Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but this sounds like an argument against (presumably) parochial schools.

 

Not necessarily. I just want more experiential instruction and life sharing from those who have had "other than school experience"...I don't find it to be beneficial to have our teachers with limited world / work experience trying to prepare the youth for tomorrow.

Not necessarily. I just want more experiential instruction and life sharing from those who have had "other than school experience"...I don't find it to be beneficial to have our teachers with limited world / work experience trying to prepare the youth for tomorrow.

 

What is it about making a kid follow a dress code that is not preparation for tomorrow? In other cases with education, I would agree with you, but I have never worked a job that I did not have some type of dress code.

What is it about making a kid follow a dress code that is not preparation for tomorrow? In other cases with education, I would agree with you, but I have never worked a job that I did not have some type of dress code.

 

Not about the dress code, about the over reaching and narrow minded mentality of the system in general. Schools don't own our children yet many times put their own agendas ahead of parents....I really don't care about dress code issues, it just represents a microcosm of the bigger system issues.

Not about the dress code, about the over reaching and narrow minded mentality of the system in general. Schools don't own our children yet many times put their own agendas ahead of parents....I really don't care about dress code issues, it just represents a microcosm of the bigger system issues.

 

Can you be specific about the issues? What agendas are you talking about? Are you talking about focusing on test scores, etc? Not sure I understand how enforcing a dress code is a microcosm of something bigger.

Can you be specific about the issues? What agendas are you talking about? Are you talking about focusing on test scores, etc? Not sure I understand how enforcing a dress code is a microcosm of something bigger.

 

Not about the dress code, about the over reaching and narrow minded mentality of the system in general. Schools don't own our children yet many times put their own agendas ahead of parents....I really don't care about dress code issues, it just represents a microcosm of the bigger system issues.

 

Please see bolded...and yes, I could be specific about the issues, but I'm wondering if you would be open to hearing them, or are you going to keep focusing on the dress code ?

 

School systems in general have limited understanding of the world of work and what is needed to prepare youth for the future because the system is made up of people who have primarily only been in school. Because of that, they focus primarily on the success of a segment of their customers geared toward college....and really couldn't care less about the balance. After all, these customers are the ones scoring higher on the test scores anyway, so it benefits them to continue that process.

 

Most schools have no clue how to handle the bullying situation, the addition of resource officers has done little to remedy this situation.

 

Schools believe they know what is best for their customers, and in some cases, that may be true. In general, it has been my experience that school systems want to "tell" parents what is best for their children rather than working a mutually agreed upon plan. I believe that in the case of disadvantaged or special needs customers, this is even more prevelant, likely because the system believes it can condition and shape the parents to believe that they know best...

 

I can go on if need be, suffice it to say that just because you have a teaching certificate does not mean that you know what is best for the masses...being open to hearing that message is another situation all together.

Please see bolded...and yes, I could be specific about the issues, but I'm wondering if you would be open to hearing them, or are you going to keep focusing on the dress code ?

 

School systems in general have limited understanding of the world of work and what is needed to prepare youth for the future because the system is made up of people who have primarily only been in school. Because of that, they focus primarily on the success of a segment of their customers geared toward college....and really couldn't care less about the balance. After all, these customers are the ones scoring higher on the test scores anyway, so it benefits them to continue that process.

 

Most schools have no clue how to handle the bullying situation, the addition of resource officers has done little to remedy this situation.

 

Schools believe they know what is best for their customers, and in some cases, that may be true. In general, it has been my experience that school systems want to "tell" parents what is best for their children rather than working a mutually agreed upon plan. I believe that in the case of disadvantaged or special needs customers, this is even more prevelant, likely because the system believes it can condition and shape the parents to believe that they know best...

 

I can go on if need be, suffice it to say that just because you have a teaching certificate does not mean that you know what is best for the masses...being open to hearing that message is another situation all together.

 

This thread is about dress code. That was why my focus was on dress code.

