“Attack a Teacher Day:” Are we raising idiots?
As an avid news reader, I always think I have read the most outrageous story of the month and then another one pops up on my screen.
Here is the latest article that makes me think we’re raising a generation of kids with no sense, no impulse control and no boundaries. I also don’t understand why so many parents allow their young kids to be on Facebook. It is a larger arena for them to make dumb decisions.
I think adolescence has always been a time of dubious choices, but the web magnifies those bad decisions and creates audiences for them. What surprises me is that these students did not consider that the web also makes it easy to track such plots/jokes and the architects of them. Most kids I know in middle school are aware that the web offers little privacy and that one indiscreet message can end up being viewed by 100 people.
I am also surprised by the light suspensions that these girls earned; their actions strike me as deserving of more severe responses. I admire the restraint of the teachers quoted in this story. But then again, they have chosen to teach in middle schools so they understand this challenging age group better than most of us.
This kids-gone-wild story is out of Nevada:
Six girls have been arrested after students were invited on Facebook to take part in “Attack a Teacher Day” at two middle schools.
One girl was accused of inviting about 100 students on the social networking website to participate in the event Friday, and the other five were accused of responding with online threats against specific teachers, Carson Middle School Principal Dan Sadler said.
The Nevada Appeal in Carson City reported the girls were booked Wednesday at juvenile hall on a misdemeanor charge of communicating threats. Their names were not released.
While the students insisted it was a joke, Sadler noted they were arrested on the same day a suspended 17-year-old student in Omaha, Neb., fatally shot an assistant principal and wounded his principal before fleeing the campus and taking his own life.
“School shootings really happen. That’s why we took it seriously,” Sadler told The Associated Press on Friday. “It’s not OK, and it’s not funny in this day and age if you’re going to make a threat against a teacher.”
Five of the students attend Sadler’s school and the other attends Eagle Valley Middle School. Both schools are in Carson City.
Eighteen students accepted the invitation to participate in the attacks at the two schools, which had been set to take place from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Friday. A parent brought the posting to the attention of authorities, Sadler said.
Classes took place Friday without incident at both schools after students were earlier notified of the arrests and parents of the students who were arrested or accepted the invitations were contacted by authorities.
The 12- and 13-year-old students were arrested after allegedly posting threatening statements against six teachers at the two schools. One student used the word “die” before a teacher’s name, while others wrote that they would “attack” certain teachers, Sadler said.
No specifics, such as weapons or how the attacks would be carried out, were mentioned, said Carson City sheriff’s Deputy Jessica Rivera, the school district’s resource officer. “Even if the six girls meant it as a joke, there’s no way to know if the other students who accepted the invitation weren’t going to carry out the attacks in some fashion,” Rivera said. “The school shooting in Nebraska is just another thing that shows us you can’t take this kind of situation lightly.”
The girls were released to the custody of their parents after their arrests. They were suspended from school for between three and five days.
The Facebook posting was removed by the parent of the girl who sent out the invitation to join the attacks.
Sadler said the teachers targeted by the threatening comments were shocked by the arrests because the six girls were good students. Some held leadership positions while others had top grades.
“I would say their reaction was ‘Are you serious? Is this really happening?’” Sadler said. “The more they thought about it, they said they were not OK with it. This is kind of disheartening to an educator.”
Kathy Haas, a Carson Middle School teacher who taught two of the students who were arrested, said she was surprised because they seemed normal.
“It shows you just don’t know what’s going on in their minds,” she said. “I don’t understand their motivation. I don’t think they think about the consequences because they’re young. They’re pretty immature then.”
The arrests gave teachers at the schools a chance for classroom discussions about online communications with students, Haas added.
“It’s a teachable moment and hopefully it prevents it from happening in the future,” she said. “Most students know it was wrong. A lot of students said they knew about it (Facebook posting) and deleted it.”
Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said the case demonstrates the need for parents to monitor their children’s online activities.
