Teenager puts peanut crumbs in classmates lunch

[DrDavidM]

This is of course very disturbing. An eighth grader is accused of putting peanut cookie crumbs in a classmates lunch that has a severe peanut allergy.

This is just another example of how the desire to hurt someone can and will be accomplished without a gun. Perhaps we should ban peanut butter cookies.

Link Removed

 

[HK4U]

Or ban eighth graders. My son went to a Christian school so there were a lot less problems but even it was not perfect. When it came time for our daughter to go to school we home schooled her. I understand not ever one is in the position to do that but If there is any way possible I recommend home schooling. For us it meant my wife leaving a high paying job and our income was cut in half. We had to make some adjustments but it was worth it.

 

[toreskha]

Or ban eighth graders. My son went to a Christian school so there were a lot less problems but even it was not perfect. When it came time for our daughter to go to school we home schooled her. I understand not ever one is in the position to do that but If there is any way possible I recommend home schooling. For us it meant my wife leaving a high paying job and our income was cut in half. We had to make some adjustments but it was worth it.

I definitely think homeschooling (of one sort or another) is a good idea. However, when they get old enough to study on their own and are very advanced academically, many content-based classes can be done via distance learning, and language and arts are probably best done with a specialized tutor. This also frees both parents up to work again, although probably on a modified schedule.

I really don't like the way that public education has been used on a "one size fits all" approach...kids get herded into large institutions like cattle in a feed lot, and they're just kind of sprayed with pseudoacademic content for a few minutes, with a lot of wasted time in between, then sent home. The way it's handled, you'd think we were growing corn or something.

Children need to be personally involved in their education - from the moment it starts - and more self-aware of their own abilities and applying learned skills to problems. The current mass market system facilitates a feeling of detachment and disinterest for most students, as it would for anyone who doesn't want to be one number in a group of 30, in a group of 60 classes, in a school district of 100 schools.

 

[Ektarr]

Children need to be personally involved in their education - from the moment it starts - and more self-aware of their own abilities and applying learned skills to problems.

Toreshka, I respectfully disagree. You're asking these kids to grasp with maturity their need for educatrion and the benefits thereof they stand to reap. In truth, most of them can't get their heads out of their asses long enough to concentrate on the blackboard much less contemplate their futures! They're too busy thinking about how to kill Glog and get on to Level 8.

I believe it's less the kids' job to learn than it is the "Educators" job to Inspire the kid to learn! That's what "Educators" do. Teachers just spoon-feed prepackaged pablum and work out their tenure. I had to tell my youngest's 6th Grade teacher in a meeting she and I had with her Principal that she really needed to seek another line of work, and for that very reason: she was pissy because the kids weren't just falling into line and allowing her to funnel her Training Plan into them so her life could be easier, and she was taking it out on the kids.

If a kid can't be allowed to be a kid when he's young, then when?

(By the way, Glog may be killed by using the Mortar with the Pestle, which has the Pellet with the Poison. The Flagon with the Dragon has the Brew that is True!)

 

[toreskha]

Toreshka, I respectfully disagree. You're asking these kids to grasp with maturity their need for educatrion and the benefits thereof they stand to reap. In truth, most of them can't get their heads out of their asses long enough to concentrate on the blackboard much less contemplate their futures! They're too busy thinking about how to kill Glog and get on to Level 8.

They're unable to think because they have been badly educated to begin with - a tower built on a bad foundation will never stand straight. Parents have the power to shape their kids' thinking from Day 1, and they don't have to purchase video games for them. A home environment centered on education and culture - without being oversimplistic and forceful about it - can go a long way towards emphasizing the importance to many (not all, obviously) children. Owning a TV is not a requirement in the US, and it's not mandated that children have to be exposed to booty jam from an early age, but streaming classical music is free in several dozen varieties over iTunes, and of course books are always available.

I believe it's less the kids' job to learn than it is the "Educators" job to Inspire the kid to learn! That's what "Educators" do. Teachers just spoon-feed prepackaged pablum and work out their tenure. I had to tell my youngest's 6th Grade teacher in a meeting she and I had with her Principal that she really needed to seek another line of work, and for that very reason: she was pissy because the kids weren't just falling into line and allowing her to funnel her Training Plan into them so her life could be easier, and she was taking it out on the kids.

As with any other profession, most teachers are average, and a few are exceptional. Unless one can hire an exceptional teacher on a full-time basis, a job will not be done right unless the person seeking results does it themselves.

If a kid can't be allowed to be a kid when he's young, then when?

Self-motivated education is quite compatible with being a kid. Why wouldn't it be?