Yes, the couch sex. An Elk Grove, California teacher sent home a DVD that included a homemade sex scene. It’s unclear what precisely was on the DVD, since the parents only watched a few seconds before removing the DVDs from their players and immediately destroying the discs (*cough* yeah, right *cough*). Although the school district tried to keep the teacher’s identity under wraps, news agencies soon ferreted out her name and splashed it across the paper. The woman in question teaches the fifth grade, and the video was sent home to her 24 students. When the teacher realized what had happened, she phoned each family (in hysterics, of course) to apologize and asked that they destroy the video immediately.

The parents interviewed seemed more bemused than anything. One father reported that the DVD necessitated an impromptu discussion of the birds and bees that lasted until midnight. Nobody seemed to be out for blood, though. So far, other than presumably wanting to crawl under a rock and die, the teacher has come out unscathed. It looks unlikely that they’ll fire the teacher. As legal defense expert Ken Rosenfeld so eloquently stated, “It’s felony stupid, but it’s not a crime.” I personally think she’s already been punished enough, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she quit. I’d personally change my name, undergo painful reconstructive surgery and start a new life as a sheep farmer in Siberia before I went in front of those students again.

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One of our kids is not playing nicely with some of her fellow students. She is doing well academically, but there are some shenanigans going on during the recess and lunch breaks that need to be addressed quickly.

My younger brother struggled to get along with some of his peers, and his troubles were exacerbated by a general lack of interest in school and a sometimes difficult relationship with his teachers (who were not at all curious about why he might not like school so they just stuck him in the corner and told him to be quiet… thank goodness modern education allows for different learning styles in students… but I digress).

My parents were strong advocates for my brother, and I can remember their frustration with The System’s inability to cater to his specific but not unreasonable needs. I think it’s just the perfect happy ending that my brother married a brilliant school teacher and thus restored his faith in teachers and education in general. But at the time, I can remember them being very upset that his behaviour was causing disruption in the classroom; I’m sure they must have felt torn between their concern for his well-being and their concern for the experience of the other kids.

I’m still digressing.

The point is, it is quite confronting to be told that your child is behaving in a way that a) might effect another child’s enjoyment of school, and b) would almost certainly raise the hackles of the parents of that effected child. I know, because my kids have been the target of some fairly unsavoury behaviour in the past and nothing makes my blood boil quite like it. Can’t these parents control their child? What kinds of lessons are they teaching them at home if this is the way they behave at school?

Gulp.

Some of the same behaviours ARE being played out at home, and we tackle it head-on when we see it happening. Perhaps naively, we had no idea it was carrying on in the playground. The teacher was nervous to talk to us about it, no doubt worried that we might react with shock and disbelief and try to blame the other kids. No, we were pretty calm about it. Perhaps not really all that surprised. So we have promised to talk to our daughter about it, and we will check in with her teacher every week to see if there has been any improvement.

I have complained about the dreadful behaviour of other children at our daughters’ school - to other parents, to the Principal - and really all I ever wanted was some reassurance that the behaviour was being managed, that the offending child’s parents were involved, and that the school was employing an effective long-term strategy to not only help that child to learn how to get along with the other kids, but that the other kids (the ‘victims’) were being empowered to stand up for themselves as well. Our goal in this instance is to help our daughter see that this particular manifestation of her very strong leadership tendencies is discouraged, and that she channel that energy in a positive way.

Gosh, this parenting thing is really tough sometimes.

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Okay, I’m kidding. I think the decision to fire this teacher is ridiculous. Is the Church within their rights to fire him? I don’t believe so. He signed a contract stating he would behave morally and in accordance with church teachings, and there is no evidence he did otherwise. He simply went on a date with his girlfriend and slept over. And isn’t it better to stay the night than to leave while drunk and cause an accident? What if he had killed somebody? Isn’t drunk driving a sin in the eyes of the Church? It makes me wonder, too, how they found out about his overnight stay. Nosy old biddy peeking through her curtains? Tracking device slipped into his bible cozy? How?