“They made some pretty violent comments about some teachers, and this isn’t even close to a joke,” he said. “Children’s stresses are so great that they can act out on their frustrations. Parents need to monitor what their kids are doing on communication devices.”
– From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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252 comments Add your comment
ScienceTeacher671
January 8th, 2011
2:20 pm
schlmarm, a friend of mine who is a retired Army officer began teaching in NY as part of the “Troops to Teachers” program. He says that it is almost impossible to get anything done, discipline-wise, in NY, because the law there says that if a student is expelled, the school system must send a tutor to the student’s house to ensure that his/her right to an education is maintained, which is an expensive proposition. To avoid the expense, the systems avoid discipline (at least according to my friend; I have not verified this independently.)
Larry Major
January 8th, 2011
2:33 pm
The suspensions weren’t the punishment. This was an alleged criminal act that occurred off school property. The suspects were arrested and are now in the criminal justice system, exactly where this issue belongs.
Schools should be enforcing school policies, not criminal code. Let law enforcement professionals do their job.
Math Maestro
January 8th, 2011
2:41 pm
Teacher for Life: “No, this was not an alternative school in APS.”
schlmarm: “the student’s reason for the assault–”I felt like it, so what?”
We all have our war stories. It sounds like the teachers need the cameras more than the students.
My war story was when I had students fighting in my classroom, I did the procedure of moving the other students out of the classroom and called the administrator. The admin had to call the police. And the students then jumped on the police.
So after the police removed my students, I called up the parents to let them know of the incident. One parent blamed me that he was going to get a ticket as the court has punished that parent before. Another parent told me thanks, and that he had to call the police himself before to arrest his own kid. And the final parent asked me for help to discipline his kid. This was when I realized that teachers need to also be surrogate parents. If we are not surrogate parents, then we are not doing an effective job?
NWGA teacher: “Teachers’ unions?”
That is why I love teachers–please continue to correct me when I’m wrong. When I was in the classroom, I wrote my Teachers Union, local board, and even my mayor about putting cameras in the classrooms. No one wanted to deal with that issue citing budget cuts, privacy laws, etc. And even some teachers were against it. If teachers are debating this among ourselves, then no one outside will support us on this. We need to be unified in our voice of having “cameras in the classrooms”. Teachers are doing their jobs even if the public thinks we are not. And the cameras will prove that we are and that we need more support.
Former Public School Teacher
January 8th, 2011
2:45 pm
Last year, I had a student put in writing what he would do to myself and my husband. He said he wanted to kill us both, rip off our arms, burn our bodies, and sexually assault me (though he didn’t say it that way). I took the note to the AP, as it made me very comfortable, and the end result was the child was moved from my classroom to the one next door. There was no apology, no written record of it, he was not punished, and the note was destroyed. I was blamed for it as I made him feel he had to express himself in that way. They didn’t want to officially discipline him as it would add to the statistics that are released each year and make the school look bad…
Angela
January 8th, 2011
3:00 pm
every parent says they discipline their kid and every teacher says they maintain that discipline in the classroom.
With all of this perfection and discipline, who is in the wrong?
Note
January 8th, 2011
3:04 pm
If there are cameras in the day care centers, why not the classrooms? Bring them on!
catlady
January 8th, 2011
3:09 pm
Math maestro: We have parents who sit in the AP’s office and watch their kid assault another kid on the bus camera and refuse to believe it. They argue that there was something else happening that the camera did not pick up! (You know, the camera moves around or turns a blind eye, or the bus driver deletes the misbehavior of her “favorites”) Yeah, right. So I have no hope that classroom cameras would be of any help at all. We’d hear the same excuses.
Now, if we want to talk about silly excuses PARENTS proffer, I think we could write a book!
