According to this article on CNN.com, a Philadelphia teacher was beaten and brutalized by students after he took one of their iPods away during class-time. iPods were not allowed in the classrooms within that school and when the teacher seized it from the student, he was assaulted. The students involved in the assault were charged with, “aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment.”
What’s really good in schools these days? Kids fightin the teachers over iPods? You shouldn’t have had it in the class to begin with. This is so crazy…Teachers get paid to educate, not take beatens….whoa!
What’re your thoughts on said topic? Should the students be charged tougher than they were? What does this say about our educational system today?
Our second article, again from Cnn.com, revisits the claims that a longer school day will be better for students and teachers. The articles highlights various school systems in the Boston, MA area that have adopted a program entitled, Knowledge is Power Program. This program sees to it that the school day is extended to 5pm and that students are in school for a few hours on Saturdays per month. What this means for students, obviously, is more learning time and a chance to improve those lackluster scores. For many teachers who opt to participate in extended hours, it means more $$$ and a chance to affect change in student’s lives. Many school districts in states such as New York and D.C are still in talks about the efficacy and necessity of lengthening the school day.
This is a very real topic to me. I was born and raised in New York City (partially in Nigeria as well.) I am a product of a public school system. I did the after school achievement programs, the in-school extracurricular thangs, the clubs, et. al. Because of all those experiences and a strong family rearing, I am proud of who I have become today socially and academic-wise. Having also been educated in another country has given me other perspectives that don’t necessarily fall in this jurisdiction (segue topic perhaps). Nevertheless, I think that getting out of school at 2pm-2:30 and goin home and playin Madden is killin so many kids…i never really did the school on saturday thing, but i kept myself busy during school and after school. What do you guys think about the articles/subject matter? Should the length of school day be increased? Will this be a stepping stone towards realizing the vague promises of the No Child Left Behind Act?
~Thesis
Reecie
thehonorable
First did you see the Oprah special that came on last night. It was nice and refreshing to see people who wanted to go to school. These girls were so excited and looking forward to it that they were actually crying when they got accepted to it. I felt bad for Oprah when she was force to cut a free people from her school. That must had been a tough job for her. I always believe if you’re surrounded by other people who care about school, who are determine to finish it, and is a hard worker then that will play a part in movitating a student to be good. Other factors play a part in it to but I feel that this is a big one. I went to a public school and lucky for me I was surrounded by kids who care about school and that wasa good influence for me. My school was fair for perfect but I had some good influences.
Keep this response short…
KIPP is a good program. Here in Tulsa, OK we have a KIPP school, that is out north (black area). It is in my opinion that KIPP is really helping the kids. While they still have the traditional outside influences and forces, these kids realize that learning is important. Also, there is some sort of deal, that if they do not miss any school they get an all expense paid trip to see HBC’s. Not exactly sure on the details, but I digress… KIPP is a great program.
Thanks for your perspective on the program, Senoje.
I think we need to stop thinking of as conventional education as the only answer for children until they hit the age of 18. We need to offer more specialized programs, and more ins & outs for these kids that don’t care about education. Full-time job at 16, mandatory military service, conservation work, more access to private schools, universities, vocational schools should all be options. I remember when I was in school (just a couple years ago) that 85% of the kids didn’t care about academics and were just coasting. Why should society have to pick up their education tab if they aren’t going to use it?
I know it makes for great politics to promise more money for education, but it really is at a fucking ridiculous point now. How much of the budget at all levels of government is provided for education? Schools now have more money than they know what to do with, with teachers commanding crazy salaries. Our teacher’s parking lot at high school filled with some very nice cars. And lets be honest, high school level teachers do little more than regurgitate easy-to-learn information and baby sit.
Plus, why does the federally government put so much money towards education. Public education should strictly be the domain of state and local governments. Expecting people in Virginia and Washington D.C. to make decisions that benefit everyone from Alaska to Florida is ridiculous.
But in reality what the core problem is corruption of our society’s core. This is not the America that the Founding Fathers founded, or the America that reached its prime after the Emancipation Proclaimation and up to World War I. Nobody looks to themselves but to others today. Ask not what you can do for your country but what you can do for yourself.