The Lomax Report
News, Information and Items of Interest
For The Common Sense American
copyright (c) 2011 lomaxreport.com
Raising School Standards: a lower reality
-exerpt from the movie "A Man Called Peter"
June 20, 2011 - In early June I attended two meetings which took place in the conference room at a local high school.
The day of the first meeting I entered the office to sign in and was surprised to see a thirteen year old boy chewing out a
secretary and a coach. The secretary was arguing with the boy and the coach cautioned the child to watch his mouthiness.
The boy told the coach ‘I don’t close my mouth for no one’ and the coach cautioned him again, saying “people who talk
back like you cannot be on my team. If you want to stay on my team, close your mouth.” The coach was pleading
and it was sickening to watch.
On the day of the second meeting, again I entered the office as a teacher came in an alternate door accompanied by a
student. The teacher told the receptionist “he cannot come back to my class, he’s destroying the classroom.” The boy
sat with a smirk on his face. His punishment would probably be some type of ISS (In School Suspension) or After School
Detention. But at that moment he was to just sit in the waiting area.
Several parents interviewed for this article, who graduated in the middle 1980s, said this would not have gone down like
this. If a student attempted to chew out a secretary and coach, the coach would have spun the student around and paddled
his rear until he had a strong understanding that that type of behavior would not be tolerated. And if a student thought he
would get away with destroying a classroom, then he had another thing coming. And each parent said that school
administrators had better control of the classroom during their school years, a mere twenty-five years ago. But my how
things have changed.
In the United States we have thrown millions upon millions of tax dollars at education as if that were the answer. We have raised teacher salary, raised the bar, enacted performance standards, more tests than you can throw a stick at and seem to come up short. At what point will we say “we’ve got to have better students”?
With many students who were raised by young single mothers in government housing projects, who have had little rearing it is understandable why kids act up. And the system that has brought on this storm is not showing signs of changing. But government housing projects are not only to blame. Nor are the broken homes, nor are the drug addicted parents. It is the culture of the United States to blame.
In a country where the intolerant are considered tolerant and morality and religion have given way to ‘rights’ there is no wonder why our schools are undisciplined. Schools cannot paddle for fear of lawsuits. And that is the parents’ fault. Many parents who have no control over their own homes do not want anyone else to have control over their environment as well. Better schools? Nah, we need better students who have had training and learning at home.
The day of the first meeting I entered the office to sign in and was surprised to see a thirteen year old boy chewing out a
secretary and a coach. The secretary was arguing with the boy and the coach cautioned the child to watch his mouthiness.
The boy told the coach ‘I don’t close my mouth for no one’ and the coach cautioned him again, saying “people who talk
back like you cannot be on my team. If you want to stay on my team, close your mouth.” The coach was pleading
and it was sickening to watch.
On the day of the second meeting, again I entered the office as a teacher came in an alternate door accompanied by a
student. The teacher told the receptionist “he cannot come back to my class, he’s destroying the classroom.” The boy
sat with a smirk on his face. His punishment would probably be some type of ISS (In School Suspension) or After School
Detention. But at that moment he was to just sit in the waiting area.
Several parents interviewed for this article, who graduated in the middle 1980s, said this would not have gone down like
this. If a student attempted to chew out a secretary and coach, the coach would have spun the student around and paddled
his rear until he had a strong understanding that that type of behavior would not be tolerated. And if a student thought he
would get away with destroying a classroom, then he had another thing coming. And each parent said that school
administrators had better control of the classroom during their school years, a mere twenty-five years ago. But my how
things have changed.
In the United States we have thrown millions upon millions of tax dollars at education as if that were the answer. We have raised teacher salary, raised the bar, enacted performance standards, more tests than you can throw a stick at and seem to come up short. At what point will we say “we’ve got to have better students”?
With many students who were raised by young single mothers in government housing projects, who have had little rearing it is understandable why kids act up. And the system that has brought on this storm is not showing signs of changing. But government housing projects are not only to blame. Nor are the broken homes, nor are the drug addicted parents. It is the culture of the United States to blame.
In a country where the intolerant are considered tolerant and morality and religion have given way to ‘rights’ there is no wonder why our schools are undisciplined. Schools cannot paddle for fear of lawsuits. And that is the parents’ fault. Many parents who have no control over their own homes do not want anyone else to have control over their environment as well. Better schools? Nah, we need better students who have had training and learning at home.