BTW, I have been very gratified by the behavior of our AP this year. When I talked to her about a concern (a child who lied, stole repeatedly, refused to work–a 4th grader–and disrupted her class of low low performing students) the AP said to me, “You have the RIGHT to have her removed from your class if she is disrupting it.” So she was removed for a few days (to our time-for-self area) and came back with a slightly better attitude. However, even at the elementary level, I believe we need an alternative school. Perhaps it could help these troubled children with some focused resources and perhaps some actual intervention by the court and DFACS, but at least it would demonstrate that school provides an opportunity to learn, and allow the other students to get on with learning. In our county, we cannot place a child in the alternative school until 6-7 grade, giving the disruptive children a captive audience for over 1000 days before they are removed!
ScienceTeacher671
January 8th, 2011
3:18 pm
Teachers, law enforcement officers, members of Congress — is no one safe?
Seriously!!!!???
January 8th, 2011
3:19 pm
Was this in Clayton County????
Tony
January 8th, 2011
3:25 pm
Please be properly informed – India and China DO NOT have higher test scores. Theree is already enough misinformation about international test scores without adding more false test results to the mix.
ncgreybr
January 8th, 2011
3:38 pm
Amazing…so far NO ONE has blamed the teachers! AWESOME! (Maybe there’s still hope!)
When I was a kid, if I came home and said I didn’t have any homework, within 5 minutes my mouther would be on the phone dialing 6 numbers verifing my claim. If you were to get 50 parents together AT RANDOM and put them in a room and tell them they had to write down their student’s classes and the teacher for each class, I doubt if 4 could do it. Maybe a few could name one or two. My mother could name every one and had their phone numbers.
Parents simply DON’T CARE!! If anything goes wrong, they know they can blame the teacher! If their little 14 year-old Buffy gets an “F” it’s the teacher’s fault for not teaching her. It’s never the parent’s fault for not seeing that the little darling is doing her homework instead of making out with her 17 year-old boyfriend behind the locked door in her bedroom. Hell, if it rains on a school day, I’m surprised the teachers don’t get blamed!
Nothing is going to change until parents wake up and start being parents again.
www.honeyfern.org
January 8th, 2011
3:43 pm
Our public schools are a reflection of our society and always have been. We had a summer of congressmen hurling invective and not listening to each other, drivers who shoot each other for improper lane changes and parents who brawl on their kids’ Little League fields. Our kids are watching, and we are not doing well as models of proper behavior. The girls and their threats are neither shocking nor rare in society these days. They are simply mirroring what they see.
Dr. Craig Spinks /Augusta
January 8th, 2011
3:49 pm
Me2,
Did you submit a police report to Gwinnett County law enforcement? Did you take out a warrant against the student?
Dr. Craig Spinks /Augusta
January 8th, 2011
4:00 pm
Math Maestro,
GREAT IDEA: A tamper-proof VIDEO CAMERA and a tamper-proof AUDIO RECORDER in every classroom.
The public is incredulous when we tell them about experiences we’ve had in public school classrooms. Well, let the public see and hear for itself.
Math Maestro
January 8th, 2011
4:15 pm
Angela says: “every parent says they discipline their kid and every teacher says they maintain that discipline in the classroom.”
catlady says: “We have parents who sit in the AP’s office and watch their kid assault another kid on the bus camera and refuse to believe it.”
Then let’s continue not having cameras and bicker as usual about teachers not having the support of parents?
With a camera, we the teachers have proof that we are doing are job. What is the parents proof to the judge?
With camera evidence, at least a judge will back you, and can place the burden on the parents with tickets or even jail time. Without camera evidence, the judge will always back the parents and blame the teacher. So don’t give up hope, and keep demanding your cameras in the classrooms!
Tony says: “Please be properly informed – India and China DO NOT have higher test scores.”
Complain to the NY Times and PISA. They have me convinced that US have mediocre test scores that are lower than China and India. See
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/pisa2009highlights.asp
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/world/asia/30shanghai.html?_r=1&ref=education
ScienceTeacher671 says: “Teachers, law enforcement officers, members of Congress — is no one safe?”
