What About the Children?

Here in America, we are obsessed with our children. Our children must have structure in their lives. This daily structure usually includes 7-8 hours of school, 2-3 hours of after school care, 1-2 hours of sports practice, 30 minutes of eating time with mom and dad, and finally 1 hour of TV and/or 1 hour of playtime for the child.

Everything in American children's lives revolves around structure.

Let's take a look at American schools. All the little boys and girls are rounded up and herded into school, where they will all be taught the same curriculum. Not to mention, the schools that require uniforms, so American children are being raised to think and look alike from the age of 5 to 18.

What is the educational structure of America? Let's start with how American teachers are educated. For one, all teachers MUST pass a national teacher certification test called the Praxis. This test is divided up into 4 sections: multiple choice Math, Reading, Writing, and one Writing Essay. Science, critical thinking, social studies, history or psychology is NOT on the test. This means the American education system only cares about Reading, Writing, and Math. Not to mention 3 parts are multiple choice, and only 1 part is a written essay.

I have interacted with one particular teacher-to-be this past summer. It seems she had failed the PRAXIS test because, as she said, "There were 10 questions on the test I didn't study for." WHAT? There are 46 Reading and Math multiple choice questions, 44 writing questions, and this girl FAILED a 136 question test because she didn't prepare for 10 questions. Plus, each score is NOT based on 136 questions, it is only based on the NUMBER of questions each teacher wannabe answers. So a wanna be teacher can take a 136 question test and only answer 1/2 the questions correctly, and still become a "certified" teacher. I for one am not impressed with this PRAXIS scoring method, any teacher that is "certified" MUST pass the WHOLE 136 question test, and if they don't answer all the questions, their score should reflect their half-assed effort, because NOT answering all the questions, is just not trying hard. As a parent, I don't want a sub-standard teacher teaching my child, and that is what the PRAXIS is producing, SUB STANDARD TEACHERS. (this doesn't include the teachers who actually take the whole test and pass, only those who put in 1/2 the effort and still pass)

So, teachers are certified in America by passing a test, and they are then shoved into schools where, starting at kindergarten, teachers teach students to pass a test. Our educational system ONLY values Reading, Math, and Writing in our teachers. And the tests students take, reflect Reading, Math, and Writing...NOTHING else, up until middle school age. Even then, there are "certified" teachers, who took the PRAXIS, teaching your children science, when the teacher is NOT certified to teach science, because the PRAXIS does NOT test the teacher wanna be's knowledge of science. So our American Science teachers are only certified by the PRAXIS to teach reading, math, and writing...there is no science certification in the PRAXIS. Of course, some states require you pass a Praxis II or III, in which more detailed subject matter is part of the test, however the same scoring method is used, meaning the teacher is only scored on how many questions answered, not the test as a whole.

I know it seems I am ragging on teachers quite a bit, that's because I look at teachers as PROFESSIONALS. I think teachers have thrown out the idea that they are professionals, and merely have turned into marching soldiers that do what the state and national government says. Teachers should have, and should fight for, more freedom to teach and certify themselves. There should not be a PRAXIS, and upstanding professional teachers should not accept the PRAXIS as the only means of certification. Teacher unions should fight for more freedom to test among themselves, more freedom to share ideas, and more freedom to teach their students the way they, as PROFESSIONALS want to teach. Teachers have PLENTY of time to do these things--they have 3 whole months in the summer to better themselves professionally.

But, alas, the teachers in America see themselves as babysitters. For 8 hours a day, they babysit their students, and ho-hummly teach the same thing day after day, year after year...and American students get dumber, and dumber. Where is teacher responsibility? You teachers want more pay???? When you only work 10 months out of the year? Not even a full 10 months because of all the breaks given, so 9 months you work and want more pay?? What are you doing with our children? They can't pass the tests you teach them to pass....maybe the test isn't working. Why don't you teachers get off your lazy butts and demand the American educational system STOP TEACHING TO THE TEST. C'mon teachers, even you know not every child is a good test taker. Take responsibility teachers, be professional, and come up with a better method to measure the progress and teach intelligence to our children. That's why you became a teacher right? Or are you just teaching to bring home a paycheck? If that's case, become a babysitter, teachers should want to better children, not babysit them.

Of course you parents have just as much damn responsibility. You parents need to stop looking at teachers as your personal babysitters. Sure, your tax money pays these teachers to TEACH, not babysit, your kids. Parents, you need to stop letting your kids eat sugar for breakfast, sugar for snack, limit TV time, make sure homework is being done. Help your child with homework. Sure, I know, some of you parents are at work soooo much your kids are home alone, and you can't watch them and make sure homework is being done. So why don't get off your butt, get on the PTA, and start talking to the local Board of Education about an after school program to keep your kids until you get off work?

Plus, parents, no matter how poor you are, the library is still free. I know you have spare change lying around the house, why not start teaching your kids math w/the pennies, nickels, and quarters? Not to mention, you can always start teaching kids to tell time with all the clocks in your home, make your kids help you fix dinner, measuring is a great way to introduce fractions!! Parents, it's time for you to STOP THINKING TEACHERS HAVE TO TEACH YOUR KIDS EVERYTHING. Bottom line, these are YOUR KIDS, and if you want them to be successful, you have to INVOLVE YOURSELF in their lives.

Part of being involved, is making sure your children are being taught what you value. Since when do we parents accept the fluff our children are being taught about history? For example, the story of Thanksgiving. The true story of thanksgiving is not the one taught in school, you know the story, the pilgrims and Indians worked together to grow crops and then they all sat down at a table and had a feast after the harvest. The true story, which our children should be taught, is the pilgrims and Indians did work together to grow crops, and they all harvested the crops. The pilgrims and Indians ate a feast, and then the pilgrims killed the Indians and took their land. The story of Thanksgiving that is taught in school, was forced by President Abe Lincoln, who created Thanksgiving after the Civil War to unite the country. This is important to teach to our children, because it shows the true nature of how our country was founded and brought together after the Civil War. American children NEED this education to develop critical thinking skills that lead to innovation!! We can't expect better for our children, when we don't better educate our children.

Yea, and since when does a whole month of curriculum need to be centered around making Christmas decorations? Why isn't the HISTORY of religious holidays taught to children? Why don't we teach our children the history of the Christmas tree, the astrological significance of Christmas (winter solstice), or the history of Hannukah, the history of Kwanzaa? None of this is taught because of some rule about separation of church and state. Well, if you don't want religion being taught in school, then stop this ornament making crap in schools. It's nothing but fluff. True art is not coloring, cutting and pasting a pattern, it's giving the child free reign to make whatever they want, without a pattern or any rules.

Imagination is true art, and children nowadays don't have time in their busy, structured days, to explore their imagination. Imagination is forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses, and the action or process of forming such images or concepts. It helps provide meaning to experience and understanding to knowledge; it is a fundamental facility through which people make sense of the world.

Children don't have the freedom to imagine anymore. Playstations, Wii, computer games, board games, all structure how children think. There is nothing left for children to imagine. As a child, these games were basically non-existent. I was left to imagine--I was allowed to take all the chairs from the dining room outside, throw a blanket over the chairs to make a tent, and played, imagined, with my toys.

Music is another imagination destroying tool. It is nothing but noise to fill the silence in children's heads. TV does the same thing.

Save imagination. Teach history. Teachers and Parents who work together save the Children.