Suppose the man isn’t telling the truth, and he did have sex with his girlfriend that night. I hate to be the one to break the news, but it is possible to have sex during daylight hours. Heck, the man could have “gone to his girlfriend’s house,” so to speak, every day at 4 pm with nobody the wiser and his job secure. It’s this sort of emphasis on the appearance of propriety rather than common sense that drives me batty. 

Interesting side note: I couldn’t locate the article when it was time to write my blog, so I googled “Catholic school” and “fired” and got distracted by articles on two other CS teachers (both female) who were fired over the past few years for 1) having in vitro fertilization and 2) marrying a divorced man. Are these valid reasons for termination, given that the women signed contracts agreeing to follow the teachings of the church? What do you think?

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Photo by Tsunei Miyuki, Japan

Now, I always make it a point to turn the channel when he walks in on me watching the news. There’s no point scaring the poor guy and most of what’s on the news is hardly appropriate for a 30-something year old woman, let alone a 10 year old boy.

I immediately thought he was sneaking cable in the middle of the night or one of his dumb friends was trying to yank his chain. My thoughts went from frustrated with his friends to anger and complete, jaw dropping shock when I learned the real reason. Turns out, the entire elementary school had a little ol’ “gunman drill” that day. (This shit is too crazy to make up.)

The elementary students practised hiding in various places in the classroom just in case some crazy son-of-a-bitch decides to tear through their elementary hallways, bust in their room and open fire. The students “practised” hiding behind coats and underneath the teachers desk and even mastered the art of jumping out of a 1st floor window.

I had smoke coming out of my eyes and ears.

WTF????

Are they serious?

You have a better chance of choking on a jolly rancher and dying than having some crazed gunman go ballistic in a random elementary school. I guess I can kinda understand them doing this in high school, but elementary school? Have they lost their friggin’ minds?

Apparently our school district and teachers aren’t the only ones with poor judgement. A quick Google search revealed that I’m not the only one who’s pissed.

Where’s my lawyer?

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Photo by Justas Cekas

Currently around 65% of high school students are college-bound and some experts are calling for a re-examination of college level education and what it actually gets you these days. Furthermore, as more and more jobs are now being outsourced overseas, a college degree creates a certain dichotomy — while corporations expect and require degrees for jobs in which college degrees aren’t even necessary, like sales positions, conversely, skilled laborers or technicians only require more expedient training through trade schools. One clear benefit of these tradesmen skills is that most of them can’t be outsourced overseas.

For example, I’m an Account Manager for a hospital. Nothing in my 50k waste of a college education prepared me for what I’m doing. What it did do is get me a foot in the door for an administrative position some 17 years ago, where I worked my way up. The rest has been on the job the training. Never have I had to pull from my college textbooks, lectures, assignments or tests to understand how to manage coordinating people’s health benefits in my current position. One has to wonder, what is the point of a B.A. if all you need for is to weed out people that are perhaps more qualified but couldn’t afford to go to college?

Often times I regret not just going to a trade school or becoming a nurse, medical technician or even a paralegal. I could have completed many of those certifications in 2 years or less, instead I wasted 5 years (yes, I was on the 5 year program) of balancing missing classes to hang out in Grant park with my friends while still meeting the minimum requirements to get passing grades.

Welders, electricians, carpenters, plumbers — they’re all jobs that can’t be outsourced, yet my job can be. So who’s the real chump here?

As www.bluecollarandproud.com points out, these tradesmen are not your grandparent’s skilled labor workers. Many of these trade schools require some critical thinkers, like welders, who deal with complex mathematical equations to figure out trajectories and angles.

While not all kids are cut out for the trades just as all kids are not cut out for universities, the future of the tradesmen just might translate to job security and skills that seem to be lost on younger generations. When and if my children want to go to college, I will be there to support them emotionally and financially (as much as I’m able), but I won’t make them go. I hope they understand all their options, unlike my parents, who pretty much said, “Go to college or I’ll never speak to you again.”

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Teachers who’ve tried the balls have been overwhelmingly positive about the experience in online forums. Some teachers have even worked on their own options, such as podium-like chairs and adjustable desks that allow students to stand if they prefer. 

