Schools in the USA

Okay, this might get me in trouble. But hey! It's my blog :)
Feel free to disagree and voice your opinion.

Let me begin by saying that I am speaking from the outside…that is; I have never been to public school. I was at a Christian school till 5th grade and then home schooled till graduation. I am just commenting on observations from the sheltered sidelines. :)

I am currently watching 20/20...out of boredom, really. Josiah is hanging out with Noy and the kiddies are peacefully sleeping.

This particular show is about America's public schools. Ah yes, an important topic, but one fraught with...stupidity? That's what John Stossel is telling us. The test scores in the US are awful. The kids are learning nothing. There is no control in the classroom. And the parents are shocked. Outraged even. Why? Because (apparently) they had NO IDEA that these things were going on...and learning wasn't. Uuuummm, okay, let's just take their word for if (for now). Do they not talk to their kids? Help with homework? Notice the kid’s behaviors? Their friends? If so, I think they would see their child if he/she was struggling. If he/she was bored in class or behind in their work. Where are the parents? (I can also elaborate on that, but that might be a bit off topic!)
If we believe what the school officials are saying, then we need to throw more money their way and THEN the kids would be learning more. Well, to disprove that, John compared school against school in spending per child and test scores. Obviously, money is not the issue. The test scores for lower income schools were the same as the wealthier school districts. In fact, some of the low-income schools did better! So money is not the issue.
Then what is it? Why does the USA rank 25th IN THE WORLD in student test scores? Let me elaborate on that fact for a second...24 other countries have better student education outcome than we do...and some of those countries are considered much lower on the totem pole than the US (Poland, etc). So how is that??? We are on the cutting edge of education! Right??
(Hummm....kinda reminds me of the infant mortality rate here in the great US of A. 25th as well. Wow. I thought we were on the cutting edge of medicine? Then why are 8 out of 1000 babies dying at birth??? Another topic for another night!!!!)

Well, get ready...cause here are my thoughts :)

#1. God never intended us to ship our kids off 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for (at least) 12 years to be "taught" by someone else. The Bible speaks of teaching our children when we sit down, when we rise up, when we are going and when we are coming. Hummm.....how can I do that if they are gone from me most of their life? NO...I am not saying that no one should ever send their kid to school. What I am saying is that taking the backseat in my kid’s education would be a sinful, selfish act that leaves my precious child open to many potentially harmful things. And, in my own opinion (which MAY be flawed, I admit!) many parents cannot wait to send their little 4 year old (or younger!) off to "school" so they can have more time for themselves. Less stress. More free time. If the parent were truly concerned about the education of that child, I know they would put more time, effort and care into their kid’s education than putting them on a school bus and waving goodbye. NO, not every parent that sends their kid off to school has this motive...I said MANY, not all.
So the next logical step in the equation of non-educated kids is that this parent spends little if any time being involved in the said education of their child. Helping with homework? ("No honey, not now. I just got home from a meeting and I am SO tired...and I have to cook dinner...."). Meeting with teachers and spending time in their kid’s classroom? ("Sorry honey, I have to work that day...and that other day....and that other day"). So what happens? The kid gets lost in the shuffle at school and does not learn, and the parent has no idea, because he/she is to busy with their own life to notice.
SPEND TIME WITH YOUR KIDS! LEARN WITH THEM! TEACH THEM! HELP THE TEACHERS! Then you will have a small right to complain about the lack of education.

#2. Schools are designed for the masses, not for individuals. How can a teacher spend an extra 15 minutes with a little one struggling to read/write/add when the teacher has 30 other kids to worry about? What about the kids that learn in different ways than the majority? Only a small group of kids can do well sitting in a classroom all day listening to talking, reading textbooks and filling in blanks. Many kids learn by hands-on activities. Some kids learn by visual stimulation. Others learn by hearing facts put to rhythm. One cannot expect the system to be able to teach every child in the way that that child was born to learn. (Let me throw out there that a mom/dad would be best suited to know how the kid learns….and even better suited to teach him/her.). I really could go on and on about different learning styles, but I have more points to make.

