The middle school

moodnacreek · February 12, 2024, 01:27:07 PM

Just reading comments about how younger people can't fix anything. It is not just them. There are many reasons for this, not all bad. Ok, back when I started school it was kindergarden through 12 th grade. I waited for the bus with a girl who had a boyfriend who got a car [with dual exhaust] and I waited for the bus alone after that. My point is that in my age group we copied the big guys that had cars and guns in them. Today kids copy kids and learn a lot of useless stuff.

WV Sawmiller · February 12, 2024, 01:54:16 PM

My wife is a retired music teacher - she was the HS and MS and sometimes ES band director and taught some general music appreciation classes (which she hated). She said what made her mad was her opinion was that the MS did not teach the kids to "think". The kids memorized the material required to pass the tests but never thought about why or what it really meant.

What I consider a real shame is so many of the schools do not even bring the kids to school on the same bus. They say it is unsafe to have smaller/younger kids on the same bus with older/bigger kids. We always rode the same bus. In rural areas the kids rode the same bus because the county could not afford to run multiple trips to distant corners of the county. In some cases they would stop the bus at the ES (Grades 1-6 as we did not have any kindergarten or Pre-K) which was a few blocks from the HS campus and then the rest of us went to Jr High and HS (grade 7-12). The little kids rode with their older siblings who guided and protected them.

SawyerTed · February 12, 2024, 06:45:07 PM

I raised three, two girls and a boy. My thinking was/is if I did my job as a parent right, the bad influence of those older kids would be minimal. The good influence would be recognized by my kids.

All three (plus a DIL) are in their 30's now - they are good people I like being around and love.

moodnacreek · February 12, 2024, 07:27:05 PM

The influence from home is what you fall back on. I think we had more common sense and where more responsible because we where around older students instead of only immature children.

SwampDonkey · February 13, 2024, 05:15:37 AM

Up here we have segregation, not based on race, but language. Depending on what your mother tongue is decides which bus you take. Never seen this level of nonsense when I went to school.

There might be 3 or 4 kids on one bus and 30 on another. We all travelled on the same bus to the school yard, then you got on the bus that took you to high school or other language school. Anyone who couldn't behave had to find another ride, but there were a few parents that would fight that rule. Today I remember most of those troublesome kids as being in and out of jail for the rest of their lives. I've known the parents for years, just ordinary folk and hard workers. One never knows.

thecfarm · February 13, 2024, 05:33:17 AM

At least they ride the bus. bluesad
I delivery parts and go by the school each day. There is a steady line of vehicles going in and out. Sometimes they are out in the road because there is a long line.
I use to work at a small-town hardware store. I was shocked on how much the young ones don't know. Most did not the difference between a quarter inch and a three-quarter inch rachet. Some did not even know what a rachet is!!!
I grew up getting wrenches for my brothers.

WV Sawmiller · February 13, 2024, 10:20:07 AM

Ted,

We always said we wanted our kids to be independent and we are pleased with how they turned out. When they left home they knew how to do their own laundry and cook a basic meal or two and how to manage there money and such. They were well prepared to live on their own. We saw many kids graduate and go to college for a quarter or two and return home because they could not handle the stress, did not how to do basic skills and a big thing was they did not know how to make friends and get along.

My son met a new classmate with similar interests and they became friends, rented a trailer and later a house off campus the last couple of years of college and became close friends with a 70+ y/o neighbor who would come over every Wednesday night and eat a deer roast with them that had been simmering in the crock pot all day. My son said he'd come home from class and see a note from his roommate "I got an arrow in a big spike at my stand up on the logging road and had to go to class so please go track him up for me." and he'd go retrieve it. Or our son would leave a note "There's a 6 point hanging on the elm in the back yard. I had to go to History class so please finish skinning it." and Brian would do so. They enjoyed their time at college.

We were in the military when my kids were born and young and they learned to meet new friends quickly. The kids from here in rural WV grew up with the same friends and were part of little cliques and did not learn to make new and other friends and could not adapt. They were a big fish in a little pond but when they were cast into the ocean they were lost.

Donkey,

I assume you mean they ran different schools for French vs English speaking kids. I think that is a good lesson for us when folks want to have different national languages and national anthems and such that we need to preserve our rich and diverse cultures but strive to unify our citizens around one language, one flag, one national anthem, one set of laws, etc.

SawyerTed · February 13, 2024, 12:50:00 PM

It's not surprising that some young people fail to launch successfully, with helicopter parenting styles that have been common the last two or three decades.

I went to a high school in a community like you describe Howard. Several of my classmates who graduated ahead of me didn't make it through their first year at UNC, NCSU and Appalachian State University. In high school they were the big fish in a small pond you describe but lacked the protections of their parents when they reached the big pond.

It wasn't until I exhausted all my avenues to solve a problem that my folks may or may not have gotten involved. More times than I appreciated at the time, my folks would allow me to fail, be disappointed or they'd let me know I was wrong. Later on I was able to stand on my own before some of those classmates launched.

Oth · February 13, 2024, 02:20:38 PM

I'm worried about sending my kids to school when they get old enough. School issued Chromebooks seems like a recipe for how not to think for yourself. We're teaching our young people that technology should be a crutch instead of a lever.

Ianab · February 13, 2024, 06:04:03 PM

Quote from: Oth on February 13, 2024, 02:20:38 PMI'm worried about sending my kids to school when they get old enough. School issued Chromebooks seems like a recipe for how not to think for yourself. We're teaching our young people that technology should be a crutch instead of a lever.

Not sure i agree there. Learning how to use technology and the Internet effectively (AND Safely) is now one of the more important life skills to have. Pretty much ANY job is going to involve some level of computer use at times. If you want to be a mechanic now you best know how to hook up a laptop to a vehicle, and use the Internet for service info and ordering parts.

We have resisted buying Chromebooks for the girls as they already have access to desktops / laptops / tablets at home, they didn't NEED another device, so Taylor (year 7) gets to use one of the shared classroom units. Lara is Year 13 (final year of high school here) and although the specified machine there is a Windows Laptop, she prefers her Android Tablet for school use. They are both pretty tech savvy now, and easily switch devices.

On the more hands on skills, this picture was from Lara's school last week.

One of 2 complete houses built by students over the course of the year. The course is basically 1/2 time regular school, and 1/2 building apprenticeship. Pass that and pretty much walk into a job, with ~6 months off the apprenticeship. Houses have been sold to finance the ones to be built this year. The school still has full wood and metal shops, although CAD stations and 3D printers have been added. (And fabric / food tech).

We try not to be helicopter parents, possibly to the extent of being too hands off at times, but Lara has great social skills, good friends group. She's going to need some bigger lapels on her school blazer if she gets any more merit / leadership awards this year. She's also off overseas (Cook Islands) for a week to do a Young Leaders course, something she has basically organised herself.