Back to School Blues

It's that time of year again. The hustle and bustle has picked up as parents rush to purchase school clothes and supplies and teachers make a mad dash to get classrooms ready. The excitement is high as a new year begins.

The first day has come and gone and now has the first week. Traffic is in full force and the honeymoon is over. Kids are no longer putting on happy faces and teachers are seemingly frustrated as behaviors are on the rise. I have already been to three schools this week, one ARD meeting and talked to two different counselors. None of these in regards to my own children of course.

In my rose colored world all children are doing what they need to do to learn and everyone everywhere is getting a quality, well rounded education. In my world all children have the same opportunities regardless of where they come from, how much their parents make and where they live. In my world children learn and are taught useful information and not just how to pass a test. My world if full of hope and encouragement, nurturing and structure. In my world all children are equal.

My world is not reality. Children are the victims of funding, economic status, and government officials who don't know the first thing about being a teacher. As the school year gets a running start it isn't so hard for me to understand why a time that was once full of excitement and new beginnings is nothing more than a drudgery.

It's impossible to expect kids to do what they are supposed to do when we continue to fail them as a society. Why should they be passionate and motivated about learning when we have sucked the life out of our teachers and taken away the right to actually teach our kids. Instead lets pump them full of pills, dump them in school and raise hell when they aren't transformed into little perfect packages.

It seems to me like we have made things the way they are and if we ourselves did not have a direct hand in it we certainly didn't stand up and fight when these decisions were being made. Now what? Where do we go from here and who and how are we going to clean up this mess?