Our public schools

[chuck]

I found myself in shock over the total "out of touch w/ reality" attitude that school boards have these days. A year after graduating high school in 92 I was at a party on a mountain near my home town. At the time I was one of those "cocky" beer drinkin, pot smokin, fight startin kids that always seem to be in trouble. At this particular party a fight broke out w/ like 15 peeps and I ended up stabbed....12 times. To make a long story short I spent the next 3 years trying to get back to normal...I still have limited feeling in my left arm. Now 11 years and 3 hospital stays later (one for a heart attack from the scar tissue buildup)..I am in good health.
I was approached by a student here in town that heard the story..I live in a small town and the storys always grow. She was from a peer group in school and wanted me to come to school and talk about the negatives and the realitys that drugs and violence can bring to ones life. I thought "what a great idea" and pondered what to say to a bunch of kids. I decided to contact the guy who stabbed me...he was in jail for only 1 year due mainly to all the witnesses being intoxicated. I found his number and we agreed it would be a strong message if the kids saw both sides of the story. Its been a long time and I have since decided not to look back in life for answers. Finding forgiveness is a selfish gift more people need to give themselves. Anyway, in order to present any issues in a public school the school board has to approve the topic.
After going to the school board, they decided that instead of turning the kids away from violence...the issue may instead promote more violence.

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!!!
I wonder why the public thinks that ignoring a problem will somehow solve it.
I was so irritated I seriously considered pulling my son from the school district and sending him to private school. Sometimes I think that too many people procrastinate problems until they inevitably become so large they cannot be solved.
curious about your thoughts

chuck

[finkle]

school boards suck....it's a well known fact. Basically their problem is that they are out of touch with what actually happens and goes on in the classroom. Beyond that, they (board members) try and "recreate" the kind of school they had with today's technology.

just a thought.

[nmballa]

Its not often that a chance like this presents itself. The school has both the victim and the attacker their to tell their stories and preach in their own ways how the violence of that evening dramatically altered their lives and the hardships they have endured from it. And the school is turning it away. Wow. What a bunch of fools. Man, you should really contact the school officials and let them know how you feel and how piss poor of a job they are doing. That is rediculous to me. I think you have an amazing story to tell, and the fact that the other guy is their to tell his side as well is really something too. Man you should consider contacting other schools and volunteering your time to come and talk becouse that would be a story that would move many people i think.

[streeter]

The problem I see with the lifetime academic types is that they are totally out of touch with reality. They live in an utopian society where real world business and social issues aren't as important as their own tenures and self-preservation.

Obviously this is a blanket statement and not every educator fits this stereotype, but I have found it to be more true than not. You know the old saying. Those that can do, those that can't teach.

[finkle]

streeter, I thought it was those that can't do, teach.

[Jello John]

Wow, that's really unfortunate that those kids will miss out on this.

[Lizrd]

OK, as a teacher and future administrator I have to jump in for just a minute. I agree that this is a real opportunity for these kids to hear a real life story that documents the tragedies and losses resulting from violence. Some of them I am certain see violence everyday and yet others have no conceptual framework for violence. I think it is great that you are willing to share your mutual stories.

On the other hand, from an administrative perspective, I (almost) agree with them. The problem with presentations is that you have no idea WHAT the person is going to say. Yes, you may be an ethical person but there is no guarantee that you will only send a responsible message. Case in point, for Red Ribbon Week we hired a guy at no small cost to encourge kids to stay away from drugs. He was on a reccommended list of presenters for the topic. Ten minutes into his presentation he says, "I am not here to tell you to not to do drugs." The kids were shocked, we were shocked and the principal did not let him do his second scheduled presentation. The school board unfortunately tries to steer clear, WAY clear, of controversy - come on, you know that there are people out there that are super conservative in what they want their children exposed to, especially at a public high school... imagine approaching them with the idea that a guy that was in jail for a year was going to address the whole student body... does that sound 'simple' and 'non-controversial' to the school board? They are only trying to follow the path of least resistance.