 

To the bold parts: Gearing ALL toward college. I agree. College is not for everybody. We need more kids in vocational education, and not just the trouble makers that people want out of the building. Society needs masons, mechanics, welders, carpenters, etc. Schools pushing kids into these programs is difficult because of the societal stigma placed on them.

 

Bullying. This issue is much larger than schools. Bullying is a societal issue. It takes a village to raise a child. Parents monitoring social media and teaching kids to treat others the way they want to be treated is far more important than anything a school can do.

 

Mutually agreed upon plan. I agree. Parents have the right to this and it is up to them to stand up for their children. No school can tell parents and force a plan for a student that a parent doesn't agree with. If that happens, it is on the parent for allowing it to happen.

 

Thank you for the response. We are also in agreement that a teaching degree does not make anyone an expert on the lives of the masses.

This thread is about dress code. That was why my focus was on dress code.

 

To the bold parts: Gearing ALL toward college. I agree. College is not for everybody. We need more kids in vocational education, and not just the trouble makers that people want out of the building. We need masons, mechanics, welders, carpenters, etc. Pushing kids into these programs is difficult because of the societal stigma placed on them.

 

Bullying. This issue is much larger than schools. Bullying is a societal issue. It takes a village to raise a child. Parents monitoring social media and teaching kids to treat others the way they want to be treated is far more important than anything a school can do.

 

Mutually agreed upon plan. I agree. Parents have the right to this and it is up to them to stand up for their children. No school can tell parents and force a plan for a student that a parent doesn't agree with. If that happens, it is on the parent for allowing it to happen.

 

Thank you for the response. We are in agreement that a teaching degree does not make anyone an expert on the lives of the masses.

 

Unfortunately I feel that some who may not have the capacity to understand and take up for themselves, just go along because the school says so. I believe that our less advantaged parents need more advocacy to assist them with their children. Even the better educated amongst us has to fight, at times, to get the system to understand they are the service provider, not the master.

Unfortunately I feel that some who may not have the capacity to understand and take up for themselves, just go along because the school says so. I believe that our less advantaged parents need more advocacy to assist them with their children. Even the better educated amongst us has to fight, at times, to get the system to understand they are the service provider, not the master.

 

Hopefully the school is doing what they feel is best for the child in these types of situations. It doesn't mean the school is always right. If the parents or advocates of the child aren't going to put forth a better suggestion or fight for something they want, how can the school be at fault for doing what they think is best?

I just think schools should focus on educating children. There is enough math, history, science, and language arts to keep them busy for four years.

 

Schools are run by administrators, who by definition and necessity, manage the school from an administration perspective, not the perspective of doing what is best for each individual child (which is the parent's job).

 

Teach my kids the basics, and I will do the rest, thank you very much. I don't want my kids prepared for a job by getting told what to wear at school in anticipation for having a job where they get told what to wear. I want them educated, not defeated.

 

This thread started about some kids wearing a shirt with an Air Force insignia too large no? We are so quick to think "dress code is the dress code is the dress code." C'mon, these are kids proud of their parent who is serving our country. Those AF sweatshirts going to cause a problem? Not in a million years.

Finally, one of the school supporters in post 42 says, to get the policy changed by the people who do have the power, and that "deciding the policy doesn't apply in an emotional fit is not the answer." That is pretty much the attitude you get when you talk to administrators. You disagree with some inane decision, they put you in "emotional fit." category. Their main concern is with preserving their power and control, as opposed to doing the right thing. Which is why some kids can't wear an United States Air Force sweatshirt to school in the United States.

 

Edit: In anticipation of questions, I don't think people who get told what to wear are defeated. I was meaning though that I don't want my kids to have left school prepared only to do what others tell them. That is defeated to me.

Hopefully the school is doing what they feel is best for the child in these types of situations. It doesn't mean the school is always right. If the parents or advocates of the child aren't going to put forth a better suggestion or fight for something they want, how can the school be at fault for doing what they think is best?

