1969 vs today

[Playinghardball]

[hedgehog]

1. While we're at it - YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!

[MineralMan]

2. It's not that simple. Not at all.

Truly.

[1StrongBlackMan]

3. My sister is a teacher ...

in Ohio. She recounted a story that demonstrates the "modern mentality."

My sister noticed a particularly well dressed kid in one of her classes. The kid came to school dressed to the nines everyday, in the latest fashions. This child was well-behaved; but was falling behind because she was having trouble reading. My sister, a 30 year teaching veteran, was convinced that a little at home coaching would close the gap.

My sister, per usual, sent a note home to the child's parents inviting them to meet with her to develop a plan to get the student back on track. 2 weeks pass ... nothing. So my sister called. The mother agreed to meet with my sister. On the appointed day ... no show. So my sister called again and offered to stop by their house. The mother agreed. On the appointed day ... no one answered the door; despite my sister being able to hear the TV through the door.

About a week later, some (washable) paint spilled on the little girls shoe. 7:30a.m. the following morning, the little girls mother met my sister at the door of the school and gave my sister the "who shot John" over the spilled paint.

My sister heard the woman out and apologized, then raised the issue of the little girl's reading deficit. The mother's response: "That's your job to teach her to read."

[LWolf]

4. That's a very unfortunately familiar story.

[11 Bravo]

5. In '69 I was young, carefree, and had never been shot.

Good times.

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. Maybe his grades are poor because the boy in the cartoon...

has been suspended for "making gun sounds while holding his fingers *like this*" and "shooting an imaginary bow and arrow", for holding a door open, and for sexual harassment when he was six.

In my experience, that's not hyperbole. My middle son is now 21, lives with his fiancee and works as a diesel mechanic. He's smart, respected and makes a decent wage.

When he was in 2nd grade, he was suspended by the female principal for "pre-gang activity".
When he was in the 7th grade, the police were called to his school to interview him and his circle of friends because he was passing notes about airsoft guns. The police told school administrators that they weren't concerned, but she suspended him for a week anyway.
When he was in the 8th grade, he was suspended for another week for "sexual harassment". He told one of his friends that the teacher was ugly. The girl who overheard the comment told the teacher. So I guess that would be "sexual harassment by proxy".
He was given an emergency explusion when he was in 9th grade for the pocketknife which had been left in his backpack after a visit to his friend the previous day. The assistant principal found "a truly impressive number of condoms" too, but that was just a funny anecdote.

He was referred to a counselor when he was 15 because of "suicidal ideation". That summer he took part in a sailing program for at risk teens where he could be loud, handle knives, run around, climb tall places, burp, fart and do other stupid shit that normal teen guys do. It turned his life around.

He transferred to an alternative school in the 3rd quarter of his freshman year with a 0.0 GPA. He graduated from community college as a presidents scholar, having been on the honor roll every quarter.

Primary and secondary education (with the exception of the alt school) was a complete failure because it was designed, intended and operated with the obvious purpose of disenfranchising people like my son.

The only people who didn't give up on him were his mother and me. So I truly don't care if the teachers like me.