#3. Schools do not prepare kids for “real life”. In fact, they make it HARDER for kids once the do leave the system. Why? First of all, segregating kids by age is a ridiculous idea…and was only adapted in the industrial revolution when, out of necessity, moms had to go to work to support their families (during the World Wars) and millions of kids (previously kept at home to learn) were thrown into the school system.
Think of your own work place. Do you work with only those in your age group? Or with your social status? I doubt it. How does that prepare kids for life? How does sticking kids into a classroom of other kids (the same age) help with teaching proper social skills? (A favorite among anti-homeschoolers…”Where do the home schooling kids learn their social skills”?) Well, hopefully not from 30 other socially deficient kids!
Another way schools hurt kids….grading on a “curve”. The double standard here is blatant, and as kids start to pick up on it they manipulate the system. (Another great moral learned from school). Teaching all kids the same thing in the same way and then testing these kids on what they have learned is, as mentioned, not the best way to educate…but throw in a grading curve?! That’s insane! The kid will one day realize that he doesn’t have to do his best…his friend will!!!!!! (No, I never went to public school, but I have a lot of friends and family that did….including dear hubby, who spent 9+ years in the public school system). Does your work place operate this way? “Jim, you have done a great job! However, because of the overall stupidity of the company employee’s, you will not be receiving your raise this year.” I do not think that would go over well. If a kid gets an A, give it to him! Reward him for his hard work. If he gets an F, then give the same due reward…an F. (I know….the teachers are pressured to pass kids through and get good test scores themselves….another subject).

#4. Potential danger for kids. In school? YES. We have all seen the news in the past few years and heard the horror stories. The chance of that happening might be pretty slim….or so we are lead to believe. Why are schools putting in metal detectors? Drug sniffing dogs on campus? Surveillance video? If schools were “mostly safe” then there would be no need for such things. Physical harm is very bad, I admit, but what about the moral/spiritual harm that happens in school? I must say, that maybe the worst thing yet, as evidenced by our morally deficient, decaying society as a whole.
This is yet another topic that can be spoken of for hours. I must again repeat that the Lord did NOT intend for us as parents to allow others to raise our kids and instill their morals and beliefs (or lack of) in our children. Teaching kids that elements of some sort (from where…?) exploded and created a perfect eco system, human life, etc. is insane…and is the first step in stripping kids of morals. How? Because if we are all just an accident of nature…or we are all just apes…then what does it matter how I behave? What I do? Who I hurt? If nothing happens to me after I die, then what does it matter? If there is no God, then WHAT DOES IT MATTER?
What about the morals of the fellow students at school? Do their parents care what their kids watch on TV…listen to…look at online? These are the greatest influence on our children; other children. And if their main form of adult supervision is the television, then that is what is driving them in their life…then that is what is influencing our kids 8+ hours per day. Yes, kids will eventually be exposed to things of a graphic nature (music, words, actions, etc) at some point, but can we not do it at age 8? Or younger? My hubby (obviously pre salvation) said he was cursing at age 5 in daycare, and it only got worse as he got older. He was exposed to drugs at 9 years old, pornography at the same age, and he participated in vandalizing homes and stealing from homes at 9 as well. Wow. And that was back BEFORE they had middle school kids shooting each other in the lunchroom!!! Does it make sense to expect kids to just “do the right thing” when faced with these things…when their whole (very impressionable life) has been spent in the company of the same kids, doing the same things…with little adult supervision?
Oh…..I digress.

