I Honestly Think..

[Townhallsavoy]

It's only going to get worse.

The trophy generation may be a drain on society and causing a lot of needless headaches. 

But the trophy generation has children, and they've gotten control of the rulebook. 

True story from yesterday - My cousin's kid is nine years old and plays soccer in the community league.  Their team jumped up 5-0 right off the opening whistle.  The refs made their team play with one less player because they wanted to give the other team the chance to catch up.  And they did.  And my cousin's son's team lost the game in the end. 

But that's nothing compared to what's going on in the classroom. 

Did you know that many schools in Alabama (and most likely will be all schools in Alabama in a few years) are cutting 15 hours from each class in order to provide a 30 minute "extra' class?  This extra class is for study hall, credit recovery (the new summer school), and remediation for the graduation exam. 

Soooo...the extra class is really about meeting AYP numbers because kids that fail classes affect the numbers and kids that fail the grad exam affect the numbers. 

Or the "2nd Chance Cafe."  Didn't do a project?  Skipped school, got sick, or went on vacation and never made up that test you missed?  Eat your lunch at the 2nd Chance Cafe where the teacher has to give you a chance to make up all of your work! 

Or the "No Zero Policy."  Got a zero on a big assignment because you decided to play videogames instead?  Well, now we have given you the chance to make up that grade.  We technically aren't giving you anything because you can't earn a 100%.  But you can earn a 50!  Or even up to a 70 if you teacher allows it.  This way you can be lazy as shit and/or take much more time (you get until the end of the semester) and still pass your class.  And the school will make AYP, so everyone's happy!

Or the best as always - It's your "Get Your IEP Free!" card!  No Child Left Behind makes it so that anybody can get special ed services.  And best of all, there's no more stigma connected to being in the special education classes because now the entire curriculum is rewritten to accomodate you!  Not really a retard?  Doesn't matter!  Get your doctor - you know, the psychologist that comes over for dinner sometimes - to claim that you're ADHD and then drug the shit out of your kid!  He'll fail so much because he can't keep his eyes open that they'll have to let him in!  And guess what?  He can't get out unless you say it's ok for him to get out!  Win-win for you! 

Just wait.  Just wait until this generation of kids is responsible for your medicare. 

[Tarheel]

Wonder sometimes if I'm doing my kids a disservice. 

When I was a kid I got clothes the week before school started.  That was it.  I got toys or junk on my birthday or Christmas.  Period.  When I wanted Nikes in seventh grade I got Ben Franklin Five and Dime Buddys.  When I wanted Levis, I got Wrangler (or Sears Toughskins when I was younger).  I wanted a Camaro.  I got a beige four-door Falcon with a crushed front. It was what we had to do. 
...
 

I've worked hard physically and work hard now; and I've had some hard times in my life but nothing even remotely resembling what my Grandparents went through and I remember them reminding me often about it before they went to their reward.  To echo THS in a broader sense, I'm no "Doomsday Prepper" but it is a concern of mine that we might be headed there again with the inept economic policy of the "current administration".

[Townhallsavoy]

To echo THS in a broader sense, I'm no "Doomsday Prepper" but it is a concern of mine that we might be headed there again with the inept economic policy of the "current administration".

History question - Were there mass riots and widespread violence during the Great Depression? 

[Kaos]

History question - Were there mass riots and widespread violence during the Great Depression?

No. 

I'm really concerned also with WHAT'S being taught. 

Tried to help my kid with a history test by quizzing her from the study sheet she was given. 

Half of it was wrong or misleading or agenda driven. 

Vietcong:  North Vietnamese citizens who fought for their country.

Tet Offensive:  Surprise attack by the North Vietnamese on a holiday.  Helped North Vietnam win the war.

Cuban Missile Crisis:  Soviets put missiles in Cuba and President Kennedy stopped them by threatening nuclear war.

Robert Kennedy: Very popular brother of JFK. Supported Civil Rights, was against the war and was murdered. (portrayed as a hero and a martyr)

and the kicker for me?  The one where I had to leave?

George Wallace: Rabid racist who tried to divide the country based on race. Based his run for president by stirring up racial fears.

