School Tantrum

Ok, no I am not talking about my 11 year old throwing a tantrum about going to school – thank gawd! I am talking about me throwing a tantrum about school’s and school districts who do a crappy job about taking care of student’s that are labeled difficult . I am speaking from experience (being in the teaching field for several years and having a child) I have first hand knowledge of what schools can do to ruin your child’s potential and future.

I live in Southern California and for all of those who are reading this and saying “But the schools are so overcrowded and there isn’t enough staff” – to you I say “Abso-freakin-lutely!” In our schools it is about crowd control in the classrooms. Where classrooms used to be places of learning and social skills acquisition it has now become survival of the smartest and most manipulative. Our classrooms are filled beyond capacity and the teachers are completely overwhelmed. However, that is no reason that the kids that are difficult need to be dropped into a veritable black hole.

Here’s how it works – if a kid is going through a rough time (for whatever reason) and they are judged by a single teacher as problematic then that kid has been sentenced that way for all of the staff of the school and the district and thus their chance ends. It amazes me the stories that I have heard and seen of the kids who are having problems and are judged and given up on.

I do not exaggerate this – it happens constantly to all types of students for all different reasons and it needs to stop! The kids are treated as a problem and a bother and given little to no help. Many students and parents pull their hair out over this because once judged there is no changing it. Schools can screw up and end a student’s academic future without even blinking and they should be taken to task.