This is the story of a public school failing to encourage the psychological, social, and emotional development of young females. There is an argument to be made that the impact on young males is similarly damaging, but, for this article, I will be focusing on the feminine aspect.
My first criticism is about a policy which was initiated by the school principal. He instituted a policy wherein students weren’t allowed to assemble in more than groups of 2, and weren’t allowed to walk and talk on the playground at recess. All children were required to be actively engaging in a game or recognized action, and were banned from just chatting together.
This policy directly targeted the female population, as evidenced by the walking-and-talking behaviour being a mostly female socialization method (with men primarily interacting through shared activities.) If this commonly recognized developmental truth is not enough evidence of this sex-based discriminatory nature of the policy, my daughter reports that the principal made an announcement to the classrooms when the ban was lifted. His announcement threatened that the ban would be reinstated if there was”any more woman drama.” There were many witnesses to this announcement.
His imposed restriction and subsequent comment were directly prohibitive to the natural development of a young female. My daughter was forced to choose which one of her several good friends she wanted to associate with for the afternoon, and was also prohibited from engaging in bonding conversation with this kind of friend. This was cause for her to experience anxiety.
My second complaint will involve my daughter’s experiences with her fifth-grade teachers. Not Boca Raton Wildlife Removal
My daughter’s original fifth grade teacher was reported by my daughter to have a very rigorous and intimidating demeanor. As a very sensitive child – and with high expectations for herself – my daughter would frequently develop a literal tummy pain from the anxiety of being concerned about pleasing him with her performance. Part of her anxiety came from listening to him single-out other children in the classroom, to be able to be humiliating public examples of them through pointing out their flaws.
In support of my daughter – both academically and psychologically – I conveyed with this instructor through email on a regular basis. I received great reports about my daughter’s performance from him. Immediately following the start of his extended departure from the classroom due to illness, however, the next quarter report card came out. The teacher had recorded a D- for my daughter’s social studies grade before he left, and had left a note that she”needs to learn to ask for help when she needs it.” This is an insulting insinuation that this teacher knows when, where, and that my daughter ought to be asking for assistance, better than my daughter knows it for herself.
There was no indication in his regular emails to me that she was in need of academic assistance. In actuality, one of his latest mails now was to let me know that my daughter had obtained one of the greatest scores on a math test. Additionally, I observed a very limited amount of social studies content in my kid’s homework. What I did see, I assisted her to finish (specifically, a PowerPoint presentation about Martin Luther King, Jr., in which I encouraged her to include a mention on women’s rights.)
The D- grade and related comment on the report card came out of left field, which is not acceptable, considering the quantity of communication transpiring between the teacher and myself up until there. The strategy employed by the instructor in this regard was a blow to my daughter’s self-esteem, which I needed to work to relieve. She was dismayed upon seeing the grade and the remark, as she had been receiving feedback that she was doing well up until that point. This tactic was unkind.
My daughter’s current long-term substitute teacher regularly and publicly expresses to pupils his dislike for our nation’s president. For instance, my daughter quotes him as saying,”I have lived through (several) presidents, and this one I dislike the most.” Disrespect for our country’s leader isn’t appropriate content for a teacher – who is in a position to influence young minds and viewpoints – to be sharing with 10-year-olds. Irrespective of our personal positions, compulsory schooling should not include political indoctrination in opposition to the President of america. My daughter also reports he raises his voice aggressively class, like by shouting”Silence!” When the class gets noisy. She, as a 10-year-old, has commented that he exhibits a”lack of control” from the classroom. She is wise enough to notice that overt aggression is a sign of internal lack of electricity.
The type of sexist, non-patriotic, competitive, and self-esteem destructive behavior listed here isn’t fitting of people in such a position.
This attendance policy aspect is the last straw in my distaste for the school clinics. I received a letter (several weeks after the post-date, due to my not retrieving my physical mail with regularity in this electronic age) saying that my daughter has too many”excused absences” and that I am required to have a doctor’s note for any future absences. I’m not sending my young daughter to college when she is not feeling well enough to attend school, either physically, mentally, or emotionally. It’s not in her best interest for me to do so, and it is imposing an unreasonable burden on a parent to be asked to go running to the doctor for a note, particularly when the parent knows full well that no doctor’s prescription is required for the ailment. I have consulted with a similarly-minded doctor about it, and am currently gathering community support to address this inability of parents to excuse their own kids without receiving harassment from the school.
Nowhere in these truancy finds is it noted that my daughter regularly goes above and beyond volunteering for school activities, and with my direct support and involvement. She has been part of the morning valet team for the past two school years. She voluntarily participated in the school science fair. She signed up to help with conducting a booth for the school carnival. She has been part of the School Safety Ambassador Club (SSA) for the past two decades, and regularly consults me ways that she could effectively encourage other students in respect to reducing bullying and increasing self-esteem. Is this the type of behavior associated with an at-risk child, in need of truancy intervention?
With the widely reported increase in violence and disruptive behavior on college campuses, and with the lack of teeth in the present school behaviour disciplinary policies, I was strongly considering enrolling my daughter in a homeschool schedule by the time she reached the 7th grade. The 5th grade experience, here, has persuaded me to begin that process as of the beginning of her next school year. There’ll not be a need for the school district to track her school attendance as of the 2018-2019 school year, as she will not be attending the school. I’m enrolling her into a schedule that better nurtures her overall development to a confident, secure, open-minded, conscientious – and female – member of society.