toldailytopic: Government run schools. What (if anything) would you do to change them

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Stripe

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It's already been mentioned that many parents are not capable of educating their children.
I find that very difficult to believe. People can do surprisingly well even in difficult situations. But when the standard is to never try of course they will never learn.
Many teachers are not capable of educating all the children in their care.
 

Cracked

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I find that very difficult to believe. People can do surprisingly well even in difficult situations. But when the standard is to never try of course they will never learn.

You are assuming that they care enough to try.
 

Stripe

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You are assuming that they care enough to try.

They don't, generally speaking. They don't because they are led to believe that their child's education is someone else's responsibility.
 

Cracked

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They don't, generally speaking. They don't because they are led to believe that their child's education is someone else's responsibility.

It is far more sinister than that I'm afraid in many instances.

We are talking about people who abuse and neglect their kids - their children for goodness sake! Could you imagine trying to get sexual gratification from your child? Or not bathing them, or feeding them? How about beating them?

How about mother's that drug effect their babies in-utero?

No, it isn't just dependence on a system.
 

Stripe

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It is far more sinister than that I'm afraid in many instances.

We are talking about people who abuse and neglect their kids - their children for goodness sake! Could you imagine trying to get sexual gratification from your child? Or not bathing them, or feeding them? How about beating them?

How about mother's that drug effect their babies in-utero?

No, it isn't just dependence on a system.
The proper response to child abuse is not to mandate that every child is enrolled in a government school. :nono:
 

Granite

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If by “independent thinking” you mean independent of Godly wisdom, you have your wish. If by “taught soundly” you mean taught over and over that we are just animals, you have your wish. Happy and proud you must be...but don't come to me for a loan.

No, I don't. I actually meant what I said, believe it or not. Schools these days teach kids to be conformist consumer drones. I'm not terribly happy with the finished product.
 

Granite

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I know quite a few parents that are absolutely unfit to teach their children. I know of a family that has a child that's a genius, and the parents are . . . let us say not at all bright, yet they are going to homeschool their child. I can't imagine anything that could be more damaging to this child to be held back by her parents . . . .

Are all parents going to have the inclination, time or ability to teach their children? I certainly do not think so.

Public Schools were one of the founding elements of American society, its sad you think they are a complete waste of time.

What about parents who are physically or mentally disabled? What about abusive parents? What about well-meaning parents who simply lack the capacity, knowledge, and other tools necessary to be a good teacher? What about single parents? What about children who don't have parents? Should we expect their guardians (maybe family members, maybe not) to educate their wards at home regardless of age or situation?

The idea that we should just "send the kids home" might sound okay at first but it's actually a disastrous idea. Like it or not, public schools do have their place. Not everyone could, or should, teach their children at home. Let alone the folks who simply can't.
 

Alate_One

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I think you're underestimating just how bad the problem is in a lot of places. At the Middle School where my father teaches, they have precisely that punishment and, at best, about half the kids who are supposed to show up will. When you have a situation where the vast majority of the parents simply don't care about their kid's education, and the children themselves have no higher ambitions than doing manual labor or flipping burgers, it becomes very difficult to find either carrot or stick to motivate them with.

No I have heard of the fact that actually getting kids to school is a huge problem in many areas. In that case you need something different, but I don't think corporal punishment is the answer.

The problem is the current buzz in education is "Blame teachers first" (see what is happening in the Washington DC schools). As if if we fired every bad teacher education would magically be perfect. There are underlying societal problems that inner city schools especially are confronting.

Yet these schools aren't being given the ability to deal with these problems. Stories of the DC schools I have seen speak of children that are raising each other with no parents involved and coming to school covered in roach bites. The problem ISN'T the teachers . . . .
 

Alate_One

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I didn't say it is. Reread the post then rexamine your answer. A cycle of welfare has produced bad parents.
Attributing all bad parents to welfare is ridiculous. The kids I deal with don't generally come from welfare mothers, yet they have zero ambition anyway.
 

Stripe

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Most children that are abused are abused by family members or friends . . not the school.

You really, really, really, really, REALLY need to learn to consider what you're responding to. This is an utterly irrelevant response, a total non-sequitur, and shows you have no appreciation for the point being made.

The government should cease funding schools.
Parents are generally the best teachers for their parents.
Parents generally do not care enough to try teaching their own kids.
This is because parents are led to believe their child's education is another's responsibility.
Some parents are even abusive of their children.
The correct response to child abuse is not found within any education system.

We were talking about parents. For you to say what you posted only shows how little you understand the conversation.
 

Ecumenicist

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Everyone should have equal access to quality education in the US, for as far as their abilities will take them.

Equal access does not mean equal abilities, or equal development schedules.

I would do away with the associations between grade levels and age. Change the system so that people can develop at their own pace. Some kids should graduate at a highschool level at age 13, some at 24.
 

Lighthouse

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I know quite a few parents that are absolutely unfit to teach their children. I know of a family that has a child that's a genius, and the parents are . . . let us say not at all bright, yet they are going to homeschool their child. I can't imagine anything that could be more damaging to this child to be held back by her parents . . . .

Are all parents going to have the inclination, time or ability to teach their children? I certainly do not think so.

Public Schools were one of the founding elements of American society, its sad you think they are a complete waste of time.
What's sad is that you are unaware that most children are capable of teaching themselves, and much better at it than most public school teachers. And the smarter the kid the better they are.

I see no problem with government run schools as long as they are not misused. Today's list of misuses is practically endless, however.
A government running a school is a misuse.

They don't, generally speaking. They don't because they are led to believe that their child's education is someone else's responsibility.
Or led to believe they are incapable of teaching their children.
 

Stripe

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Might I suggest that discipline, not information sharing, is the most important factor in raising successful children. Thus the focus of teacher training should be on their ability to discipline a child far more than their ability to share information.

Couple that with the fact that government run schools almost never allow functional discipline and rely on the alternatives of bribery, coercion, manipulation and blackmail and you've got yourself a water-tight case for the superiority of parent over trained professional. :up:
 
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