I love this idea on many levels. With playground time cut back in most schools (from 20 minutes to only 15 in my own kids’ case) and with childhood obesity so widespread, I think any chance to burn calories is only going to benefit kids. The only obvious drawback I can imagine with these options is the price. Like many parents, I had to send an extra $25 this year toward crayons, toilet paper and hand soap. Other districts are barely able to keep the electricity on and the plumbing in good repair. The sad truth is that the seating options would probably greatly help many kids, but are probably out of reach for the vast majority of school districts.

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The studies they cite show that toddlers who are given clues to find hidden objects via TV are less successful at finding the objects than the children who are given the clues in person. They summarize by saying:

“So while toddlers can understand what’s going on on TV, they don’t think about what they see on TV the same way older kids and adults do. They don’t connect it back to the real things they encounter in their world, so they can’t learn from TV. Whatever it is your toddler gets from watching TV, these researchers say, it’s not learning.”

I see this phenomenon in my kids clearly. They can both watch an episode of Play with me Sesame and have very different experiences. When my 5 year-old daughter watches the program, she gets up, sings along, dances, and responds to the character’s questions. When my nearly two-year-old son watched the same program alone the other day, he sat mesmerized by the 20-minute program - the lights, the colors, the sounds, but he clearly didn’t appreciate the humor and didn’t understand when to sing and dance with the monstery muppets. When the two of them watch together, I used to think that my son mimicked the program, but now I’m realizing that he was modeling his response after his sister.

So, why do we park our toddler’s in front of the boob tube if it’s not really enhancing their cognitive development? Why are products like Baby Einstein still a staple in nearly every baby shower across the country? Well, while I don’t expect my toddler’s brain to get bigger with Elmo’s help, he is entertained and out of my hair for about 20 minutes while I can change my clothes and start dinner.

After all, it’s not as if I’m telling him to play with my steak knives, right?

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“Fine! If you want us to follow your rules, we just won’t go to the dances! So there!”

and

“Training classes? That’s stupid! We already know how to dance!”

Um, kids? The thing is, Mr. Perrins knows you know how to dance. (Or, as you kids would say, “Like, duh!”) He’s just treating you like idiots to make the following point: “See? You have the ability to dance like ladies and gentlemen. Now go forth and do so.”

Parents, for their part, are lining up to show their support for Mr. Perrins. Kidding, of course. They’re lining up to whine about the possibility that their children might miss out on cherished rites of passage, such as prom. They feel the school should just hire more chaperones to enforce the rules — because God forbid the kids just follow the damn rules without somebody watching over their every move, right? And so what if the kids have repeatedly ignored the warnings that Mr. Perrins would cancel dances! Nobody thought he’d actually go through with his threat!

Ah, yes. We’ve all met these parents. They’re the ones with the toddlers screaming for toys in the aisles of Wal-mart, desperately yelling, “Jimmy, that’s enough! I’m going to count to three, and if you don’t stop, I’m going to take away your new toy! One… Two… Jimmy, I mean it! You stop it this instant! One… Two… James Trevor Marshall, I mean it! One… Two…” Twelve years later, they’re the parents of high schoolers who are perplexed that a disciplinary figure wants to actually carry through with the threat of discipline. 

Well, Mr. Perrins has chosen to yell “Three!” and actually carry out his threat. Now that’s an attractive quality in a principal. Sorry Patrick — it was great while it lasted, but we’re through.

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“Public School Teachers Rate the Top Disciplinary Problems”*

1940:

1) Talking out of turn
2) Chewing gum
3) Making noise
4) Running in the hall
5) Cutting in line
6) Dress code violations
7) Littering

1990

1) Drug abuse
2) Alcohol abuse
3) Pregnancy
4) Suicide
5) Rape
6) Robbery
7) Assault

*Taken from “School Violence Prevention: Strategies to Keep Schools Safe,” by Alexander Volokh with Lisa Schnell in January 1998

The scariest thing is these “current” statistics are now 18 years old. I shudder to think what the 2008 teachers would say if asked the same question. The thing that struck me most about this table is that I believe, in some way, that failure to address the (now pathetically minor) issues of the 1940 teachers is what has resulted in the frightening lack of discipline today. I base this on my mother-in-law, who taught in an inner-city high school for twenty years. Yes, she was frustrated by the violence and the gangs, but most of all, she was troubled by the disregard for common courtesy and the failure of her administrators to enforce even the smallest rules. It’s not just the administration, of course. Who complains when the teachers and principals do try to enforce the little things from the 1940s (like following the dress rules, etc.)? The parents! 

