Education Reform Thread

[mallister]

This was my middle school. I was beaten unconscious during lunch break by a 16 year old that was still in the 8th grade.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/assistant...215356014.html

Doesn't seem like much has changed.

[Ksandra]

If there are fewer than ten kids in the class, high chance that is a sped student.

[Malithar]

Bit of a bump without any meaningful news, but this felt like the best thread for this question.

I'm a relatively new step dad (3 years) and the oldest daughter is finally going to middle school. They've been back in school for 3~ weeks and she's been very vocal about how much she hates it. They left school today and apparently there's now a message being shared between all their social groups of someone with a redacted name claiming that "tomorrow is the day, don't come to school if you value your life." Multiple parents in the area have already reported it to the police and they're aware of it, but there's been no further direction or information.

She's asking to stay home from school though, claiming many others kids are getting to stay home, and I just feel like such a piece of shit with my thoughts on it. There's a big part of me that remembers the dumb stuff kids would say when I was in school. Whether they were just trying to get clout, make a fuss, cause a scene, be disruptive in general, etc. I guess I just don't know how credible something like that should be taken. In my mind, they could get out of so much school if they stay home each time something like that is said. And if you allow it once, what's going to happen when you're not consistent with them and make them go next time? At what point do you draw the line? Do you never draw the line and keep them home anytime something like that is said? Then what do you do if that one time you said no it turned out to be real?

I guess I'm just kinda curious what other parents' thoughts are on all the school shootings and how to address it as a parent. I'm really just not sure.

[Byrthnoth]

Idk, but my gut would be to develop a cabal of reasonable parents (probably eventually your kid's friends' parents) and decide as a group.

[kuronosan]

We usually talk to other parents.

[arus2001]

Let her stay home. As much as I feel attendance mandates are bullshit and just one of those examples of corporate conditioning, the reality is a student isn't going to be missing any major educational content this early in a school year that can't be caught up on, let alone in middle school. This isn't a "she needs to grow a thicker skin" thing. This is her being aware that this country is fucked up and a threat has been perceived regardless of it being a joke in bad taste or not. You either value her mental health or become the asshole step-dad, or worse if it's true. Whether it's the threat of shootings, bombs, or some other method, abuse of that fear can be handled when/if it actually happens. Better safe than sorry, and honestly worth prying more into why she hates it there. Sometimes a school is a bad fit for a kid in general, as I personally experienced before transferring 6th grade.

[kuronosan]

And if you send her and something happens the regret you'll feel will never go away.

[Malithar]

Thanks for the input. It's new for my girlfriend as well because none of them had this experience in elementary school. We talked to other parents and it was hit and miss. Some kinda had my original view, others had the take that any mention of a threat is credible. I'm honestly still lost in my feelings on it. Personally, it's not the belief that she'll miss out on important school or that 100% attendance is key or anything. I just get taken back to my young days when I'd feign being sick to try and get out of school, even though (at least for me) it didn't work. I guess there's a part of me that thinks any mention of a threat equaling a free day off is setting up for abuse.

I suppose this is something we'll have to learn to deal with. She was allowed to stay home today, but nothing came of it. I dunno if it's because whoever made the threat sucked at it or if the police/school were on point, but an arrest was already made last night. The school put out a notice at like 10 last night but we didn't really know what to believe, felt a bit unbelievable that they caught someone within hours, but news in the area was reporting it this morning. It ended up being a 5th grader (same grade as her) from a different school in the area.

[arus2001]

Something to keep in mind is that most of us didn't have social media as it exists now when we were growing up. Sure, I had AOL chat rooms, but finding anyone who lived within 30 miles of me was probably a Herculean task, and even the emergence of stuff like MySpace or little baby Facebook didn't move the needle all that much. While all this can be a venue for persistent cyberbullying, it's still a method where they're remaining connected and aware both in their primary circles and more tangential ones. Fear may not be as overt as a kid saying they're gonna gun down their school, but if some are seeing a guy is liking/sharing lots of right-wing hate rhetoric, Tate shit, and doomer vids, it's gonna instill a vibe that someone probably can't be trusted even if they might just be "the quiet one" in the classroom. You also can't pretend every parent is good and responsible, which can range from them not knowing what their kids are doing to simply being lax on firearm storage. The parents that just want to assume their kids are perfect and ignore any and all signs of distress are an issue of their own.