[Tarheel]

History question - Were there mass riots and widespread violence during the Great Depression?

Yes but not so much in the south.  There's quite a bit of agenda-driven rubbish out there but there were riots over food and jobs mostly in the big cities in the heavily industrial north and in the mid-west.  Not so much in the south; southerners knew how to grow things to eat and butcher animals for food.

[AU_Tiger_2000]

Yes but not so much in the south.  There's quite a bit of agenda-driven rubbish out there but there were riots over food and jobs mostly in the big cities in the heavily industrial north and in the mid-west. Not so much in the south; southerners knew how to grow things to eat and butcher animals for food.

In the song "Song of the South" by Alabama there is the line,

"Somebody told us that Wall Street fell,
but we were so poor that we couldn't tell."

I think that is part of it in addition to what you wrote.  The south in the '30's was so un-industrialized that it didn't really matter that the economy collapsed, it was already on the level of a 3rd world agrarian society in most places.

[bird35]

It's only going to get worse.

The trophy generation may be a drain on society and causing a lot of needless headaches. 

But the trophy generation has children, and they've gotten control of the rulebook. 

True story from yesterday - My cousin's kid is nine years old and plays soccer in the community league.  Their team jumped up 5-0 right off the opening whistle.  The refs made their team play with one less player because they wanted to give the other team the chance to catch up.  And they did.  And my cousin's son's team lost the game in the end. 

But that's nothing compared to what's going on in the classroom. 

Did you know that many schools in Alabama (and most likely will be all schools in Alabama in a few years) are cutting 15 hours from each class in order to provide a 30 minute "extra' class?  This extra class is for study hall, credit recovery (the new summer school), and remediation for the graduation exam. 

Soooo...the extra class is really about meeting AYP numbers because kids that fail classes affect the numbers and kids that fail the grad exam affect the numbers. 

Or the "2nd Chance Cafe."  Didn't do a project?  Skipped school, got sick, or went on vacation and never made up that test you missed?  Eat your lunch at the 2nd Chance Cafe where the teacher has to give you a chance to make up all of your work! 

Or the "No Zero Policy."  Got a zero on a big assignment because you decided to play videogames instead?  Well, now we have given you the chance to make up that grade.  We technically aren't giving you anything because you can't earn a 100%.  But you can earn a 50!  Or even up to a 70 if you teacher allows it.  This way you can be lazy as shitake and/or take much more time (you get until the end of the semester) and still pass your class.  And the school will make AYP, so everyone's happy!

Or the best as always - It's your "Get Your IEP Free!" card!  No Child Left Behind makes it so that anybody can get special ed services.  And best of all, there's no more stigma connected to being in the special education classes because now the entire curriculum is rewritten to accomodate you!  Not really a retard?  Doesn't matter!  Get your doctor - you know, the psychologist that comes over for dinner sometimes - to claim that you're ADHD and then drug the shitake out of your kid!  He'll fail so much because he can't keep his eyes open that they'll have to let him in!  And guess what?  He can't get out unless you say it's ok for him to get out!  Win-win for you! 

Just wait.  Just wait until this generation of kids is responsible for your medicare.

I am also a high school educator.  I feel your pain.  It is no longer possible to instill one bit of character or responsibility in students.  The students who are self-motivated will be ok.  The students who lack motivation will suffer from "teacher revenge".  Teacher revenge is when a parent fights teachers to make sure the kid is never pushed or held accountable and then 7 years later realizes the child is going to live in the basement forever.

[AU_Tiger_2000]

I am also a high school educator.  I feel your pain.  It is no longer possible to instill one bit of character or responsibility in students.  The students who are self-motivated will be ok.  The students who lack motivation will suffer from "teacher revenge".  Teacher revenge is when a parent fights teachers to make sure the kid is never pushed or held accountable and then 7 years later realizes the child is going to live in the basement forever.

Kind of like the "Parent's Curse".  "Someday I hope you have children that act just the way you do!"  First described and documented by Dr. William Cosby.

[djsimp]

If parents had the freedom to beat the shit out of their children like mine did me, you would have a much more
factor of respectable fear in the little fuckers in school today.