So maybe it’s not too late. Maybe we just need to get back to basics, and start giving detention or expulsion to the kids who fail to follow the 1940s rules. And just maybe, parents need to back up the schools when their kids are disciplined. After all, those seemingly minor problems reinforce the values of courtesy, self respect and discipline, and isn’t that what keeps kids from resorting to violence? 

Just in case I’m wrong, I’m going to dig the foundation for the bunker tomorrow.

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In an ideal world, parents would educate their own children on the subject, but unfortunately, most parents simply fail to offer any guidance whatsoever. My own Mom and Dad, who were excellent parents in many ways, were both much too uncomfortable to discuss the topic with me. My entire “talk” can be summarized by the following scenario, which took place while Dad and I gave the dog a bath. 

“Hey Dad, hand me the soap. I need to wash his hindquarters.”

“Be careful,” Dad grunted. “He’s sensitive down there.”

As minimal as my parent’s input was, I have to say I appreciate that I was raised in the era before “virginity pledges” were common. It’s 2008, people! The average woman marries in her mid to late twenties (well, unless she’s had abstinence only sex education and has gotten knocked up during her teens). I find these pledges ludicrous, and I would wager most of the girls lying their asses off during the ceremonies feel the same. I mean, really, what’s the alternative to agreeing to take that pledge? “Ooh, sorry Dad, but I want to have sex. In fact, I’ve already got my eye on this guy in my History class. He’s a little shy, but he seems like he’d be a stallion in bed. Could you pass the peas, please?” 

Anyway, I would argue that no version of sex education actually prevents kids from having sex until marriage. As evidence, I’d like you to take a piece of paper and a pen and list all the people you know, including yourself, who legitimately waited until marriage. Yeah, my paper is empty too.

So, given the aforementioned opinions, do I actually want my kids to have sex while they’re still in high school? Hell, no! But I think it’s much more realistic to encourage kids to wait until they’re older by frankly discussing the issues than it is to insist on no premarital sex whatsover. That’s why I’m unveiling my own sex education plan, which combines comprehensive sex education with the following factors that allowed me to leave high school (back in 1991) in a white graduation robe, so to speak:

1) Unrealistic expectations: As a teenage devotee of Harlequin romances, I wouldn’t have settled for anything less than an Italian prince named Carlito, who would whisk me off to his Italian villa and teach me the language of love. 

2) Religious guilt: I’m Catholic. Enough said.

3) Unattractiveness to the opposite sex: There’s nothing that keeps the boys at bay like a tight Ogilvie home perm and large glasses with blue frames and pink lenses. 

Come to think of it, my Mother is the one who insisted on the perms and let me buy the Harlequins, and my Dad is the one who dragged us to mass every five months or so. Maybe my parents were more adept at sex education than I thought…

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The mayor argues that “rich”, “suburban” parents pay and reward their children for good grades, so why shouldn’t children of poverty be rewarded for good grades too? But, is it the general public’s responsibility to pay other people’s children for getting good grades and does money for grades really work? Is this going to turn the Chicago Public School achievement around?

Most importantly, do you pay your children for good grades and does it work?

Daley weighed in for the first time on the “Green for Grades” controversy, one day after the first $265,986 in cash rewards were distributed to 1,650 Chicago Public School students.

Critics contend that the bounties are tantamount to “bribery” and that long-term success depends on self-motivation and the love of learning.

Daley strongly disagreed.

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1) Never lend money to a one-eyed drifter; and 

2) Never depend on Bjork to provide your entire gross national product. 

