Academic Solutions start with Knowledgable Parents.

Solutions start with Parent Visits and Observations

I am pleading that every parent with a child in our public school system spends a full day in your child’s school. Walk the halls, have lunch in the café and attend classes. I’m willing to bet that almost all that attend will never come in to a school with the same mindset again. Their eyes will be open to the disarray of public middle and high schools. Don’t say anything as the day carries on. Just listen, watch and feel what is all around you. Your senses will allow you to observe and translate the odyssey of your children’s daily experience.

Listen to the inappropriate language that has become filler for our kids’ depleted capacity to articulate. Listen to the breakdown of eloquence, pronunciation and enunciation. Listen to the triviality of conversation. Listen to the shrieks oblivious to the protocol of a civilized society. Listen to the personal degradation, and verbal bullying of other students. Listen to the disrespectful responses to adults beginning with addresses such as “Dood, Dawg, and “Man”. Listen to the abrasive responses towards teachers, and the sound of Nike sneakers carrying students away from a teacher asking that child to stop in the hall and listen. Listen to the teacher that loved coming to school every day, who now greets other teachers on a Monday morning with, “It’s almost Friday”.

Listen to the constant disruptions that slice into a teacher’s well-prepared lesson and the educational opportunities for those students that want to learn. Listen for the absurd regularity of statements such as, “What are we doing today”. Can I get my book from my locker?”, and “Can I borrow a pencil?” If you might hear, “May I borrow a pencil?” Wow, you surprisingly witnessed a rare anomaly in a middle or high school class room. Listen to the enormity of students requesting options for extra work and dummied down assessments, (Why can’t we have a word bank?), when the vast majority of these students do not complete the assigned requirements of the course.

Look into the eyes of students talking and laughing in the halls and then look at that same student’s eyes once seated in a classroom. Notice anything different? See the lack of affect in that child’s eyes, the boredom entrenched in their body language, and deepening lines in the brows of teachers battling an increasing barrage of disrespect and lack of discipline. Look at the cringe in students’ faces when they are asked to “work, critically think or articulate”. Look at the pout on their faces when they are called out for being lazy, unprepared or inappropriate. Look at them scoot out of class rushing to the restroom where they can call their mommy or daddy on their cell phone to complain about that awful teacher that called them on the carpet.

Look at the poorly veiled racial alignment of kids in the hallways and the café. If you have extra time however, visit one of the elementary schools and sit in their café. There is a blend of color and ethnicity sitting at those tables. The intolerance of the older generations has not yet fully tainted the innocent minds of our little ones. Now return to the café of your older student. Look at the adults in attendance. Look how they tend to gather and associate by race.

Look at the blatant disdain for the observance of rules. Look at the quantity of students not adhering to the dress code. Look at the amount of food and garbage left behind on cafeteria tables. Look at students walk over pieces of paper, bottles, etc. in the middle of the hallway. Look at the amount of students walking towards class without books or supplies. Look at the extent of students still socializing in the hallway when the bell has rung. Look at the amount of students not in their chairs when the bell has begun signifying the beginning of class. Look at the students who can’t keep their eyes open because they had access to computers, texting and phones until three in the morning. Look at the miniscule percentage of homework assignments that are handed in upon teacher request.

These are observations based on the two senses of hearing and sight. There are literally hundreds of other observations that we can attain using all of our senses. The important point is that it is time to come up with solutions. This is going to take some very special people with guts.

A school board sets policy. If you are going to bother setting it, expect it to be upheld. A district leadership team is expected to carry out directives that align and adhere to the policy. School principals are trained to instill the district directives within the fabric of the school. Teachers should be motivated to engage the students keeping them on the path of the district directives. Parents need to direct their children towards the best odds for a successful future. Students should open their minds to the educational opportunities presented to them. They need to actively participate in their education.

Of course our level of success is determined by courageous actions and responses. Students should listen a lot more, go to sleep on time, be required to take a 101 course on respect and discipline, be polite, do their homework, be prepared, stop whining, and incorporate, “Please”,
” Thank you”, “Yes, Ma’am”, and “No Sir”, in their ever day dialogues.

When it comes to their children, parents need to get over themselves. We all have struggles and challenges in our lives. Don’t use them as excuses for your child’s behavior or poor academic performance. Don’t bring your marital problems, financial woes, mid-life crises, insecurities and addictions to the table when talking about your children. Have the guts to sit down and say, I’m sorry that my child is misbehaving or not performing. Now what can we all do to improve this situation. This next concern is a tough one, but middle and high school parents have got to accept the fact that almost all kids lie. They don’t lie because they are bad kids. They are wired to focus on the immediacy of their situation. So if a young man or woman knows that they can’t go out this weekend if they get in trouble, they will alter their explanation to assure their short-term freedom. Please try to have that as a reference point before you rush into a school meeting looking to lambast a teacher.

Teachers need to maintain the highest level of integrity, and expectations from themselves and their students. They need to constantly reflect on their purpose, goals and reasons for educating children. If you love kids, love nurturing academic growth, don’t feel the need to punch a clock and love the daily challenge, continue to live out your passion of educating children. Otherwise, initiate worthwhile change or get out!

School administrators need to devise courageous ways to enforce policy, moderate challenging issues and stand by their teachers. District administrators should do the same. No administrator should ever throw a teacher under the bus to protect their reputation or position. A true sign of guts and courage is displayed by an administrator who stands up for what they know is right even when they are pummeled by rhetoric, the press and attorneys’ well-crafted letters.

Finally, the school board is the true source of guts and courage. Before you vote to establish policy, do your homework, be prepared and study! If you have completed your groundwork then you should be comfortable standing up without wavering for any policy that you cooperatively architect.

One last note….don’t ever let an attorney into a school district building. The only possible result will be a lot of wasted time, money-filled pockets for the lawyers and clouded perspectives.

Mike Sanz