thisnewday

[There's been an increasingly acrimonious dialog, in the online version of the local newspaper, over the costs, priorities, and benefits of public education. It started, as it so often does, with disparaging comments about the easy work, the time off, the princely pay that communities like our own lavish upon their public school teachers, culminating in undeservedly generous retirement benefits, etc., etc.

Lately, though, these brave, insightful, and anonymous critics of public education have turned their attention to those served by the system, attacking any program or service beyond what might be found in a typical third world country. That would include, among others, students with learning disabilities, those participating in the "Say Yes to Education" enrichment program, and local students who successfully participated in the national competition sponsored by the Society of Black Engineers.

In the following exchange, I engage a woman who attacks the girls' state championship basketball team from the North Syracuse School District. The point is, if the kids do badly at something, they and their schools and their teachers are attacked. If they do well at something, they're attacked. Even if they do nothing, they're attacked. In this case it seems especially hurtful and insidious since it's done in the guise of "helpful" adult advice.

The negative commentary is in bold typeface, with spelling and punctuation as it appeared in the article, and my response is in normal typeface.]


Play time is over, now its time to get back to work and hit the books. THAT is what is important in life and lets not lose focus on that

"Play time is over" What an incredibly condescending remark!

I'm sure these girls are well aware of their academic responsibilities, especially those whose goal it is to create educational opportunities for themselves at the next level through their participation in sports.

So, instead of being the proverbial "wet blanket," why not join in congratulating them on what they've already accomplished through a lot of hard work?

Doing so might even make your own life seem less miserable...

Don't be a poor example and one of these soccer mom's and put the "game" (which it is) above their school. Yes, its play time. It's also over with and now its time to re-focus on their education. Re-enforcing that and driving that point home is what a "GOOD" parent/adult would do!!

I'm a little too old, and definitely the wrong gender, to be a soccer mom. However I have raised four kids, all of whom participated in sports and did so as a fun and useful adjunct to their academic lives.

From that experience I know that, if you do it right, no one needs to "re-focus" after the season because participation in sports and other extracurriculars was always predicated on regular school attendance and the timely completion of assigned schoolwork.

Because of that, we never had to say, "OK, time to get back to real life," because it was all part of the same. That's how kids learn to balance their priorities and allocate their resources, including time.

And the really nice thing about doing it this way is that adults get to teach life skills without being preachy or negative or mean. They get to say things like, "Congratulations" and "We're really proud of you" and "Well done..."

LPK
LiveJournal
4.27.2011