Thread: Kid's........not even a clue !!

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Guys I'm so old that they didn't even make cars when I was born.

Now about Kids:

I've been working side by side with 3 brothers the last few days making Maple Syrup. These kids are the cream of the crop, polite, respectful, and are hard workers, we ask them to do a certain chore and they do it till it's done, no sluffing off. They even call me Sir or Mr. Flynn. They are all home schooled and the 2 older ones are also taking college courses at the same time. They live near a golf course and two of them work there and the youngest works for a farmer and wants to become one.

When I'm volunteering at YWAM I also see some great young adults, most students are just out of high school. They have three months of intense schooling and then for two months the go to a foreign country and serve the people there and witness the love of Christ to them (when I did my outreach we went to a remote village in the Mexican mountains).

Ya I've been around the kind also, my ex-deadbeat son-in-law jerk is serving time for making Meth, he panticed when a cop pulled into the alley next to the house they were in and he dumped Colmun fuel down a drain in the basement, it exploded and killed his buddy.

IC 2 wrote: My wife is the HR director for her companies eastern branch. While they don't have much turn over, her biggest gripe is that even tho they have to have a high school diploma to even apply, most can't figure out how to fill out a simple job application without major mistakes.

That's pretty bad, but I have seen worse. The minimun hiring level for the professional staff for my field offices is a college degree. You'd be surprised at the number we get who can't do basic math, can't write a decent paragraph, or spell simple words. Read a one sentence letter the other day. Sentence was as long as a paragraph (about 125 words) with no punctuation other than the period at the end. Kids are being pushed out of high school and into colleges (or jobs) with no common sense and no ability to learn and retain. We end up either hiring 1 out of 10, or end up hiring something (?) to just fill the job so it is not lost. It is SAD.

Although I would love to be young again and know what I know today, I am still glad that I went to school in the 50's and 60's when an education was a prized thing. When getting by was not the norm and non-achievers were not rewarded. Public education in this country has gone to hell. I don't think the liberal educators will ever allow it back on track. I heard the other day where the cost per child to go to public school in the area where I work, was about $31,000 per year. That's about 5 times the cost of private school at the same age. I agree that good educators should be paid well, but poor ones should be fired and the top heavy administrations should be sliced to the bone. It has gotten ridiculous. For many working in education it has become just another form of taxpayer subsidized welfare.

If you're having a slow day just go to the local McD's or BK and order something that comes to, say $4.78. Then give the kid a ten and three pennies and watch the fun!!

He'll either look at you like your an idiot or spend 20 minutes trying to explain why you don't need to give him the pennies.

Originally Posted by mopar34

...Public education in this country has gone to hell. I don't think the liberal educators will ever allow it back on track. I heard the other day where the cost per child to go to public school in the area where I work, was about $31,000 per year... I agree that good educators should be paid well, but poor ones should be fired and the top heavy administrations should be sliced to the bone.

Education began to go to hell when corporal punishment was removed from the school. I got my ass blistered when I was a Senior in high school and sent back to class with tears running down my cheeks. I, and two of my friends, did something incredibly stupid, got caught, and we took our punishment. It did not teach me "it's OK to hit people" or turn me into a violent person; it taught me that there are consequences for doing wrong (It wasn't my first paddling). Nowdays, we can't really do anything to a misbehaving kid and they all know it.

It has nothing to do with "liberal educators" (whatever that is). Most of us are very moderate leaning to conservative. The real problem is that the laws and guidelines that regulate education are made by people who know nothing about teaching and/ or running a school. (I don't know of a single legislator or senator that started out as a public school teacher.) The most recent example of that is the George Bush - Ted Kennedy (Yes, they collaborated on it ) law called "No Child Left Behind". If it was applied to football it would go something like this: Every community must have a high-achieving football team. Each team must win a championship within two years. Teams who win championships can keep doing what they are doing, but may be required to help non-championship teams. Teams who do not achieve a championship within two years will have their equipment taken away until they achieve a championship... Does that make sense? It's the kind of stupidity we teachers deal with! It is part of the reason that teaching is the #4 stress-related job in the nation.

If your school district gets $31,000 per year per student I wanna come there to teach! Teachers up there must be making millions! Actually FTE funding is about $3,200 per year per student. If you divide that by 180 school days it comes out to a bit under $18 per day. That is less than a babysitter costs!

Administrations have become very top-heavy and wasteful. When I started in this county 19 years ago, the Vocational-Technical county office had a director, two resource teachers, and two secretaries. Since then, we have lost two Automotive programs, two Masonry programs, at least eight Wood shops, all the junior-high Industrial Arts shops (8 or 9), two Construction labs, and one HVAC program. While the schools were losing programs galore, the Vo-Tech office has swelled to 20+ employees! When the Superintendent came here, he publicly stated that there were "too many chiefs and not enough indians". Since then he has almost doubled the size of the county administration while the student population is declining!

