Reply #82: I am not now, nor never have been a teacher. Nor would I want to be one. [View All]

[NNadir]

Teaching today is a field where everyone thinks themselves an expert, whether or not they have ever taken a course in pedagogy or tried to plan a lesson. We have everything from school prayer, to "intelligent design" to ethnic relations dumped on the heads of the teachers. Neither do we trust our children to evaluate things for themselves. Thinking today must be spoon-fed, and everyone must think alike.

I am aware of many parents who like to lecture teachers on how to do their jobs. Most of these parents do so because they are the parents of one of the exceptional geniuses who make up 90% of every kindergarten class in the United States. Many of these parents are concerned that modern teachers are poorly equipped to deal with all these Einsteins and Feynmanns.

But you're right, a teacher who tried such a thing as my teacher did some 30 years ago would be fired. The point of teaching today is not to learn thinking, or issues, or how to confront reality. The task is to take the SAT's.

I forgot.

Children today are, however, involved in pornography as objects, as victims, especially in the a world that can be opened up simply by clicking on the Internet Explorer icon. I personally feel that they should know about what pornography is. This way they can cut to the chase if they are confronted with it. In fact, I have tried to discuss exactly this issue with my oldest son, who is eleven, so that he might be protected. (Unfortunately he is very squeamish about all sexual issues - including where babies come from - and changes the subject when his mother and I try to raise it.) The issue first came up when he tried to log on to bionicle.com and mispelled the word. He was, frankly, freaked out by what came up. He came and got me right away.

I have been lucky in that my kids go to an excellent school, and I have a high regard for the professionalism of the teachers there. I would have no problem having them discuss any subject with my children, since I trust them. I have never had any reason not to trust them, although in some cases they have approached things differently than I might have done.

In any case, I don't know the details or motivations of the teacher in this particular case. He might be some kind of pervert, I don't know. Although I am the father of two young children, I am not particularly outraged by the case; I am aware that such a thing is easily misconstrued. There's too much potential for Fox News types soundbites here. But again, pornography, whether you are involved with it or not, is a cultural issue that has bearing on the lives of all citizens. I don't think it should be swept under the rug.

These are high school kids, not elementary school kids.

High school used to be a place where children learned to be citizens. It served that role for me and part of the reason was that magic year, my last year, when all things were open. But that was a long time ago and the world was very different.