 

I was probably specific on this one. I refer to the parents of kids that have deficits, when the parents have deficits as well. I think there are some parents, who, because of their own inabilities, just go along because they don't know how to advocate or what to advocate for...these are the ones I get most concerned about.

I think people were focusing on the dress code, because that's what the OP was about. Maybe a broader discussion would be better suited to it's own thread? I think it sounds like a fantastic topic of its own.

I was probably specific on this one. I refer to the parents of kids that have deficits, when the parents have deficits as well. I think there are some parents, who, because of their own inabilities, just go along because they don't know how to advocate or what to advocate for...these are the ones I get most concerned about.

 

What would you like for schools to do about this? The schools are doing what they think is best for the kid. If the parent can't advocate or doesn't know what to advocate for, then what is the school doing wrong?

I think people were focusing on the dress code, because that's what the OP was about. Maybe a broader discussion would be better suited to it's own thread? I think it sounds like a fantastic topic of its own.

 

Agreed . The basic premise the poster was making about injecting real world experience into education has merit. But it should be discussed in another topic.

The problem is that the educational system is not open to seeing the other side of the coin. You can take up for teachers all you want, I have no issues with teachers. Is there job tough, sure, but it's not necessarily any tougher than anyone else's job.

 

It's not being in a "educational role" within a school, it's the how the system treats it's "customers".

 

The educational system in America is broken. The problem is that government has created a situation that makes it less and less likely to be able to be fixed because it will continue to protect employees of a broken system rather than look at root cause issues and what is best for the customers' future.

 

If we don't start looking at our schols as a place to build the future workforce of America, and not a place for every single student to leverage themselves into a college somewhere, we will never make progress.

 

If you are a teacher, good for you, I'll give you that your job is tough....if you can't see that the system needs a major overhaul, then we have a much greater issue at hand.

 

I can agree with a lot of this. I think there are a lot of educators who believe that a major overhaul needs to take place in education so that kids will develop 21st century skills and that the current model of accountability does not reward anything other than test prep.

 

I will disagree that it isn't harder than other jobs.

Yesterday I personally administered Diastat to a kid having a seizure only to watch the parent refuse to let EMS take the student to the hospital. I personally worked with a student who regularly threatens to kill staff and occasionally rips off her clothes and spreads the blood from her period all over the walls. Oh, btw, the state sees no difference in how she is tested for accountability so once we get her new clothes we have to get back to the required content. I got blasted by a parent who didn't like that her kid got a B after the kid was allowed to make up missing work and still didn't turn it in. I had an email from a parent who said I wasn't a real Christian because our boys basketball tryouts are on a Wednesday night that should be reserved for church. I got another email saying that "See You At The Pole" is a religious event that should be outlawed and threatened to go to the news and Westboro.

We welcomed a transfer student who was kicked out of a boarding school because his behavior was not acceptable there. I ended the day working with the local police to try to help locate an 8th grader who ran away from home on Friday night and is still missing.

 

My Facebook status is about how wonderful out chorus concert was... because it was great and because our "customers" can't handle the rest of the story. And they shouldn't have to.

 

So teachers keep all that compartmentalized and do their best to put great value on each parent's concern. But when someone wants to argue about a clear dress code violation, it seems kind of ridiculous compared to all the rest. It may seem like "power and control" are the goals but really things like dress codes are in place to eliminate subjective issues and allow educators to focus on teaching content.

 

To then be insulted about being an "educated idiot" and "unable to think" and bein told how the degree isn't difficult to obtain just didn't sit well.

 

Education is hard. People have no idea. I described one day...

 

Haters gonna hate.

Edited October 20, 201510 yr by Plato

 

Education is hard. People have no idea.

 

Haters gonna hate.

 

Yep. Yep. And yep.

 

And it's night and day between public and private schools.