Quoted: One of the reasons I'm gonna give them an earful Wed.

Well, good luck! I can't afford to post bail, but would be willing to bake a cake with a file in it.

Quoted: Quoted: Glad I am not a teacher.  My mom teaches 2nd grade and deals with two types.  The first type is the ignorant "I don't need no math 'n English I get by just fine without, my son can too" and the micromanaging type referenced in the article.  Can you imagine trying to teach a lesson while half of the kids are text messaging mommy and daddy or having cell phones ring?  Has to be anoying as hell. And it is unacceptable. If you truly have parents who are behaving like that, then perhaps paddling the parents will fix the problem. I recognize that some parents are utter morons. (God knows I have dealt with my share of them...) But I sense something more sinister in all of this.

As do I.
Seperate the kids from their parents.
The state is the only parent they will ever need.
From the cradle, to the grave.

Have I ever mentioned that I homeschool?

I have read another article about this and they had some very interesting parent stories. This one lady called up and bitched to the dean of a college because her daughter went on a student trip to China and the bathroom where they stayed was dirty. She actualy asked the Dean what he was going to do about the dirty bathroom in China.

The article went on to talk about how dependent new college age kids are to their parents. They can't make their own decisions, they talk to their parents 5 or 6 times a day. When I was in college I talked to my parents about twice a month. It went on to paint a picture of kids being raised in such a protective manner that they have never had to make their own decisions and are going to have some hard adjustments when they get into the real world and mommy and daddy are not going to be available to handle problems for them. When their boss asks them to do something difficult or solve a problem they are not going to be able do it because they can't call their parents for help.

Scary shit if you think about it.

Quoted: I have read another article about this and they had some very interesting parent stories. This one lady called up and bitched to the dean of a college because her daughter went on a student trip to China and the bathroom where they stayed was dirty. She actualy asked the Dean what he was going to do about the dirty bathroom in China. The article went on to talk about how dependent new college age kids are to their parents. They can't make their own decisions, they talk to their parents 5 or 6 times a day. When I was in college I talked to my parents about twice a month. It went on to paint a picture of kids being raised in such a protective manner that they have never had to make their own decisions and are going to have some hard adjustments when they get into the real world and mommy and daddy are not going to be available to handle problems for them. When their boss asks them to do something difficult or solve a problem they are not going to be able do it because they can't call their parents for help. Scary shit if you think about it.

I was the same way. It wasn't that I didn't care about my parents, just that I didn't have the need to talk to them every day.

I also noticed that a lot of my college mates would call and talk to "mommy and daddy" at least once a day. I always thought it was strange, but now that you put it in this light it makes complete sense.

Quoted: I have elementary, high school(soon to be college), and college age children and I've met some real interesting teachers along the way.  I tried to teach my children to best deal with these teachers and administrators in the same vain as potential future employers.  In a work setting you're going to get bosess(teachers & administrators) and other students(co-workers), true the enviroment is a bit different, but the mission is the same.  Many times you can't choose your boss or your co-workers and must learn to work with them toward a common goal. I would also agree that there is a certain amount of deprogramming/reality check at the end of the day in high school.

That's how I dealt with my daughter when she whined about school. I told her she was going to have to work with morons and idiots the rest of her life, she might as well get use to it now.

Quoted: Have I ever mentioned that I homeschool?

Did not mean to offend...it's just that the ones I've met who do it/contemplating it, couldn't strike up a conversation with a politician if they tried.
Me? I went to private school most of my life, then public, then off to the Army.
I've been known to talk to furniture...

Quoted: Trust me you wouldn't want to see me in a skirt.... Your eye's would bleed.

QFT.

Quoted: Don't tease me about tinfoil!!! zapatopi.net/afdb/afdbhead.jpg I am very sensitive about it! www.myimgs.com/data/Undertow2004/Tin%20Foil%20hat.jpg

Then un-pimp your head, YO!!!!!!!!!!!

You know as a teacher I have to look at threads like this with 2 eyes. One as a teacher having his profession attacked and also as a parent looking in.


I say this to every person that bitch's about how their child is taught in school.

"Stop and fix the 'problem' become a teacher. OR sit your ass in a corner and be quiet until I call on you."


kinda rough eh? Well the truth is as a teacher I need both involvment from the parents and free reign. I need you to support your child in learning and be there for them if they come to you with a problem. I also need you to support me. If your little angel sheds his/her halo on the school bus and disrupts class I need you as the parent to snap your kid back into line. But I also need free reign in my classroom to get your kids to open up and explore the world around them. I keep race and politics out of my classroom. I keep gang bullshit out of my classroom. I keep people with preconcieved notions about teachers out of my classroom. I don't teach kids rote memorization. I don't teach them to think in just one way or just one view.

I teach them to think. To problem solve. To ask why and how something works.

I teach them to fix cars.

I'm the Auto tech teacher.

