My mother raised an ornery child and nobody knows this better than my secretary, Debbie. She knows this the best because each spring for about two weeks, eight hours a day she is confined in a dusty ole textbook storage room with me counting and sorting about sixty boxes of state mandated exams. Anyone who has ever worked with us on the project can attest that we get pretty loopy in our semi-solitary confinement. I can only take just so much serious, then I feel the need to find humor in the mundane…. usually at the expense of some unknowing kids name. Now come on, it a parent names a kid a stupid name, it is my responsibility to laugh at it!
Today was no different except the fact that both us didn’t feel well and we were actually nice to each other. On a normal day I like to jokingly blame her for all the mistakes… and trust me I get it right back in the face. And whoa is me if I loan out some of her #2 lead pencils… you would think I had taken one of her boys. Over the years Debbie has become much more than my secretary, but one of my best friends.
In an attempt to snap meout of the afternoon trance from counting one too many chemistry exams, Debbie told me abouta dream she had last night. She had offered to chaperone a school trip for her eldest son and they boarded a bus… she went on to say they traveled for hours, only to arrive back at the school without stopping anywhere. The funny thing she said, is that I was the only one concerned that we hadn’t gone anywhere… “We were on a bus to nowhere”! We laughed about this for a while, but I started thinking…
This morning as I was rushing out of the office to tackle my testing project I was stopped by one of our staff members asking me if I could deal with the young man seated on the bench. (I will run faster next time) This young man was sent to the office because he had his cell phone out and class and refused to give it to the teacher. I long for the days before cell phones. Cell phones are the adolescent pacifier… if you take one away, be prepared for the tantrum which is to follow. Children today are permanently attached to the silly things. And heaven forbid if a teacher takes one of them. We have a policy if the phone is out during class it is kept in the administrative office until a parent comes and signs for it. First violation, the parent must pick up phone, second violation, parent must meet with administrator, and the third violation the student is suspended. It literally amazes me at the parents who find themselves banging on the closed school door at 4:30 pm to pick up their child’s phone because the kid can’t do without their “binky” for one night. Some parents make the excuse “my child needs it for emergencies.” In fact, a friend who is currently on our SWAT team shared with me that during the incident at Columbine High School in Colorado the cell towers clogged up with student calls and emergency personnel had difficulty communicating with each other! Amazing how our generation made 12 years of school without one of these things!
Anyway, not only did this young man refuse to hand over his phone to the teacher, when I asked him for the cell phone, he refused to give it to me as well. I did not recognize the student; he later told me that he had only attended our school for two weeks. So… I explained that our school we expect student to respect adults and while he was suspended he needed to decided if he could abide by the school’s rules or look for an alternative setting. This young man reminded me of Debbie’s dream. Currently he is on a bus to nowhere. In the short conversation I had with him, I was able to determine that he did not have any future goals for himself. He could careless if I suspended him or if he passed any of his classes. School was the last thing on his mind. His education was less important than his cell phone.
Why has our society has lost it zeal for an education. I’ve heard my grandparents’ remark… “I was only able to attend school until the sixth grade,then I had to go to work.” Why is it that previous generations considered it a privilege to attend school, yet this generation considers it a curse? What happened between 1900-2008 that has left American kids on a bus going nowhere? There has been no time in history that students were offered more opportunities… alternative high schools, career-technical high schools, technology high schools, high schools for performing arts, Advanced Placement classes for college credit. Yet… so few take advantage of these offerings. It seems the Baby-Boomer generation’s work ethic is retiring with them. What is to become of American society if this trend continues? Personally I would like to know that this generation is a bit more motivated than to bubble an answer document on a state mandated exam. Somewhere along the way our kids have lost the ownership of their own education and destiny… it is our generation’s responsibility to stop the bus and rescue the children!