It does not look like it. Just like there is CSPAN for Congress and COPS for police, as long as parents pay the teachers’ bills, they will want proof that teachers are doing their job, and many times, the parents’ jobs. So let’s give it to them on camera.
honeyfern says: “They are simply mirroring what they see.”
Then let’s put the burden of proof back on the parents, and CYA with the camera evidence in the classrooms.
Dr. Craig Spinks /Augusta
January 8th, 2011
4:29 pm
Me2,
E-mail District Attorney Danny Porter: danny.porter@gwinnettcounty.com.
Describe your situation. Witness intimidation?
Don’t think Danny’ll put up with any guff from J. Alvin.
NWGA teacher
January 8th, 2011
4:30 pm
My school has cameras. We’re grateful.
oldtimer
January 8th, 2011
4:52 pm
Today, I saw an example of “goo” (!!!???) parenting while eating out. A small boy was fussing..mom slapped him, not hitting him too hard as he ducked…The she yealled at him to “shut up”…I wonder how he will ever be able to show repect to anyone with these parenting role models.
36 years in education
January 8th, 2011
5:03 pm
Are we raising idiots? YES
TnGelding
January 8th, 2011
5:12 pm
Parents have no idea what their children are doing. They should monitor their “social networking” closely. Was it really that much different when we were growing up? The ones that are able to communicate with and gain the trust of their children are few and deserve accolades from us all. I would recommend that we reassess public education and bring it into the 21st century. That’s where we’re raising idiots, if we are.
HS Public Teacher
January 8th, 2011
5:13 pm
Seriously….. is anyone shocked at this news?
You media (yes, you Maureen) continue to protray ALL teachers as bad and show OUR children that it is okay to use teachers as targets.
Children are TAUGHT to not respect teachers. Children are TAUGHT to sit in judgement of teachers.
Come on now, seriously, are you really shocked at this news?
Tweets that mention “Attack a Teacher Day:” Are we raising idiots? | Get Schooled -- Topsy.com
January 8th, 2011
5:33 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Robert Meaders. Robert Meaders said: “Attack a Teacher Day:” Are we raising idiots? http://t.co/Z1Ny2NQ [...]
Math Maestro
January 8th, 2011
5:45 pm
HS Public Teacher says: “Seriously….. is anyone shocked at this news?”
Shocked, no. Relieved, sort of, because student behavior is being addressed with the teacher being the victim instead of the blame. Too many press coverage of low student performances is blamed on the teachers, and administrators complaining about not being able to fire ineffective teachers instead of finding ways to retain effective teachers. Teachers have very little to defend ourselves, which is why the turnover rate is 50% within 5 years, and higher in the low-income schools. See
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/20/AR2007062002300.html
TnGelding says: “Was it really that much different when we were growing up?”
I think so. I remembered when I feared disappointing my teachers. Today, I do not think students fear the teachers, but they fear other gang members. I remembered when my bad grades were a consequence. Today, grades are no consequence to the students. In fact, bad grades are the reflection of ineffective teachers. I had an administrator tell me, “War is the failure of diplomacy, and bad grade is the failure of teaching.”
NWGA teacher says: “My school has cameras. We’re grateful.”
We had cameras in the hallways, but not in the classrooms. When a teacher complained that students act up in their classroom, one VP will say, “well how come they don’t act up in the halls?”
To Robert Meaders:
1) Any education reform that increases the load on the teachers is not sustainable.
2) school administrative support should focus more on retaining “effective” teachers, than getting rid of the “ineffective” teachers.
Dave
January 8th, 2011
5:56 pm
I’m sure there are people out there already putting this behavior on the teachers; hell they’re blamed for everything else that goes wrong with the sorry state of education, why not this? At least this incident brings to light the real problem with education today – parents in denial and adminisrations intimidated by them.