Quoted: You know as a teacher I have to look at threads like this with 2 eyes. One as a teacher having his profession attacked and also as a parent looking in. I say this to every person that bitch's about how their child is taught in school. "Stop and fix the 'problem' become a teacher. OR sit your ass in a corner and be quiet until I call on you." kinda rough eh? Well the truth is as a teacher I need both involvment from the parents and free reign. I need you to support your child in learning and be there for them if they come to you with a problem. I also need you to support me. If your little angel sheds his/her halo on the school bus and disrupts class I need you as the parent to snap your kid back into line. But I also need free reign in my classroom to get your kids to open up and explore the world around them. I keep race and politics out of my classroom. I keep gang bullshit out of my classroom. I keep people with preconcieved notions about teachers out of my classroom. I don't teach kids rote memorization. I don't teach them to think in just one way or just one view. I teach them to think. To problem solve. To ask why and how something works. I teach them to fix cars. I'm the Auto tech teacher.

I'm not sure the problem is so much the teachers as the administration. It is my perception that teachers often have to negotiate within the framework provided by the school district/state, which unfortunately puts them in the frontlines with regards to dealing with irate parents.

And then again, some people are just idiots.

I don't see this as some sinister conspiracy, I see it as a legimitimate complaint from educators that there seem to be more and more parents who are unable to cut the fucking umbilical chord on their 18 year old children that are heading off to college.

This isn't something that I've personally seen or been exposed to, but I have been hearing that there are far more examples now of parents who just cannot let go of their kids when they head off to college, and try to micromanage every aspect of their lives - leaving totally inept and socially retarded kids, who SHOULD be learning how to be independent young people, not diaper-wearing completely dependent mamma's kids.


Is it a big problem?  Probably not really, but it is something that has clearly increased during the last decade.  

But as far as I can tell, it isn't about educators wanting to be left alone so they can "indoctinate" innocent young children with some cryptic agenda - it's about the president of a university not wanting to listen to some soccer-mom complain about how the kid next door in the dorm next to her 20 year-old son is playing loud music at night, and little Timmy cannot get his eight hours of sleep.  

Like I said - I've never seen any of this first-hand, but this isn't the first time I've read about colleges needing to be more proactive about explaining to parents that they cannot manage every aspect of their kids lives when their children move away from home to go to college.

Quoted: And then again, some people are just idiots.

HOOORAH!!!!!!!!!!

I think it would be better if folks looked at schools as being kind of a work place for children.  How often do your parents interceded on your behalf at your place of employment on every little gripe you had and how appropriate would it be if they did?  

   When  you send your child to school it's assumed you trust the organization to do it's best for your child.  If you don't have this level of trust don't bother to send your kid.  Granted there are times you will need to intercede, no school is perfect.  And you may also want to participate in the system.  But in both cases you should work out terms with the school and not expect them to cater to your every whim.  If you want that level of service pull your kid out and send them to a private school that can accomodate you.

Where I live there is one single decent public elementary school in the whole county.  The only difference between this school and the others is that the parents are hyper-involved.  And in fact there are three factors which are critically important in how any individual child does in school: 1. parent's education level and intelligence, 2. parent's involvement with child's education, and 3. whether the teachers are unionized.  

this is no shit.  you'd be amazed at how many COLLEGE STUDENTS call/are called by mommy SEVERAL times a day.  They still live with their parents, and have no intention of moving out.

Talk about arrested development

Only 15 more years until the baby boomers finally start to die off.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Have I ever mentioned that I homeschool? Did not mean to offend...it's just that the ones I've met who do it/contemplating it, couldn't strike up a conversation with a politician if they tried. Me? I went to private school most of my life, then public, then off to the Army. I've been known to talk to furniture... That's OK, we all do that.  Its when the furniture talks back, you have to worry.

no, you're still ok. it's when you get into an argument with the furniture and LOSE that is the problem

TOO MUCH parental involvement is a big problem. It's even in college now.

My father, Chair of a university level Chem Department had a parent call and demand my father change his son's failing grade.
The student never made it to any of the tests. He slept through every class apparently. Of course the grade should be changed because my father should've gone and made sure his son was awake.


There is a happy medium between no involvement and being a goddamn psychopath.

Be involved in your kids academic work. They'll do better. But if you're kid did badly odds are it's their fault.

These quotes

"Many young adults entering college have the academic skills they will need to succeed but are somewhat lacking in life skills like self-reliance, sharing and conflict resolution," said Linda Walter, an administrator at Seton Hall University in New Jersey and co-chairman of the family portion of new-student orientation. "They have been the most protected and programmed children ever -- car seats and safety helmets, play groups and soccer leagues, cellphones and e-mail," said Mark McCarthy, assistant vice president and dean of student development at Marquette University in Milwaukee. "The parents of this generation are used to close and constant contact with their children and vice versa."

are DEAD ON ACCURATE.

Self responsiblity is dead for a lot of these kids.

When I went off to boarding school at 16 I was dropped off at the dorm, my dad shook my hand and said "Don't bother calling to come home. We're not coming back until Thanksgiving." and that was that.