For what it's worth, here are some ideas that may be feasible if you really want to share your story. Maybe you could agree to video tape it so that it could be shared with 'at risk' kids - and then they could choose to not play it if it didn't meet their criteria. Or, you could talk to students in a class - maybe arrange something with the law teacher so that they could address the legal aspects of it. (Sometimes guest speakers in a classroom can just sneak in the backdoor). Or, perhaps a beter venue would be through a boys club or girls club. Yes, these take more work, yes they reach a smaller audience but really to touch one child with this message will make a difference. Or, what about a newspaper interview or a TV interview for the local news - they have slow nights and might enjoy a thought-provoking interview. I know I am stretching it now but if one door is closed keep knocking until someone answers another door.

I admire your honesty and your willingness to share your personal experiences. Great job on taking the higher road of forgiveness and hoping to share your story - there should be more examples like you. Hats off.

[Bill Y Bob]

Would they be fine with it if you had your whole presentation written down so that they could see before hand that you would give a good message about some of the dangers in this world?

[finkle]

Lizrd, no offense, but that sounds like just sweeping the problems under the rug and waiting for them to come up and bite you in the ass.

AND, that guy doesn't have the right to tell people not to do drugs. People who want to do drugs will do them. He CAN, however, advise them not to do drugs so they don't get sidetracked in life.

The problem is....that administrators try to avoid conflict at all possible. But that's like seeing your friend with a drug or alcohol problem and just saying, "well, he's been like that since I've met him and I really don't want him to get mad at me." <----that is a joke....at the very least I'd hope.

[twitch88]

schools are a mess now. the high school that i graduated from has gone through 6 principals in the last 4 years.

[Chales]

[drifter136]

I hate it when the school systems and government think that ignoring the problem will make it go away.

Example:
My sister is a health teacher and she is furious because of the law that prohibits her from teaching safe sex. She is allowed to teach abstanance only. That's stupid! Unfortunately, kids are going to have sex whether they are taught safe sex or abstanance. She teaches 8th grade and it is unbelievable how many of her students are already having sex. I'm not a parent yet, but I can guarentee that I would be thrilled to have my children learn about safe sexual practices through a professional rather than by all their clueless little friends because of the Anstanance Only law. I would hope that my kids would choose to wait until they're older, but I would feel better knowing that they know how to keep themselves safer.

When will the government and school systems wake up and understand that we aren't doing the children any justice by trying to hide them from life?


PS: I quess I made it sound like I'd be taking myself out of the equation and leaving it up to the teachers to discuss sex...that's not what I meant, I'd still have an ongoing talk, but a trained professional would still have more information than I would.

[twitch88]

Chales, i didn't say that all schools are messed up, however the good majority of public schools in cali have undergone severe budget cuts and the school that i attended has had to lay off a lot of teachers and cut a lot of after school activities

[buckthis]

Well, first off, the school boards are not teachers; they are people from the community, who think they know something about education. They cannot even be employed by their own school system to teach, they are presidents of companies, accountants, financial managers, and business owners (they think they can run the school like a business). These are the people that run the schools.

[Darin]

I happen to be a school principal. Well, of my home school anyway. I hate school boards for several reasons. But mainly because in PA they have the power to raise local property taxes. And they do. They SUCK!

[Tyler T]

Darin, so in PA a school board can just say, "we hereby declare that property taxes will be raised 2%." No levy, no ballot, no vote? I find that hard to believe.

[Darin]

[Jello John]

I just wrote an email to my school's school board about a classmate of mine that was recently suspended and now faces an expulsion for swearing. It's such a f*cking joke.

[Tyler T]

Darin, PA is a state.

I believe the states Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Virginia are considered "commonwealth" states. The hell if I know what that actually means, but they are still states.

As far as raising taxes without voter approval goes...that seems pretty screwed up. However, im gonna guess that at some point, voters approved some bill saying that the schools could do that. I don't think that schools just came out of nowhere and said, ok, we're in charge now.