The solution, in my book, which may seem a bit small and insignificant…but I am just so upset over this report on TV….PARENTS BEING PARENTS. Okay, ya had a kid. Now raise ‘em! Sorry, you cannot push them off onto the school system and someone else to raise them, teach them, give them morals and expect perfection…and be mad if that doesn’t happen.
MOMS….be with your children! Do not count the days till they turn 4 (or 5…whatever) and you can send them away. Cherish every moment you have! What about the difficult moments? (Finding one letting ALL the expensive water out of the drinking water tank? Writing on your newly painted living room walls*with permanent marker*. Or worse, writing on your carpet with the marker? Hitting his brother? Yelling at his brother? Having a bad attitude because he has to clean up his room? Rolling his eyes when you tell him no?) YES. Cherish these moments. WHY? Because these are the times when we teach our kids. We can teach them morals, kindness, and gentleness…HOW? By how we react. They learn by what we do more than by what we say. We can use these hard times to: 1. Bring glory to God by our own reactions. 2. Teach them (and SHOW them) how to respond to authority correctly….how to respond to others correctly… how to bring a blessing to others by helping…how to return a blessing instead of evil to others who are mean to us…how to respect our property and treat it with gratefulness towards the one who provided it for us ( Daddy, the Lord). If the kids were at school, how would they learn these things? Who would teach them? Who would show them what God’s word says about their actions? How would they learn to respond correctly even in stressful times? They wouldn’t…and they haven’t. Taking an honest look at our country will prove that beyond a doubt.
And as far as book knowledge goes, the parent spending time with his/her kids will know how to teach that child in the best way suited for that child. They will have time to spend one-on-one helping the child learn, think and react. Everyday life is a classroom; use it! Do not believe that you need to turn over your precious little ones life to a “professional” to educate…or that you are not “qualified” enough to teach him/her…or organized enough, etc. That is a LIE that society would have you believe. You are the parent. You know them. You love them more than anyone else out there….and you can teach them. And hopefully, they will learn much more form you than book knowledge. They will learn life skills that will benefit them for many years to come.
(Okay, small rabbit trail….moms and dads are told from the START that they are not good enough to raise a kid. How? Well, when pregnant, mom is not smart enough to get through the pregnancy without a physician. She cannot give birth –even though moms have done this for thousands of years- without a physician. She is told her breastmilk cannot support her child, and she must buy a –way less than excellent- substitute. She is led to take her new, healthy baby to a physician for monthly visits during the first year –exposing said healthy baby to bacteria, infection and viruses- and then once a year for the life of the child. She is told to send the child to “preschool” to get him ready for “real school” because, obviously, she cannot do that at home. Then she must hand her child over to the government for his formal education for at least the next 12 years of his life…because, again, she is not a professional…and may not be qualified to provide a superior educational outcome. Then her child moves away to start his own life, with the belief instilled from birth that he is another one who cannot raise his own kids, but must turn to professionals who know what they are doing. OKAY…done with rabbit trail).

So, in conclusion, what does scripture tell us about our kids and their education? First of all, there are MANY verses that explain the importance of WISDOM over knowledge. Knowledge puffs up a person….wisdom is to be desired more than gold, more than fine gold…wisdoms worth is far above rubies. Wisdom is something a parent must teach a child by actions as well as by words….but this can only happen when the child is with the parent! God says “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul”. So my point to you….focus on your child’s soul. Focus on instilling wisdom in your children. That should be our main concern as a parent. Being the smartest person on the planet and having millions of dollars and being popular will profit our child NOTHING if he loses his soul.

I must end here because it is WAY past my bedtime, and the kiddies will be up with the sun. My ranting turned onto a different path than what I originally intended…but oh well.

Good books to read on the subject of school:
"I Saw an Angle in the Marble" by Chris and Ellyn Davis (www.elijahcompany.com)
"The Underground History of American Education" By John Taylor Gatto
"Dumbing Us Down" By John Taylor Gatto
"The Exhausted School" By John Taylor Gatto (www.JohnTaylorGatto.com He was named Teacher of the Year )
"When You Rise Up" by R.C. Sproul Jr.

There are many more, but this right here will be enough to keep you busy for a while! Have fun educating yourself on the educational system in this great country.