and purposeful. That i can write just as well as anyone else and most importantly that people actually listen to what i have to say.
Why do we force our children to go to school? Learning is suppose to be fun...not ball & chain. Learning and inquisitiveness are natural human-e traits. So why do our educators suppress them? Why do we force every child into a standardized size shoe when some of us have size 13 feet ...it hurts! There is no reason for it except to satisfy bureaucratic "people" failures. The kids aren't there to learn. Our kids are on lock-down to satisfy failed teachers, administrators and a police state.
Supposedly our children are guaranteed education until age 22? This is a gift from parents. The police state piled on by making school attendance mandatory.. If you don't go to school you go to juvenile hall where you are forced to learn by rote..ie. follow the rules. We have turned a gift into a curse.
We need a new Holistic approach. I'm not talking about children. I'm talking about us...adults. Our responsibility. Get rid of the mandatory schooling. Some of us just don't fit. Instead, let the kids work at whatever age. Let all adults be teachers... Every child should have an adult co-conspirator to accomplish whatever goals the child wants. You go to the library, the librarian doesn't get the book for you but they will give you the address. Don't tell the kids what to be interested in, they will tell you what interests them. Listen, they will tell you where to start their education.
One final thought. Doctor Spock was wrong. Coddling kids gets you a nation of spoiled selfies. A nation where only I count, no one else. A nation, looking in a mirror, saying: "Ain't i grand". A nation that when slapped kills, tortures and levels whole countries. A nation that believes that everything in the world is for them and no-one else.
I take responsibility. The bible says to spare the rod is to spoil the child. That is why all my children have been spanked at least once, then they know who the boss is and their place in the family. Knowing they belong and their place in the family is comforting and they know mom and dad care and are in charge and looking out for them. Never discipline a child when your mad! They will repeat the bad behavior which gives you time to scheme and plan the appropriate response
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