TopSchool
January 8th, 2011
6:20 pm
Maureen…again I ask this question…( It seems the only comment you’ve made about my posts was to point out the racial make-up of two Dekalb schools)
Do you think the media might be part of the problem?…THE MEDIA SPIN…picks and chooses what is newsworthy and not…
Will the NEWS MEDIA spin the ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOL’S criminal acts any way the executive journal editors tell the writers to SPIN it?
As I said…Hide and Watch what happens when DEAL steps into office.
Talk about ATTACK a TEACHER day!!!…The teachers in APS have been lynched since Beverly Hall became Superintendent…and look what has happened…
NOTHING…REPORTED… INVESTIGATED… CLEARED … and I PREDICT NOTHING WILL HAPPEN with reference to a GBI investigation initiated by Governor Perdue.
Nothing will happen…ignored…and shoved under a student’s desk like a nasty wad of chewed gum.
Governor DEAL will show you how POLITICS and ATTACKS on teachers ARE COVERED-UP on the NORTHSIDE of Atlanta.
http://www.TopPublicSchoolCorruptionAtlanta.com
TopSchool
January 8th, 2011
6:28 pm
Why do you think the Principal at Jackson Elementary is still there?
NORTHSIDE parents bought her with gifts and donations..and will ATTACK the central office if she is accused of any wrong-doing.
The NORTHSIDE PARENTS KEEP someone in a position like this so they can MANIPULATE THEM for the benefit of their children…
OR maybe not…Maybe I am wrong…
Maybe they want a dishonest unethical leader…maybe that is their HIGH STANDARD…
OR maybe they don’t know…
I don’t know…What do you think?
Shark Punch!
January 8th, 2011
6:29 pm
This incident isn’t really about what your kids are doing on Facebook. Peer pressure has been a dominating force in children’s lives well before the days of the Internet.
I knew a kid in middle school who was a pretty bright student, but ended up running with a couple of bad apples. He and a buddy broke into the school after hours and committed what would be later charged as felony vandalism and theft. The authorities didn’t catch them for a few weeks, and we were shocked to find out he was one of the culprits.
I got to know him pretty well during high school, and he said that he never really understood why he did it. He seemed to have a normal family and very supportive parents. Clearly a case of peer pressure, but he always pointed out that he was responsible for going through with it. It turned out that he was suspended for the original offense, but they cut that short so that he could take his finals and not have to repeat a grade. He never spent even a second behind bars, but instead had to do community service at the school he’d broken into–helping the janitors after hours. He said it was hard work, but he was glad they gave him a chance to make up for what he had done.
He wound up getting a Ph.D., and is a successful university professor. So let there be something said about second chances, and letting the punishment fit the crime.
abacus2
January 8th, 2011
6:33 pm
catlady – similar story. One of my students was caught misbehaving on the bus. The camera caught a full face shot AND the back of the kid’s football shirt with his NAME on it. Dad denied it was his kid. I have my students call their parents to explain why they’re in trouble – nips a lot of parent denials in the bud. Funny story: I had a child telling me whoppers and I gave him the “yeah, right” look, so he changed the story. Got the look again, changed story again. This went on for several cycles. Finally, he sighed and said, “Can I go in the hall ’til I get my story straight?” Took everything I had not to keel over laughing!
I_teach!
January 8th, 2011
6:34 pm
Helicopter parenting has really destroyed kids’ worth ethic, ability to problem solve…and deal with their own school work.
Even those “good” parents–who are overbearing.
Critical thinking? HA. GA’s curriculum does not allow for that…….
TopSchool
January 8th, 2011
6:35 pm
Honestly…if there were video tapes of my classroom during my APS attacks…I am sure they would still figure out a way to get out of it…
I have video tape…and the words spewing from the accused…
falsified documents…sworn testimony…video tape.
If a teacher’s classroom was video taped…the administrators and parents would still try to figure out how to manipulate it…so the teacher looks like the CRAZY ONE.
