What Are Our Children Learning in School?

To all of the teachers out there. Before I start to rant, I want you to know that I value what you do. I appreciate the time and thought you have given to my children. You work very hard and try to provide the best experiences you can.

Like every profession, there are some employees that are very good; they try to excel and be the best employee they can. There are other employees that despite their effort can’t help themselves from declaring their disgust and disappointment in others and forget when they should stop talking.

In this little rant, the employees that I am referring to are the teachers that let their ego or self professed wisdom get in the way of their actual job.

Note: We don’t have to agree on political or social policies, but I feel like my points are valid and frankly I clearly stated that I am ranting.

Among many good and helpful things that my children learned this year, the following are a few examples of teachers overreaching and my annoyance with some of the teachers in our life.

My daughter, who is shy, learned that if she didn’t want to participate in an after school concert, she will get a poor grade. This concert is not a part of a choir class or musical program that she elected to be a part of. This was a concert that the entire school was asked to perform in. The concert was in the evening and not a part of her daily scholastic activities. Also she is in 5th grade. The teacher sent out a form that asked the students if they wanted to participate in the concert, there was clearly a “yes” and “no” box that she could choose. She chose “no” and then was assigned to go to another concert and write a report on it or she would be graded poorly, however the students participating would not be graded at all. So. you are telling me there was never a choice. OK.

My son learned how to avoid a law suit when performing first aid, even if it is against the parents’ wishes. He is in 7th grade. Today they were talking to the students about first aid. The teacher shared a story of an injured girl that had a concussion. The teacher ran to tend to the girl when she fell, the fall was apparently severe. The teacher then told the students about recognizing the signs of a concussion and how she called the girl’s father. The girl’s father showed up and was walking very slowly seeming unconcerned. He talked to his daughter and told the teacher that he is going to get his car and she shouldn’t call 911. When he left she called 911 and noted to the students that 911 arrived sooner than the father did after getting the car. 911 took the child to the hospital and counseled her on having a concussion. The next day the student returned to school and the teacher saw her wandering the halls. The student couldn’t respond to her teacher in a normal speed. The teacher than told the children that she was right and the student obviously had a concussion. She then went on to talk to the students about how to avoid a lawsuit when administering first aid.

When my son told me this story you could tell that he was disgusted with the father. That he thought the father didn’t care about the injuries and he wasn’t heeding the teacher’s counsel. I told him that we don’t know if the father has experience with concussions or not. He may know the exact signs and behaviors to watch out for with a suspected concussion. We also know this teacher is not a lawyer and in no way in 7th grade health should she be offering legal advice. What I do think is the teacher should have shared the story with her actions and responsibilities without the judgment on the parent or her ego being fed by her judgment of the father.

My 7th grade son learned in his science class that chamomile tea prevents acne. She drank chamomile tea her entire life and never got acne. However she missed the more influential causes of acne like genetics, immune system or skin conditions that are more severe, from which scientific conclusions can be made.

The same 7th grader learned from his Utah studies teacher that she thinks socialism is the preferred form of government. Even though she was suppose to teach Utah History, she decided that by the end of the first 3 months of school that the children learned enough about Utah and she started teaching them about World War II and obviously socialism. (I am not offended by teachers teaching about WWII and the forms of government being taught in the appropriate class; however this was not part of her scope or purview)

My daughter learned that by January in the school year your teacher doesn’t need to know how to spell your name. We also learned that he doesn’t understand what phonetically means. He told us he spells her name wrong because he sometimes spells phonetically. It's S O P H I A. I wonder if phonetically works for her spelling tests. She also learned from the same teacher that children shouldn’t be trusted. I got a call from the teacher telling me that she is 12 homework assignments behind and that he is giving her a second chance to finish them. He didn't know she was so behind until he went through her desk. How does a teacher not know this? Anyway I said I hadn't seen those assignments and I will make sure she gets them done right away.

Then I saw the assignments, some had pictures on the back, some had the teachers writing on the back, some were pages I had helped her finish before. When asking my daughter about the homework with stuff on the back she said they were papers from the recycled homework pile that she would use to draw. They weren't unfinished homework, they were doodles.And then there it was, in her backpack, a stack of 15 or so assignments that the teacher had just corrected and sent home.

When talking with the teacher about the problems he said he hadn't looked in his grade book and noticed what was or wasn't turned in. He just looked in her desk found the recycled worksheets which she drew on and decided the assignments weren’t done.

I think it is funny when I state that I am considering home school that some people don’t understand why I would ever do that.

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