Having helped raised 5 of my siblings' kids at this point, 3 of which have graduated high school by now, there are times I've had to have these uneasy talks with them when just babysitting, driving them somewhere, or whatever. 2 of my 3 sisters I can't really anticipate to be forward thinking, so they'd fall more into the "bad parent" category for misc reasons. I still can't personally shake Columbine because not long after a friend was accused of having a hit list and bullied out of the school district despite it being a lie and later publicly retracted in the news. Said friend being "weird" for the time between allergies and likely being undiagnosed on the spectrum, the whole topic hit me in a different way when I thought I could talk to a teacher I trusted about it and he more or less lol'd me out the door because he couldn't really grasp that this was the beginning of a pandemic or that it couldn't possibly happen here. And that's more or less what every school thinks until it has. Seeing the GOP chasing turning schools into prisons has always felt like the wrong move, and we can't pretend kids aren't aware of the reason. It's also grossly unfair to be expecting teachers to double as soldiers. Regardless, we all know the US' response to gun violence of all kinds has been woefully inadequate.

Either way, main thing is to just focus on what you can do to make them feel safe. It may inconvenience you from time to time or you may not 100% agree with them, but that's just a part of parenting. Arguably, it's probably harder for boys at the moment since we've still got splits on whether or not they're allowed to have feelings and be public about them, but toxic masculinity, amirite?

[Mertron]

hey siri, remind me again which students brought that affirmative action lawsuit

https://x.com/ok_post_guy/status/183...597715674?s=46

[synistar]

Rename the thread "Education Regression Thread." Oklahoma ready to go all in under the planned dismantling of the Dept of Education.

https://kfor.com/news/oklahoma-educa...-of-education/

https://sde.ok.gov/sites/default/fil...0Education.pdf

Protecting Patriotism in Curriculum: Schools are pressured to teach books that undermine
American values and ignore the truth about American history. By removing federal
overreach, states can make sure students learn a patriotic curriculum that respects our
country and honors our shared heritage.

[Emphasis]

I hope this new era doesn't go after programs like Khan Academy and such, and that they stay under the radar.

[Ksandra]

I read trumps page on what he wants to do to education and I am so disheartened. Even if 5% of that happens, it’s going to have long lasting effects.

I am panicking because I legit think I may need to get out of education, but don’t know what I can do for a living that won’t mean a pay cut.

I need to figure it out though in case I need to jump ship.

[Cantih]

I hope this new era doesn't go after programs like Khan Academy and such, and that they stay under the radar.

Real talk, if the DoE goes down, an entire quality comprehensive preK-12 curriculum needs to go up digitally. (also PBS or similar content, Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, etc, needs to be made permanently available for free.)
We need to develop a non cheatable testing and certification system.
The process needs to work with as little human teaching as possible because it will still be necessary, but decent teachers that aren't bought up by private schools for the rich, are going to have to be able to serve a lot of students while getting by on donations/costs of what those families can afford.

And if/when we're sure it's good, we need to make it be as required as a High School diploma. And considering the state of the electorate, we probably need to have every adult run through it too to get the certification.

[Ayn]

Yes; can speak from experience on that parallel.

[Cantih]

Yep, managing retail is managing children.

[Malithar]

Managing/teaching children should carry over to just about any management or training position I'd think. I'm in banking as an officer and much of my feedback has to be delivered like I'm talking to a child.

[Roranora]

i was a high-performing linkshell officer for years and some fancy resume firm removed it, pfff

[Ksandra]

higher ed lmao

but forreals, experience is experience. you could pretty easily spin classroom experience into a whole host of management experience.

This would be a step up from teaching, but I am an AP now.

I’d have to find a manager job that makes $110k a year.

Possible for sure, I just have to decide if I want to do something like that.

[archibaldcrane]

Most educational decisions are at the local/state level, not the feds. You'll probably be able to muddle through the next 4 years just fine.

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