This is a systemic problem of our SOCIETY…
abacus2
January 8th, 2011
6:39 pm
Forgot to mention this warning to parents – my 6th graders informed me that many students have 2 Facebook pages, the one they show parents and the REAL one. Gotta love 6th graders; they’ll throw each other under the bus in a heartbeat!
I_teach!
January 8th, 2011
6:40 pm
My first year teaching in Georgia, I worked in Clayton County, teaching 2nd grade.
One of my students became so infuriated when I broke up a fight and didn’t let him “get one more punch in,” he punched ME in the face.
I marched him to the principal, who promptly called his mother.
Mama’s response?
“What did she do to piss him off?”
The principal was speechless. He then explained-very patiently, might I add, that there is NO reason why an 8 year old should strike his teacher.
He was out of school suspended for 3 days……
That was 13 years ago-I’ve never forgotten that day, his name, or the incident….when I am old and can’t remember my husband’s name..I will remember that boy and his mother’s, that’s for sure!
Clayton County Resident
January 8th, 2011
7:04 pm
Is we raising idiots?
Yes, we is.
HS Math Teacher
January 8th, 2011
7:18 pm
Geez. When I read some of these horror stories of kids gone bad, it reinforces the value I find in my little country school. We don’t have ANY kids who are really bad. The two most troublesome students, who we shipped off to alternative school, were not mean kids; just disruptive and annoying. When they were in my class, and didn’t behave, I would make them stand out in the hall for the whole period. I wasn’t supposed to do that, but I did anyway.
Hmmm...
January 8th, 2011
7:18 pm
So, teachers have one bad anecdotal story, among the hundreds and hundreds of kids they teach and we are supposed to condemn our entire society? Sounds more like a professional norm than a disturbing evolution of negative behavior.
This blog is just a big pity party.
Tony
January 8th, 2011
7:19 pm
Regarding PISA and International testing, if you will read the details, you will see that neither China nor India have test results that represent the entire nation. Only selected schools and cities are represented. They have done this because their educational systems are in shambles. While they are working hard in China to reach all areas of the nation, they are only scratching the surface. True, that their populations far outnumber ours and there are concerns we should all have. But – they do not have higher test results than US schools.
Cheyenne
January 8th, 2011
7:25 pm
I had a student threaten me this year. Nothing happened to him. However, I got written up the same day for insubordination because I didn’t like the way admin was not handling it. Way to go APS!
TopSchool
January 8th, 2011
7:29 pm
Have you seen ATLANTA MAGAZINE http://www.atlantamagazine.com/schoolguide2011/home.aspx
They refer to minority children in this issue as “children of color” when referring to the school’s population.
Does that mean colored children?
Here it is 2011—ATLANTA MAGAZINE —lists best schools—no mention of the ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOL scandal…
They listed minorities as children of color…( which really stands for the 1960’s version of colored children…)
The cover is a blond white girl…( Don’t you think they could have included the many faces of diversity in ATLANTA???)
and most of the public/ private schools listed have White children in their photos.
Doesn’t look very diverse to me …But I think it speaks volumes about this BIG southern CITY…
If you White folks can’t see this…you ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL must be blind as a BAT.
Veteran teacher, 2
January 8th, 2011
7:34 pm
@Hmmmmmm….IT’S NOT JUST ONE STORY EACH!!!
Me2
January 8th, 2011
7:38 pm
Dr. Craig Spinks /Augusta
January 8th, 2011
3:49 pm
Me2,
“Did you submit a police report to Gwinnett County law enforcement? Did you take out a warrant against the student?”
I went to the Gwinnett Central Precinct and was told that the report had to be made to the school resource officer. My principal contacted the RO and made sure a report/warrant was never written. I no longer work for that principal.
Me2
January 8th, 2011
7:39 pm
I also contacted the school resource officer, who never returned my phone calls or email.
