Why Won't the Teacher Raise My Child - the great question from parents to the public schools

I have a story to tell. When I was a kid, in middle school specifically, I had a particularly wonderful English teacher. He gave me my love of poetry, and it was his class that helped push me to continue my writing. This teacher was a tall, mild-mannered man who genuinely cared about his students. His assignments were unique, and they honed writing and critical thinking skills. I continued to go back and visit this teacher when I was a high school student.

Several years after I had this teacher, a friend's younger sister got his class. Running into this friend's family several months in the school year, I was shocked to hear her mother bash this teacher. Her complaint? "He just can't keep order in that classroom. He doesn't get them to sit down and listen."

I was floored. In a child-centric society, it seems we have forgotten that the responsibility to teach children to sit down, shut up, and respect authority lies with parents. This man went to school to become a teacher - not to be a father to children whose own fathers are either absent or ineffective. A teacher should be judged on his or her ability to teach, not on their ability to raise 30 children that belong to other people.

Once upon a time, children were expected to file into the classroom neatly and sit at their desks quietly, especially once the teacher walked in.  This man taught middle school English, not Kindergarten.  If a 12 year old walks into a classroom raising hell and disrespecting authority figures,  the fault does not lie with the public schools. Parents need to instill proper public behavior in their children. Despite what Hillary Clinton says, it does not take a village to raise a child. It takes responsible, mature parents who invest time making sure that their dog isn't better trained than their 12 year old.

Michelle Edwards Should Be Expelled

I hate to advocate making an example out of anyone, but why is it that we have a society where suggesting women may not be as good at math as men (think Larry Summers) is a horrible crime, and suggesting shooting your teacher in the face is just a childish mistake? The rampant rate of threats and violence in the schools will not stop until we show students that there are very real consequences for threatening violence.

A mature, stable individual would not even react so hatefully to a 93. A death threat shouldn't have crossed Michelle Edward's mind if she got a 33.

Why send a teacher to this girl's house? This is rewarding her for threatening her teacher. Now she gets to stay in the comfort of her own home while schmucky tax payers foot the bill for her to get private, one-on-one instruction that other students do not. Apparently, if you want a better education and the the freedom to study in your living room, all you need to do is talk about shooting your teacher. This system is rewarding Michelle Edwards for what she did.

Perhaps the biggest problem evident in this situation is Michelle Edward's father. Rather than apologizing profusely for his daughter's behavior, punishing her, and showing some sign of shame, he tries to excuse her. He might not have a daughter who writes about shooting her teacher if his reaction to her wrongdoings wasn't to find every excuse in the book as to why she shouldn't be punished. If someone else's child was threatening to shoot him on Facebook or any other public forum, he wouldn't think it was puerile venting.

Welcome to my blog!

As a product of public schools and the family member of a teacher, I've decided to start this blog in the hopes of getting people to reconsider the current educational system in the public schools. Everything from the pros of corporal punishment in schools to the utter waste in the school budget to teacher pay will be discussed. Feel free to comment and join in the discussion!