at the public school that my son goes to it is very hard. every 9 weeks they have exams. every year the last 3 months are consumed by stanford 10 tests and the sols. if you make a c or lower for the 9 week period then you have to stay after school for remediation. no cell phones, hats, or thank god baggy pants are allowed. if you are caught hugging for more than 1 minute than you have saturday detention. if you curse anyone than it is a saturday detention. if you do not turn in homework for 3 times in a class in 9 weeks than it is a saturday detention. if you do not show up for a saturday than it is 3 days suspension. needless to say the work is hard and so is the discipline. my son is in 8th grade and has to take a foreign language, algebra 1, world history, and english lit. The students are also encouraged to join a team sport. Our little town has one of the highest ranked school in the nation compared with other scools its size. If you can not carry the load than they have special classes for those who need the extra help. If you give them too much trouble than you are sent to a school for violent children at our state capital. all paid for by our school. Charlie loves the work even though he does not get as good grades as he is capable of. But that is a teenager. They also have somethi called intouch program that allows me to see all homework that is due and any problems that he may be having. That is why we chose to buy our home here.

Originally Posted by jyardgirl

at the public school that my son goes to it is very hard. every 9 weeks they have exams. every year the last 3 months are consumed by stanford 10 tests and the sols. if you make a c or lower for the 9 week period then you have to stay after school for remediation. no cell phones, hats, or thank god baggy pants are allowed. if you are caught hugging for more than 1 minute than you have saturday detention. if you curse anyone than it is a saturday detention. if you do not turn in homework for 3 times in a class in 9 weeks than it is a saturday detention. if you do not show up for a saturday than it is 3 days suspension. needless to say the work is hard and so is the discipline. my son is in 8th grade and has to take a foreign language, algebra 1, world history, and english lit. The students are also encouraged to join a team sport. Our little town has one of the highest ranked school in the nation compared with other scools its size. If you can not carry the load than they have special classes for those who need the extra help. If you give them too much trouble than you are sent to a school for violent children at our state capital. all paid for by our school. Charlie loves the work even though he does not get as good grades as he is capable of. But that is a teenager. They also have somethi called intouch program that allows me to see all homework that is due and any problems that he may be having. That is why we chose to buy our home here.

Sounds like one heck of a good school district!!!!! Kids coming out of this type of system are going to have a HUGE headstart on the others..... I heard some numbers the other day on the number of high school dropouts, though it was terrible!!!! Even in my generation, it was tough as heck to make a decent living without at least a high school education..... As hi-tech as everything is now and even more so in the future this generation's drop outs don't have a chance at all!!!!!!

it is really a great school Dave. but sometimes the pressure on the students is enormous. they average a 96% rate of students going to college and a 2% ged rate. For kids that are slower than others like my oldest was when he was in school they offer the GED program where they go half days and just study for the GED. Each year our graduating seniors average more than 1/2 million in scholarships. not bad for a class size of around 85. Most of the students go to UVA, VCU, ODU, or VA. Tech. Charlie plans on going to ODU for metalurgy. He want to get a PHD and work for OSHA. The school counselor is already talking about what classes he has to take and what GPA he needs for scholarships.

Barb, it sounds like your son's school could be a model for the rest of the nation. It certainly sonds like the exception and not the rule. The pressure that those students are under will probably help them prepare for life after education.

Statistically, students who participate in extra-curricular activities and team sports have better attendance records and fewer discipline problems. Those who are involved in such things as Drama, Band, and the Arts (Photography, Art, Journalism, etc.) tend to score up to 15% higher on standardized tests like the SAT.

Sports in high school has become a two-sided issue, though. While the athletes may be required to keep up their grades and attendance, in some instances it is the team and the sport that has become all-important. In my high school days, playing a sport was a priviledge and an honor. Nowdays, the school's win/ loss record is the thing. Sports no longer teach sportsmanship; they teach "win at any cost!" I had a student tell me once that the football coach had told him to "Take out that asshole's knees!" (He was referring to the opposing team's quarter-back) This jerk coach was willing to inflict possible permanent injury to another young man over a stupid game! Fortunately, the situation changed quickly and our player didn't have to carry that on his consience. Many administrators and coaches put pressure on academic teachers to be overly lenient with some of the "star players" so they can stay on the team. We even had an administrator once who altered grade and attendance records to keep a kid on the team! He got caught, but nothing really happened about it... At our school, we are just finishing a 2 1/2 year renovation project (new heating & A/C, new lights, new tile floors, new paint, new wiring, etc). The original plan called for a large addition to the science & math wing of the school and a new football field. We already had one football field which would become a "practice field". Unfortunately, the budget got cut just before the project got underway. Guess what got cut out of the project?.. Well, we have two football fields now...

J. Robinson wrote: If your school district gets $31,000 per year per student I wanna come there to teach! Teachers up there must be making millions!

The teachers aren't getting rich, although many are making $70k annually or better. The administrators are doing much better, since many are retired teachers who have gotten jobs with the school board. But if you are interested in a job you would likely be welcome to join the system. Not sure that you will really be happy there (really cold winters), but Baltimore City will welcome you. Don't forget to wear your body armor.

The good thing is that this is actually not my school district as I don't live there, only work there. I live one state further north where the teachers go out on strike in the spring leaving students and parents in the lurch. But we got a whole lot less violence. A nearly civilized environment.