I kid — my Grandpappy taught me absolutely nothing about money, and neither did my parents. It seems to have been a common mistake in their generation. My own generation (Gen-X) is known for many things (our poor work ethic, our laziness, our inexplicable attraction to Ethan Hawke), but mostly, we’re known for our sense of entitlement. We want new cars, new houses and fancy vacations, and we want them yesterday. As a result, we use credit cards and choose to buy homes we can’t afford. By “we,” I mean the rest of my generation. I’m perfect, of course. 

Okay, maybe not. Confession time: I’m 35 years old, and I’ve been in credit card debt since I was a wee lass of 18. I remember the day clearly: I was buying my college textbooks, and a man on the street corner was taking applications for VISA cards. I hesitated and thought to myself, “Well, I really don’t need a credit card, but it does come with a free drink cooler… plus, it’s got a bitchin’ picture of the football stadium on the front. Sign me up!” 

And I’m not the only idiot out there — just watch the “Can I Afford It?” segment on Suze Orman’s popular financial show for five minutes. The typical call goes something like this:

Suze: Hi there! What do you want to buy?

Caller: Hi Suze! I’ve always wanted a Williams-Sonoma, diamond-encrusted potato peeler. It costs $10,000, but it is BEAUTIFUL, Suze!

Suze: Wowee, sister, that’s a lot of money! But I’m not here to judge, just show me the money!

Caller: Well, I’m 38 years old, and I make $300/month. I have $25,000 in credit card debt, and $12.42 in savings. What do you think, Suze? Can I afford it?

Suze usually screams, “DENIED!” at this point, and I really can’t blame her. Yet I also can’t help but think to myself, “Wow. I’ll bet that makes really good potatoes. I wonder if Williams-Sonoma offers 12 months same as cash.”

Like every other American (and Icelanderan), I’m feeling the pinch of the recession, and I’ve resolved to cut costs and pay down my credit cards. I also realize I need to take it one step further, because I’ve done very little to educate my children about money. My kids, who are 8, 6 and 5, currently keep their money on their desks in my old mixing bowls. They have no savings accounts, and they think food and toys are magically provided by elves. Clearly, I need to step up and teach them about working hard and saving up for the future. Otherwise, they’ll be facing the same situation in twenty years. 

It’s not too late to instruct my kids about fiscal responsibility. First, though, I have to educate myself and lead by example. Thank goodness Suze comes on in an hour.

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I get the need for crayons, pencils, and I’ll even spot the school the Kleenex for all those runny noses and incessant sneezes of the kids who “weren’t even a little bit sick” when their mothers and fathers shoved them out the door that morning.

Now, however, the school has added Clorox wipes to the supply list.

What next? Are we going to be asked to chip in toilet tissue for the restrooms and chicken nuggets for the cafeteria?

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I spent a lot of time during my second student teaching placement reflecting. It was an exciting time of year – I started just before Halloween and left just before Christmas. The students were anxious for the upcoming holidays. The snow was starting to fall. And there I was – a new teacher to contend with.

There was one student who worried me a bit. I’ll call him E. E was a very bright and articulate child, but school didn’t seem to interest him much. He was more concerned with football. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to be exact. He loved Tom Brady, idolized him. On library day he always came back with a book about football or his favorite player or team. Months later my heart broke for him when the Giants won the Super Bowl. He was a cool kid. He didn’t like to participate in any of my silly dances or songs. He often seemed uninterested in whatever activity we were doing.

I soon began to followed his lead. When talking to him I tried to relate any new learning to football. I made math problems with a football theme. I studied Tom Brady. I watched the games. I was all football all the time with this kid. Still, was it working? I couldn’t be sure.

Then today, while waiting to check out at the grocery store, I looked up and saw E in front of me (shopping with his mom). A huge grin appeared on his face. “Hi!” he said. “Mom, this is one of my teachers.” I was melting. He remembered me! He was happy to see me.

We exchanged some small talk. “How’s your summer going? Are you playing a lot of football? Do you know who your teacher for next year will be?”

Just as he was about to exit the store he turned around. “Do you still have our Cloudy With a Chance of Meatball stories?” You could have knocked me over with a feather! He remembered those stories? He liked those stories?

