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Even though each new calendar year begins in January, ask any parent with school age children and they will tell you that the New Year really begins in September when the kids go back to school. That is when things for our kids and us truly change.
As the date that school will begin draws closer, the parents see a light at the end of the tunnel, and the kids see an end to days of frivolity and freedom from homework. The days of hanging out with friends at The I Café, playing Playstation, sending IM’s on the computer, and talking on the phone to your boyfriend/girlfriend all day long are over. It’s time once again to begin your educational journey.
This year was a transitional year for us. My daughter, Rachel, has begun her freshman year at Temple City High School and my son, Alex, has arrived at Oak Avenue Intermediate School. While I have the lay of the land pretty well figured out over at Oak, due to Rachel having been there for the last two years, I’m sure it’s going to take a while for me to get the high school mapped out not just geographically but policy wise as well.
Editors Baskin, Dana and Cheri, whose kids have already traversed this landscape and every path my kids have taken so far, have always warned me of how different life would be once arriving at the hallowed halls of high school. Therefore, I am heading into this new year with caution. After hearing their warnings for so long they have got me so paranoid that I am approaching it kind of like you would if trying to sneak up on a bear, or in this case a Ram.
It’s too soon to tell whether or not their prophecies will come true, only time will tell. Even though they were dead on the money in their warnings as to what to expect from little league baseball and soccer this could be different based on the ever-morphing policies in our local school system. Not by our teachers but by State cut backs and budget restraints imposed by our Board of Education.
Even though we are just in the infancy stages of this year, one thing struck me right off the bat. On the first day of school both kids came home with “contracts” from every class that they were in. They were comprised of descriptions of what the class was about, what was expected of the students, some had the grading structure, and at the bottom of each were places for both parents and students signatures. Why can’t the teachers send home a list of expectations with it being turned into a contract for all of us to sign. I was starting to wonder if any of them needed to be notarized.
One of these contracts even had an outline and description as to what constitutes cheating and the ramifications if they do. Huh? I don’t know what they think this or the rest of these documents are going to achieve other than something that can be pointed to as an “I told you so” after the fact.
One thought struck me, what if a kid signs the no cheating contract, but is actually cheating when he signs it and doesn’t even mean it? Does that mean he can’t be punished for cheating because he was cheating when he signed it?
The reality should be that if a student is not doing the work required for a class they get a grade that reflects that. If someone is caught cheating they will be given a failing grade and/or get suspended from school. Signing a contract should not keep the teachers and the schools from imposing the correct punishment.
These rules of thumb have always been in place and are the way school has worked for years. So what is the point of making a 7th grader sign some litigious looking document that has a “do it or else” attitude about it? Just coming to a new school is stressful enough in itself; do we really need to be compounding that stress with a document that looks like they could be sued if they don’t comply? Or are these documents to keep parents from becoming litigious if their kids suffer the consequences of their bad behavior?
To be honest, if the schools want to hand out contracts they should start with the parents who drive within a three block radius of the schools during pick up or drop off hours. While it doesn’t have anything to do with the child’s education it does have to do with their safety.
I took it as a good sign when picking up Alex on the second day of school when I saw a Sheriff parked near the front of the school. But as I sat parked waiting for Alex I saw the traffic circus go on uninterrupted. Granted it wasn’t being conducted with the same unabashed bravado, but traffic infractions were happening and the Sheriff didn’t move a muscle. So if they don’t want the money from the tickets they should be handing out, I’m sure the schools could use it.
So let’s send a contract to all the parents laying out the guidelines as to what is proper protocol for driving around or near a school, especially in the drop off zone in front of the school. Most people seem to think that the normal rules of the road don’t apply when they are around a school. If we expect our kids to respond to the demands we are making on them in writing then maybe it will work for their parents.
Just like the grading scales that are used for our kids, let’s set up one just for the parents. Instead of points to be achieved there can be fines assessed. The school district can pay for a few traffic cams to be placed around our schools with the fines collected going to the school where the infraction was committed.
For example, for dropping your kids off in the middle of the street the fine would be $200.00 dollars. Not using your turn indicator when approaching or leaving the drop off zone is $100 bucks, and so on. Trust me TCUSD when I tell you that if you implement this system not only would you make enough money to pay all the teachers what they should be paid, but the Board of Education would still have plenty of money left over for little luxuries like a window in your office at your new building.
Our kids are growing up faster than any of us want, so let’s leave the contracts on the table for a while until they are adults when they can truly appreciate what they mean.
The Shrub Speaks: “I'm the master of low expectations.” June 4, 2003 aboard Air Force One.
BD’s response: It speaks for itself.
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