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Some other surprising things about school: - parents care more about extracurricular and athletic pursuits than academic. They'll help their kids play a sport,

Some other surprising things about school: - parents care more about extracurricular and athletic pursuits than academic. They'll help their kids play a sport, but rather than try to help their children learn, they'll complain that the teachers are not doing their jobs - children react to changes in environment the same way adults do, but this isn't considered by schools because they know the students have no choice but to comply - many children still go hungry at school, making learning difficult to impossible - one in ten children are diagnosed with ADHD; somewhere between 1 in 20 and 1 in 10 may be on stimulants, antipsychotics, antidepressants, etc - private schools may pay half the salaries of public school teachers, and their curriculums are not as strict (virtuslly no required curriculum) - children are still told today (by teachers) that they will be destitute and homeless if they do not go to college, but they do not provide any extra assistance either, making them either extra stressed or give up - teachers pay, pensions, etc and overall school budgets are still cut short by politicians whenever they need to trim their budgets, while other areas of budgets are increased - children in 8th grade often have a 3rd grade reading level in many parts of the country, but especially major cities with a history of segregation and a lack of access to jobs - some kids are still booted from one school to the next and used as scape goats if anything negative is on their transcript

jimhefferon 9y ago
- There are large numers of people who think, at least in the US, that paying taxes so that other people's kids might get ahead is a dumb idea.
watwut 9y ago
I can help my children to learn sport and I can help them learn math. I can not help them learn subjects I have long forgotten or was never good at in the first place. I dont expect teachers to teach my kids sport, I do expect them to teach math and history. Not sure what is wrong with that.
- peterwwillis 9y ago
  I think what's wrong with that is assuming teachers even can teach your child things that even you weren't good at or can't even remember. Parents seem to think teachers can do things they can't do. But they're not magicians. They're normal adults with textbooks. Many times they're not even experienced in the subjects they're teaching. Teachers have to teach 30 kids at a time, who all have different backgrounds and lives. They can't possibly give them all enough individual attention and time. And somehow they're supposed to get them all to surpass all the factors holding back each specific kid in a myriad of ways, to succeed at the same material, at the same time, at the same pace. They have to be babysitters, disciplinarians, counselors, role models, and educators. And then they get yelled at by parents or lectured by administrators for not keeping up to this standard. It's crazy. It's one of the reasons so many teachers quit within five years. It's one of the reasons it's so hard to find good teachers. And of course, they never pay them accordingly. If it weren't for the fact that teachers are idealistic and want to help children learn, we'd have a nation of morons, because only desperate people would subject themselves to this career.
  - watwut 9y ago
    > I think what's wrong with that is you assume that teachers even can teach your child things that even you weren't good at or can't even remember. Teachers taught me things my parents were not goot at and did not remembered. Right now, teachers are teaching my kids things I was never good at. A math teacher I know (friend) it teaching kids math they parents down know - right now. And I met kids, they do know that stuff. So yes, teachers can teach kids what kids parents don't know. In your attempt to defend teachers, you made them sound to be completely useless. Some are, but plenty of them are not.
    - peterwwillis 9y ago
      They're not useless, they just have a job which is far more difficult than people give them credit for. When some kids get bad grades, people point at the teacher, even though other kids are getting good grades. Or the same teacher teaching the same curriculum for 20 years will suddenly find their whole class failing - and they point at the teacher. But the teacher never changed.

jimhefferon 9y ago

- There are large numers of people who think, at least in the US, that paying taxes so that other people's kids might get ahead is a dumb idea.

watwut 9y ago

I can help my children to learn sport and I can help them learn math. I can not help them learn subjects I have long forgotten or was never good at in the first place. I dont expect teachers to teach my kids sport, I do expect them to teach math and history. Not sure what is wrong with that.

peterwwillis 9y ago
I think what's wrong with that is assuming teachers even can teach your child things that even you weren't good at or can't even remember. Parents seem to think teachers can do things they can't do. But they're not magicians. They're normal adults with textbooks. Many times they're not even experienced in the subjects they're teaching. Teachers have to teach 30 kids at a time, who all have different backgrounds and lives. They can't possibly give them all enough individual attention and time. And somehow they're supposed to get them all to surpass all the factors holding back each specific kid in a myriad of ways, to succeed at the same material, at the same time, at the same pace. They have to be babysitters, disciplinarians, counselors, role models, and educators. And then they get yelled at by parents or lectured by administrators for not keeping up to this standard. It's crazy. It's one of the reasons so many teachers quit within five years. It's one of the reasons it's so hard to find good teachers. And of course, they never pay them accordingly. If it weren't for the fact that teachers are idealistic and want to help children learn, we'd have a nation of morons, because only desperate people would subject themselves to this career.
- watwut 9y ago
  > I think what's wrong with that is you assume that teachers even can teach your child things that even you weren't good at or can't even remember. Teachers taught me things my parents were not goot at and did not remembered. Right now, teachers are teaching my kids things I was never good at. A math teacher I know (friend) it teaching kids math they parents down know - right now. And I met kids, they do know that stuff. So yes, teachers can teach kids what kids parents don't know. In your attempt to defend teachers, you made them sound to be completely useless. Some are, but plenty of them are not.
  - peterwwillis 9y ago
    They're not useless, they just have a job which is far more difficult than people give them credit for. When some kids get bad grades, people point at the teacher, even though other kids are getting good grades. Or the same teacher teaching the same curriculum for 20 years will suddenly find their whole class failing - and they point at the teacher. But the teacher never changed.