The class had been studying a unit on weather. We spent a few weeks learning about and discussing the weather. The water cycle, tornados, hurricanes, types of clouds, monsoons, snow, blizzards. You name it. We spent hours outside making weather observations. We made our own barometers.

Then we read Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs – one of my favorite books. Students then had to choose their own food and weather occurrence — Raining With a Chance of Pizza, A Blizzard With a Chance of Cupcakes, etc. Using story maps the children authored and illustrated their own books. They loved it.

E did a wonderful job. His story was inventive and humorous, casting himself as the wisecracking meteorologist. He remained reserved during the process, and I couldn’t tell if E was truly interested in the project. Until today.

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I was standing in the playground this afternoon, chatting with a couple of other mothers as we swapped kids for afternoon play-dates, when I was struck in the back of the head with something sharp and hard. The force was enough to knock my teeth together and send my sunglasses right off my face and onto the ground. I clutched the back of my head and spun around to see what it was and where it had come from. One of the other mothers picked up a small rock as three boys turned away from me with their hands in their pockets and their eyes cast upwards. Wasn’t us.

I looked down at my hand, fully expecting to see blood, but there was none. My head was aching immediately and now, about an hour later and despite a couple of pills, I’ve got a dull ache behind my left eye. So, not a serious injury, but it was all I could do to hold myself together as I turned to look at these boys and try to figure out why on earth they might have decided throwing rocks was a good idea.

They all looked at me with what I can only describe as intense guilt mixed with utter contempt. You know that look? You see it in mug shots all the time. People who get caught doing stupid things have that look. It says, sure, of course it was me, but I’m not saying that out loud and you can go and get stuffed.

Sorry, I’m just still a bit angry.

I asked them who had done it, and they closed ranks. Nobody was willing to tell on anyone else, and nobody was going to ‘fess up. Well, I suppose I didn’t really expect them to. I told them that they all had to come with me, right now, to the Principal’s office, and they didn’t budge. The mother who had picked the rock up was standing beside me, and two other parents were nearby, backing me up. Three little boys and four scary-looking mothers. Quite a showdown. And yet the longer they stood there, stonewalling me, the weaker I felt. My legs were shaking, my eyes were watering, and I was on the verge of losing it. The other parents were urging me on, telling me to go and tell the Principal, but I just couldn’t help feeling as though it would be complete waste of time. Not because the Principal wouldn’t do anything (on the contrary - she absolutely would) but that it would have no impact at all on Those Boys. They literally didn’t care.
The boys walked off defiantly. What was I going to do? Part of me wanted to just go home, part of me wanted to crack their heads together. Suddenly, one of the boys’ mothers turned up. She was carrying a toddler, and she walked up to the boys and started talking to them. Her son pointed at me and said “that bitch was saying I threw something at her.” Quick as a flash his mother grabbed him by the arm and said “don’t you dare!” and he looked down at his shoes. I decided at that moment to talk to her, and tell her what had happened.

What do you say to the mother of a kid who knocked your glasses off your face with a rock to the back of the head? Seriously?

I think she handled it about as well as she could have, although she did seem willing to consider the possibility that it was somebody else entirely. She asked them who else was around, and of course by that stage some other kids were playing where they had been, so he pointed at the group. I looked over at the kids with the football, and told him that they were nowhere near me when I got hit. I said that I turned around the moment it happened and they were standing right there. There was no doubt in my mind, I said, that one of the boys had thrown it. The only alternate story I was willing to consider was that it had been thrown up into the branches of the tree (maybe at a bird?) and come down to hit me on the head. Is that what happened? Did I just get unlucky? They shrugged their shoulders again and said nuh, they hadn’t been throwing anything.
I looked again at the mother. She had the face of a woman who was exhausted from having to deal with a bad seed who started out life like all babies do - as a gorgeous, gurgling blank canvas. I don’t know what has happened in the intervening years, but this boy of hers must be hard, hard work. I know nothing about their circumstances, and I’m not going to judge her. What I want to know is, whose responsibility is it to make sure these kids get through their childhoods without taking somebody’s eye out with a well-aimed rock? Whose responsibility is it to support the parents of these wayward kids, so that they grow up with the best possible chance of staying out of juvenile detention? And whose responsibility is it to ensure these kids get through their school years without, at the very least, disrupting the education of the other kids in the class?