Tia
January 8th, 2011
7:41 pm
We aren’t raising any more idiots this generation than any other. Instant access due to our currently technology just brings it to massive attention.
Dr. Craig Spinks /Augusta
January 8th, 2011
8:00 pm
Me2,
Don’t expect to hear from him if his check is signed by J. Alvin.
A report about your incident should have been made to DA Porter by your school’s RO. Check with Danny Porter’s office to (1) determine if your RO made the report to the DA as required by law, and
(2) explain to the DA all you know about the incident.
A middle school student slapped me in March 2004. I went to the local police, signed a warrant for the student’s arrest, had him locked up, saw him in court, and then have never seen him again.
Sorry students, parents and admins will give us teachers as much guff as they think we’ll take.
Math Maestro
January 8th, 2011
8:01 pm
Top School says: “This is a systemic problem of our SOCIETY…”
I may be wrong, but it sounds like you have given up on this SOCIETY, including any solution to the education system. For teachers voice to be unified and credible, we can not lose faith in the society we live in or the education system we work in. If you have, then it is only fair to yourself and to your students that you leave the profession. I’ll fight and support the teacher who still believes in this society and want to change the education system for the better of our students, but not for the teachers who have given up and just want to complain for the sake of complaining instead of offering solutions.
I_teach! says: “Helicopter parenting has really destroyed kids’ worth ethic, ability to problem solve…”
I came from a school district where we loved “helicopter parenting”, or any parenting at all. The problem with most Title 1 schools is that there are not enough parenting. The common excuses are like “I have to work 2 jobs” or “I’m too tired”–like those conditions do not exist with low-income parents in China, India, Africa, or anywhere else. But US parents definitely blame the public teachers more than the other countries–even my immigrant parents who never had the luxury to complain about the public schools in their own countries.
HS Math Teacher says: “We don’t have ANY kids who are really bad.”
Consider yourself lucky that you are not one of the teacher turnover statistics of 50% within 5 years. A newly hired APS teacher told me that the turnover in APS is more like 50% in 2 years, as he was considering leaving after this his first year.
Hmmm… says: “…teachers have one bad anecdotal story,…This blog is just a big pity party.”
It’s more than a few anecdotes. I believe there is a systemic problem that require a systemic solution. “Cameras in the classrooms” will just be one part of the solution. Success still requires due diligence and cooperations of teachers, parents and administrators for every student.
Tony says, “Regarding PISA and International testing, …”
So US test results are fine, and there are no problems educating our students? Those reports serve as an alarm that status quo is not acceptable. If you want to pick apart the reports to prove that our education status quo is fine, and support it with other research showing that there are no problems with our student learning, I like to see them. Every year in the classroom, I had students in the 30-50% percentile range on the state minimum standardized tests, and had to get them up to 70%. I was just hoping for just one year that I would have all students coming in above 70%, so I can teach them a college readiness curriculum–never happened. And God bless the soul who replaced me.
Vanter
January 8th, 2011
8:02 pm
We can keep going back to who’s fault it is, and we end up at society.
“It’s the kid’s fault.”
“No, the parent’s didn’t train them right!”
“No, the parent’s themselves weren’t trained right at parenting!”
There is a huge flaw in our society.
As a high schooler myself (Am I bigoted to think of myself as ‘elite’? Because I obey authority at school? Because I care for my future, for the future. That I learn, that I apply myself to my studies, and as a result, easily ace every class, while my peers waste their lives?) I am disgusted at behavior in my school, in youth in general, and yes, in society.
Decline of Morals…
And we can’t solve this. Humanity is doomed. We started small. One of these days we’ll nuke each other and taste our own medicine.
Inevitably, a critic will say I’m overreacting. Making a statement about society based on a Facebook post. Well, you see it everywhere. And the real issues, the big picture, can’t be ignored.
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming.
