Wednesday, January 28, 2009

On My Soap Box

My BFF from childhood is a teacher. I have spent the past couple of days catching up with her and have learned so much I didn't want to know about being a teacher. I guess I knew it was going on but never wanted to admit it....

So here's the scoop, she is a high school teacher in another state. She teaches communication and speech and stuff. Should be pretty straight forward as it is an elective and not a core class right? Wrong! She doesn't give straight out tests, she gives speeches and projects. She gives them plenty of time to prepare and sounds to me like she is pretty laid back about the process.

Last week she assigned a speech due at the end of the week. Everyone was present at the time of assignment. One misses a day of school in the middle due to illness and then shows up unprepared for their speech. She gives them the opportunity to do it but the student refuses cause they were sick. Student gets a zero on speech.End of Story you ask? That would be a big NO!

What do you think happens these days when a student doesn't get their way? You guessed it Mommy and Daddy to the rescue! The students parents call the school and bless out my friend and the principal! My friend stands her ground (as she should) and gets reported to the superintendent for being a bad teacher! UGHHHH I am so mad! Now she will be forced to let the student makeup the assignment. The student wins!

There is no accountability anymore! No one is forced to deal with their actions. This is making me crazy. Why should kids even try when they don't have to cause Daddy can make it all better? Failing is a part of life, not everyone wins the game! It's called reality! And sometimes it sucks! The mini tahoes will not be bailed out when they don't do their homework or turn in a project. I will not harass their teachers into giving them slack when they don't deserve it!

No wonder our world is so screwed up, there is no cause and effect anymore!

Now I feel better,
Tahoe Girl

8 comments:

Unknown said...

This is EXACTLY what is wrong with society today. There is absolutely no personal responsibility for anything. Parents now even call up university professors because their kid isn't making the grade the parent wants. Can you imagine what this generation of kids is going to be like as adults? It is always someone else's fault for everything.
I'm with you on this soapbox!

Kim said...

Do you have room on your soapbox for me? Because that totally ticks me off, too. I used to volunteer in the front office at the HS and you can not believe the parents who come in raising all kinds of h#ll when clearly their precious is the one at fault.

My kids know that around here it's "your bed, you made it and now you have to lie in it" and unless it is something totally out of whack, they'll get in worse trouble from us than from school. Remember the good old days when you didn't dare let your parents know you were in trouble because it would be worse at home?

Now, it's mommy and daddy to the rescue and we're going straight to the top!

Errrgh!

Stephanie said...

That is absolutely awful. It is amazing how loose schools have gotten...absolutely ridiculous.

Jill said...

Oh, I can't even believe the state of kids these days....and their PARENTS! One of my brothers and his wife are teachers and I honestly don't see how they do it. Last summer (not even during school or on school property) my brother grabbed the shirt of a 16 year old and chewed him out for pushing his son (my newphew) out of a tree and threatening him with a hatchet. Didn't hit the kid, didn't even touch him...just his shirt. Along came daddy (who leaves the kid alone during the week to be raised by 17 yo sister) and my brother got arrested for assault + big fine + community service + listed in the newspaper police log + damn near fired from his teaching job. And the kid....nothing happened to him. In 20 more years these kids will be running the country and we'll be in an even worse mess than we are in now.

Preppy Pink Crocodile said...

I was just talking to my childhood bf last night and she was telling me similar stories. Parents threaten her with that all the time. But only the parents of the trouble kids. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree I guess!

KK said...

Amen,sister!

bitts19 said...

Love all the support. First off, let me say that 99% of my students and their parents are AMAZING and this is my first incident in 8 years. Now for the latest...
The student came in after school today to make up her speech. Before she handed me her messy, folded paper she held it in front of her cute face and said, "hold on...let me read it again. I'm not ready." She then presented a speech that did not match what was on her paper and the one minute required time limit (because I am a dictator of the worst sort) was missed by 24 seconds. It was enough to earn a passing grade though. I hope to be done with the matter. The entire incident has left a bitter taste in my mouth, but my job brings me the greatest joy and satisfaction, so I will get past this and move on. If something bad did not happen you would not be able to savor the good things with as much appreciation. I will never underestimate a kind parent or the student that suffers over a low "A" again.

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

These are totally my students. I had 2 kids last year that got to retake their final exams because they failed the class....and guess what, the miraculously passed it and got to graduate!

And, I had a good time tonight! I hope I didn't make a bad impression...sorry I got us in trouble. I'm not usually the bad kid:)