A few days ago, there was widespread panic over an alleged gunman wandering aimlessly around Newburyport (the same town banning sweets in school). One mom overreacted after misunderstanding a conversation, and reported that the person had entered the elementary school, which has no locks on the doors or security system. After a manhunt that lasted for hours, a reverse-911 call to homes, and a lockdown of the schools until 4 pm, the whole thing just kind of fizzled out with the gunman, probably a hunter, never found.
A panic ensued among the mommies, quite understandably. How is it, in post-Columbine days, that anyone can enter the unlocked doors of elementary schools? The only school in town with adequate security, it seems, is the catholic Immaculate Conception school - where per-pupil tuition is about half of what is spent per child in the government school. According to the superintendent, there is no money for upgraded security, so you'd better vote to increase your taxes! For the Children! But there is money for annual, fairly large raises for staff and administrators, for "wellness" studies and additional administration staffing........but I digress.
On that day, I was so glad to have my little ones close at hand. It could very easily be the elementary school down the street from us, which is also never locked. I know that we can never fully protect our kids, and that they are not to be raised in a bubble, but I just don't get it how parents can blindly send their children off to a place that is not secure, where daily there are reports of teachers having sexual relationships with students, where cries for "more money" yield nothing but fat paychecks for administrators and extra services on silver platters for so-called special needs kids.
So paint me as a quirky anarchist. I'll gladly accept that characterization if only to avoid the daily problems and worry the public schools inspire.
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5 comments:
I don't think it's really fair to say people blindly send their kids off. There aren't a lot of alternatives. Most people have to work, both parents often have to work. The fact that homeschool parents generally can keep their kids at home and make ends meet often makes them come off sounding a bit holier than thou to the rest of the parents who might dearly love to keep their kids at home but can't. Just a thought.
Actually, most homeschool families make tremendous sacrifices so one parent can stay home and live on much less. We live in smaller homes, drive less expensive cars and make clothes/food stretch a loooong way, eat all meals at home and limit toys, etc. - and are creative with working schedules. I work in the evenings, for example, so I am able to be home all day with the kids. It's a matter of priority. I know several families making it work on $40,000 a year or less, right here in Massachusetts, and they are very happy with their choices. Most homeschooling families are not holier than thou, we have just made different choices in life to accommodate what we believe is important. No different than any other family, just different priorities.
My intent is not to be holier than thou, but to point out a different lifestyle choice and to use provocative examples. Like the above poster, I also know of families who just make it work on a fairly low income, and also single moms who work out schedules with other homeschooling families to accommodate jobs, etc.
I used to be a teacher, and found out that most of my salary would go to daycare, and when I quit working we dropped a tax bracket, spent less on clothes/gas/food, and ended up better off than when I was working. I bet if a lot of families did some number crunching, it wouldn't be nearly the hardship. We figured out that, unless the secondary wage earner is making over $80K per year it didn't make sense for that person to work, with daycare costs, etc. I think society in genera and feminists in particular have fed our generation the myth that we must all work outside the home to be happy. It just ain't so.
I also wasn't aware that school was meant to be daycare (LOL).
Just to make sure there is no confusion here, there are more than one anonymous posters and I who was the first poster am not the one who called our anarchist blogger dumb. That last post should be deleted as it adds nothing to the conversation here.
But I'll refer back to the original post. Anarchist said "...but I just don't get it how parents can blindly send their children off to a place that is not secure, where daily there are reports of teachers having sexual relationships with students, where cries for "more money" yield nothing but fat paychecks for administrators and extra services on silver platters for so-called special needs kids."
And I'll stick by my original sentiment that that does sound holier than thou. The implication is "I just don't get how you can all be so wrong, wrong, wrong, while I am right. Obviously you don't care about your kids, because you send them off to such an insecure place, yada, yada."
I firmly believe in homeschooling and that homeschoolers just like the rest of society should be open-minded and non-judgemental about other people's decisions. You can make your case about what you're doing without putting down parents who don't homeschool. That's really all I'm saying. Thanks for listening.
This is the writer of the blog speaking - for some reason, Blogger won't log me in so I have to post as anonymous.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I was just answering the comment about how families would love to keep their kids at home, but can't because they must work - I am a firm believer that if anyone truly wants to homeschool, they can make it work.
I certainly don't believe that people who send their children to public schools don't care about their children. I think most parents don't want to homeschool, and that is their right!
But what I do hear over and over is complaining about schools being unsafe, children not learning what they need to learn, etc., yet people continue to send their children there. I guarantee you these things would all be remedied if there was a boycott of schools for a few days - they get money based on average daily attendance. If half the student body stayed home for a week, demanding a security system, it would be done. The money would magically be found! No one seems to want to do anything, though, which is frustrating to me and why I keep my kids (and my big mouth) at home.
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