January 8th, 2011
8:08 pm
Hmmmm: “So, teachers have one bad anecdotal story, among the hundreds and hundreds of kids they teach and we are supposed to condemn our entire society?”
One anecdotal story? How about dozens? How about having a fellow teacher stabbed in the chest with scissors? How about having a pregnant colleague punched in the stomach? How about being kicked so hard it left bruises for three weeks? How about being punched in the face? How about being stabbed in the hand with a pencil? How about being choked with my own lanyard? How about being stabbed with scissors when I stepped in front of the intended target – one of my students? How about being threatened with a gun shot to the head? How about have my fingers and thumb bent back so far they were strained? How about being knocked to the ground and kicked in the head? How about being nearly brained with a wooden chair, and only avoiding having my skull smashed by turning aside at the last moment and getting walloped on the shoulder instead?
And all of it swept under a rug, so that the schools would not appear “dangerous” on paper or have to report these incidents in their statistics. It is a systematic problem and it needs to be addressed!
Cobbwife
January 8th, 2011
8:19 pm
Put the brats in jail. Period. Not with light sentences, but with heavy ones. Also, parents should be held accountable for their childs behaviour, and charged with a crime if they support and encourage this kind of actions with their kids.
Brad
January 8th, 2011
8:20 pm
Thank god I’ve been able to put my son through private school.
TopSchool
January 8th, 2011
8:36 pm
I think the children are modeling the “idiot” adults they see.
A mirror image of the sociopathic adults running many of the current systems…
The average compensation package for an urban superintendent ranges from $185,000 to $425,000, Katzir said. Hall earned $344,331 in 2009, and received a performance bonus of $78,100.
@ Math Maestro— I am not employed as teacher anymore.
As for changing society…that’s why I am on this blog @$!$^%&^*&(*(*???
I haven’t given up yet…but have every reason in the world to do so…
If you will read the information at http://www.TopPublicSchoolCorruptionAtlanta.com
you will see that most of the SYSTEMS in place for teachers are not designed to protect teachers.
As for calling the police…The POLICE do not handle SCHOOL PROBLEMS…and most PRINCIPALS are going to hide any problems because the school does not want the publicity…MOST SCHOOL PROBLEMS ARE HANDLED in house by the SCHOOL detectives.
I tried this avenue too…FBI…GBI…You are living in another world. These people are placed there to put the fire out.
No, I don’t have much faith in the SYSTEMS…So far they’ve proven to be very corrupt.
Watch what happens with APS and the GBI.
The Superintendent has resigned…but her trash is still spread throughout the system.
Watch what happens next.
Math Maestro
January 8th, 2011
8:42 pm
Vanter says: “Decline of Morals. And we can’t solve this.”
Vanter, teachers today need help from students like you, and others more than ever. You are the reason why we are teachers. We believe in you, and we believe there is solution to all the problems. The bantering you see here just shows that the problem is bigger than many have anticipated. It does not mean that there is no solution, or the solution will be easy.
There are solutions, and they may take many years or even generations to implement and work. In fact, you can become a future teacher and be part of the solution reaching the next generation!
We need more students like you who “obey authority at school”, “care for the future”, “apply to your studies”, and “ace every class”. I don’t know one teacher here who would not love to have you in their classrooms. We need leaders like you who can positively influence other students when there are so many negative peer pressure that your generation has to put up with.
Vanter, humanity is not doomed. Knowing students with your potential, you can change humanity to whatever positive world you want it to be. Just look at Mark Zuckerberg who created Facebook, and is a billionaire at the age of 26. I’m sure Zuckerberg never intended FB to be a bullying or a threat-inducing forum. FB is still a very positive platform for old friends to stay connected, and learn something new everyday. Focus on those positives regardless if it is Facebook or some technology that you will invent in the future.
Vanter, know that there are still more positive teachers out here looking for positive solutions than negative ones–just like there are still more positive students than negative ones. And we all know you are one of the positive ones.