Public schools

Tom, this whole country is going downhill, but at least the newer generations can say they fell good as they go down with it. ;)

Patty Cakes Said: I went to Catholic Schools in NYC , 12 years. When you bring large amount of children together, you will have scirmages. I personally was never envolved with fights. Today it is now bullying. Horrible. Repeating myself, power in numbers. It is false enumeration. It can happen anywhere public or private. I dont think it makes a differnce.

My early youth was in Scotland, teachers ruled the roost with leather belts. If anyone stepped out of line we were punished in front of the class and got the strap. It was legal then. I dont agree with physical punishment but it kept us all in line. Yes as kids we all have our battles but today the battles are brutal. Punch the guy in the face , you dont have to shoot them, you dont have to rally others to be abusive. This bullying thing is becomeing a fad. The thing to do. I feel very sorry for any child experiencing it. PC

That explains some things then! My wife came out of one of those nuneries too. Whenever you get an escapee from a nunnery, you have one wild woman on your hands!

I went to Catholic Schools in NYC , 12 years. When you bring large amount of children together, you will have scirmages. I personally was never envolved with fights. Today it is now bullying. Horrible. Repeating myself, power in numbers. It is false enumeration. It can happen anywhere public or private. I don't think it makes a differnce.

My early youth was in Scotland, teachers ruled the roost with leather belts. If anyone stepped out of line we were punished in front of the class and got the strap. It was legal then. I don't agree with physical punishment but it kept us all in line. Yes as kids we all have our battles but today the battles are brutal. Punch the guy in the face , you don't have to shoot them, you don't have to rally others to be abusive. This bullying thing is becomeing a fad. The thing to do. I feel very sorry for any child experiencing it. PC

wywoody Said: st hired her as a tutor.

I realize that quality and perceptions of public schools varies across the country. I often hear conservative talkers belittle a public school education. My daughter worked in Virginia and her coworkers there were surprised that she was both smart and educated in public schools. But the kids in public schools are your nieghbors. If your kids are too good to go to school with them why would you live among them?

You've drawn the wrong conclusion.

People talk about the decline of public schools because we want them to change and to be come responsible educators. We want them to leave politics out of their policies and just TEACH! If we can't talk about the problems in the school systems, how will we ever fix it?

We don't need less talk about it, we need more talk about it. Talking about it doesn't mean we "think our kids are too good to got to ....."

FYI I attended both public and private schools in my youth. I coached varsity and jv soccer at a public school. It was my observation that in my youth, the teachers ruled the roost. Now, the students have the upper hand.

We live in a financially challenged school didtrict (high % of renters vs homeowners who actually live in the distict.) My 3rd grader was bullied, so we pulled him out and sent him to the best school in his district (academics and better social opportunities).

In the 4th grade he was heavily bullied in his new school. We then transfered him to a "new school district" that has a real good anti-bullying program. 2 months in and he is doing great!

I realized that it did not matter weather the district was financially challenged or not....it is the districts philosopy that failed the students.

When a district looses ground...it is difficult to regain a foothold. Your going to have bullying in schools wether public or private...Its the schools philosophy that makes a difference

I'm a believer in public schools, I attended them, my kids attended them. But they are not all equal. If the prices were the same, I would buy the worst house in a good district before I would buy the nicest house in a bad district. Kids need to learn how to deal with the real world and they get exposed to it in public scools.

My kids got an excellent start with the Vancouver public schools. My son went on to get degrees from Johns Hopkins SAIS and Wharton Business School. My daughter scored so high on the MSAT that the company that administers the test hired her as a tutor.

I realize that quality and perceptions of public schools varies across the country. I often hear conservative talkers belittle a public school education. My daughter worked in Virginia and her coworkers there were surprised that she was both smart and educated in public schools. But the kids in public schools are your nieghbors. If your kids are too good to go to school with them why would you live among them?

I can sympathize with you, Tom about how schools evolve with changing demographics. One of the schools I went to in the suburbs of East Portland now has a majority of hispanic students. When I went there, it was a token school, we had a token black, a token Mexican, a token Phillipino, even a token midget. But when you go around the old neighborhood it still seems majority white, but then you notice that most of the whites are too old to have schoolage children and the Mexicans all have large families.

I went to public schools. My wife went to Catholic schools. They've all changed....We've looked at them all....The "PC"/liberal/progressive, (whatever one wants to call it), has infected and taken over, pretty-much, the entire educational envioronment.

Our boys did attend a smnall montessori school up til a couple years ago, so entering the public school system has been a trying experience, to say the least....They were leaps & bounds ahead,(several grade levels), in their respective age/grades, however have been subjected to a very slow-paced/remedial experience these last couple of yrs. The focus has not been academia,(is that a word?), but rather "tolerance"/feel-good/everybody's a winner garbage....And teaching our kids to speak Mexican, (I say Mexican, because they're not teaching proper Spanish, but rather conversational/slang Mex/Spanish), rather than teaching the spawn of the illegals to speak English....There, I said it...Some would take that as racist. It's not. It's simply the truth.

The educators, in particualr the administators, are completely out-of-touch and continue to head in the absolute wrong direction in my opinion. As an example; Very early in his public school experience, my son had to subdue an attacker. Actually, in all fairness, I will say that particular principle did respect my son's position of "not going with the herd mentallity". However, one of the faculty had said that, "physical violence is not tolerated here"....I responded by referring to my son's previous school whereas no one ever hit anyone, due to the fact they new if they hit someone, more than likely they'd get the same, or worse, in return....Therefore you had mutual respect, and quite frankly, there was far less physical violence, than we were experiencing in this public school, where kids were demonized for defending themselves! They not only tolerated it, they encouraged it, as there was no consequences for the perp!

Sorry for the rant....

Sorry TomB, your topic was schools, I got distracted. I never went to public schools , don't know what to say on that. PC

Here is the difference. We grew up in a different age. You guys would swing it out behind the school or in the alley. I would bet you had rifles/shotguns in your vehicles, knife in your pocket, never thought of using them. Right? Today with this new weapon of technology, the bravery comes from not being face to face. We all know power comes in numbers. To go one on one with someone takes attitude & courage. It's a new world folks, we have to learn to deal with it, it will not go away. I'm not making an excuse but a reality. I have grandkids going through this. I do my best to supervise. I have no problem getting in someones face if necessary. Old School sorry to take your name but I am Old School. PC

I believe the key word there is "public" schools What else do you expect. It is government indoctrination pure and simple.

WE are trying home schooling ourselves.........as are many many parents in IN