Who remembers the days of Roger Staubach, Jim Brown, and Joe Montana? Are those days gone? Today the NFL seems to be consumed with domestic abusers; drunks, child abusers, animal abusers, and head hunters. In other words plain old Thugs. Yes we still have the Peyton Mannings, Marshawn Lynch's, and Reggie Waynes but these other types of players seem to be the rule now instead of the exception. The crazy hair hanging out of the helets is on the rise. The cocky celebrations after a score or big hit are happening all over. The vicious hits well after the play looking to maim the opponents rather then just get him down are the mantra of some teams and players.
Fans are fed up and are starting to turn off their sets and not going to games. What's scary is that it's just not in football. Watch an NBA or NHL game & you'll see some of these behaviors. Even our national past time is being affected. It all goes back to the lack of character being displayed in some of our youth programs. Recently we benched 3 players for a prank they played in their middle school. Our coach was questioned by some for the benching . People said that since we are a youth team and not a school team, the boys shouldn't be punished for something that happened in school. It's that kind of attitude that is allowing our youth to display similar behaviors as the pros. We need to send a clear message of what we expect and will tolerate from our professional athletes as well as all those in the public eye as well as ourselves. Enough is Enough.
Monday, December 22, 2014
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Schools Can't Save Our Kids
Recently I spoke with a young father. He told me how he regretted not being able to go over his kindergartener's homework with him because his wife did that before he got home from work. But he made sure that every night he would read with his son before putting him to bed. He shared with me how his son was beginning to recognize words . He was so proud. Then today I read a Letter to the Editor which stated that the United States students ranked between 15th and 22nd in various subjects world wide. The writer went on to blame our national government with interferring too much. The Common Core was to blame and that the states should be allowed to decided what is best for the students in their states.
I retired a few years ago after over 30 years teaching, coaching, and administering in public education. I still substitute teach and supervise education interns, future teachers. And I'm here to tell you that until we address nationally what is going on in homes across the nation to support our children's education, what schools can do is never going to be enough. Today schools offer Before School Programs, After School Programs, Mentor Programs, Free & Reduced Breakfast Programs, Free & Reduced Lunch Programs, and in some cases Dinner Programs, just to name a few. The Common Core was implemented to try and assure that students everywhere received the same basic education. It's implementation may have flaws but the general concept is a good one.
I substituted in one first grade classroom a multitude of times. This teacher, like most I come across these days, was doing a fantastic job with her students. However some were flourishing, some were holding their own, while others couldn't even write their own name by year's end. Each student in her class had a "Go Home" Folder where daily work and notes were placed for the child's parent/guardians to look over, comment on, and remove from the folder. In May, there were still students who's folders were jam packed. Nothing had been looked over. Was it surprising that those were the students who still could not write their names. What is learned in school, needs to be reinforced at home.
The young kindergartener mentioned earlier will be successful. He comes from a home where education is nurtured. What he learns in school is supported and talked about at home. Until we can assure that all children have a similar home environment, we will continue to fall short.
I retired a few years ago after over 30 years teaching, coaching, and administering in public education. I still substitute teach and supervise education interns, future teachers. And I'm here to tell you that until we address nationally what is going on in homes across the nation to support our children's education, what schools can do is never going to be enough. Today schools offer Before School Programs, After School Programs, Mentor Programs, Free & Reduced Breakfast Programs, Free & Reduced Lunch Programs, and in some cases Dinner Programs, just to name a few. The Common Core was implemented to try and assure that students everywhere received the same basic education. It's implementation may have flaws but the general concept is a good one.
I substituted in one first grade classroom a multitude of times. This teacher, like most I come across these days, was doing a fantastic job with her students. However some were flourishing, some were holding their own, while others couldn't even write their own name by year's end. Each student in her class had a "Go Home" Folder where daily work and notes were placed for the child's parent/guardians to look over, comment on, and remove from the folder. In May, there were still students who's folders were jam packed. Nothing had been looked over. Was it surprising that those were the students who still could not write their names. What is learned in school, needs to be reinforced at home.
The young kindergartener mentioned earlier will be successful. He comes from a home where education is nurtured. What he learns in school is supported and talked about at home. Until we can assure that all children have a similar home environment, we will continue to fall short.
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