Eventually one of the other mothers convinced me to go and report the incident to the Principal. I took Madeleine with me - Ella had gone to a friend’s house - and found the Principal, Ms J, sitting on a lounge chair outside her office, wrapping up a conversation with one of the teachers. As soon as I sat down I burst into tears, it was the most ridiculous thing. I started shaking all over again, and could barely speak. Madeleine went to get me a glass of water and Ms J looked at me with a very worried expression. I eventually managed to tell her what happened and she immediately sent another teacher out to the playground to see if the boys were still there. We all ended up out in the playground a few minutes later, talking with the boys and the mother and well, I don’t really need to go into details. Suffice to say it was handled as well as it could be, given that nobody was confessing, and nobody could actually say they had seen the boys throwing the rocks. In the end I left them all to talk it out amongst themselves.
I have now relayed the whole story to my husband, and he’s absolutely furious. His attitude is that these boys, all of them, are guilty as long as nobody is willing to confess. He believes that what these boys did was something that had the potential to cause a serious injury, and in the adult world would be called assault. His attitude is that a talk to the mother in the playground is not enough, and whatever that family’s circumstances are, there’s no excuse for what happened and something needs to be done. He doesn’t share my concern about whose responsibility it is to make sure these kids avoid jail. He just wants to know what is going to happen now. You can imagine he’s just thrilled to know that the main suspect is in our daughter’s class.
So I guess we’ll be going to see Ms J on Monday. I still wonder about what can possibly be done. I suppose part of me doesn’t want to make life any harder for this mother than it clearly already is. But another part of me is glad I’ve got my husband standing in my corner, backing me up, and calling this whole thing for what it is - a pretty goddamn serious situation.

I would be really interested to hear from parents who have had to deal with similar situations at their kids’ school. What did you do? How did the school deal with it? And how did you get past your reluctance to cause the imperfect parents of the imperfect child further grief? Oh, and just for the record, my brother turned out to be just fine, no permanent damage was ever done, and today he’s one of my favourite people on earth.

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Graduation Rates a ‘Catastrophe’ in Cities
By KEN THOMAS,AP

WASHINGTON (April 1) - Seventeen of the nation’s 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50 percent, with the lowest graduation rates reported in Detroit, Indianapolis and Cleveland, according to a report released Tuesday.

Ranking:

#50 - Detroit: 24.9 percent
#49 - Indianapolis: 30.5 percent
#48 - Cleveland: 34.1 percent
#47 - Baltimore: 34.6 percent
#46 - Columbus: 40.9 percent
#45 - Minneapolis: 43.7 percent
#44 - Dallas: 44.4 percent
#43 - New York: 45.2 percent
#42 - Los Angeles: 45.3 percent
#41 - Oakland: 45.6 percent

– There wasn’t any information provided as to what percent went on to receive their GED.

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Reading and school success are directly linked to what a child sees in the home, and long before they reach school age.

Twenty-one kindergarten classes were examined for children who displayed either high or low interest in books. Their home life was then examined in detail:

While this study may be a bit outdated, I am confident in saying that this would hold true today.

Lesley Mandel Morrow, “Home and School Correlates of Early Interest in Literature,” Journal of Educational Research, vol 76, March/April 1983, pp. 221-30.

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First, lets look at some research:

* 40% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 44, and nearly half of those between 18 and 24, NEVER read for pleasure
* The online age hasn’t doesn’t done much to qwell the lack of literary activity — adults under 25 are no more likely to read
online newspapers that print editions
* Nielson/Netrating and comScore Media Metrix, two firms that track internet usage, found that the average online reader
checks out the news much less often — and looks at fewer stories — than readers of print editions
* A 2003 study by the Henry J. Kaiser Familiy Foundation found that children under the age of six spend an average of 2
hours per day viewing videos and television — this doesn’t include viedo games — while they spend only 39 minutes per
day reading or being read to by a parent
* New videos aimed at children as young as six months are flooding the market. Dr. Berry Brazelton, the renowned baby
doctor, advises against all television watching for children under the age of 2
* Approximately 43% of children between the ages of four and six have a viedo monitor in their bedroom

So what does all of this mean? While children may learn to read and comprehend, how can a boring book compete the instant gratification of moving pictures and interactive gaming?

As an elementary school teacher I have spent countless hours teaching and encouraging children to utilize usefull reading and comprehension strategies. We have graphic organizers to aide students in strengthening their comprehension, tricks to increase fluency, decoding strategies, and effective book-leveling procedures to match the reader to the right book. But how do you teach children to love reading? How do you help them find pleasure in literature, the adventures that reside on the parchment? How do you compete with the Wii, PSP, Guitar Hero, and Hannah Montana?

I grew up in a home where reading was not only encouraged, but treated as the most rewarding and enjoyable experience. My parents filled our home with books. Receiving toys and games were reserved for holidays — my sister and I were stoked when we received the original Nintendo at Christmas — but a request for a book was never denied. My sisters and I had vast collections of picture books, the entire Sweet Vally Twins, Sweet Valley High, and Babysitters Club series, and lovingly-worn editions of Charlotte’s Web, The Secret Garden, Alice in Wonderland, and The Looking Glass. We subscribed to Reading Rainbow. We didn’t spend much time watching television, and our greatest toy was our imagination. Considering that both my older sister and I went on to become teachers, I’d say we’ve done pretty well.

I still love to read. My husband knows that each night he will find me tucked in bed with my latest literary friend. I have read each Harry Potter novel numerous times. I jump into The Great Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird gleefully. I wrap myself in the comfort of my books and the places I visit when I enter each author’s world. Unfortunately, many children will never experience that type of comfort.

Teachers cannot do it alone. Parents must step up and unplug the TVs, video games, and computers (and I am proud to say many parents do!). Go to the local library and buy as many 10¢ books as you can (just because the books are used, that doesn’t diminish what’s inside). Subscribe to a children’s magazine. And start reading yourself! Research shows that children who regularly witness their parents read are more likely to develop and embrace the habit themselves.

Want more on how to raise a healthy reader? Check out on of my fave books from Jim Trelease, The Read Aloud Handbook.

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And so I must pose the question, where have all of the books gone? And why are parents so willing to ply their children with electronic devices which make literature, imagination, and normal conversation skills obsolete,? Hand-held video games taken everywhere, DVD players in vehicles, TVs in the bedroom. Picture and chapter books have been replaced by movies and PSP games. The mind has been abdicated by the controller. What’s the deal?
I have plenty more to say on this subject, as I’m sure many of you do as well! Check back soon for more.

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The Illinois High School Association on Monday joined a small but growing number of states to implement mandatory random drug-testing for student-athletes. Its Board of Directors voted 10-0 to begin testing with the 2008-09 school year.

The timing was coincidental with two highly publicized incidents regarding drugs and sports. Last month the Mitchell report on the use of performance-enhancing substances in baseball included allegations Clemens, the seven-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher, had taken steroids and human growth hormone.

Last week a U.S. District Court judge sentenced former Olympic track champion Jones to six months in prison in part for lying about her use of performance-enhancing drugs.

While at least a few dozen Illinois high schools have instituted drug-testing of athletes on their own in the last two decades, this is the first time the IHSA has mandated statewide testing. Few, if any, of the schools tested for steroids.

I’m what you might call a bit hard core when it comes to right-to-privacy issues, even when it comes to our kids’ schools. I don’t condone random locker searches, and I don’t condone random drug tests. I think it sends a horrible message to our children, that no matter how much they strive or how much they try and keep their noses clean, they will always be under suspicion. When I hear, “Well if they aren’t doing anything wrong, then they have nothing to worry about,” it makes me want to punch something. The fact that someone isn’t doing anything wrong means they should be free from being hassled.

Like I said, I’m a nut about such things, so maybe I’m being irrational — can anyone offer a little perspective? Is there any good reason why our school district should be conducting drug tests?

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