It is hard to listen to the news and not hear about our failing school system, poor teachers and any number of ideas to deal with the problem. What you don’t hear about is the real problem. While teachers may be good, bad or mediocre, they may burn out over time and some may be less than motivated, is that the essence of the problem? Are teachers that much different from fifty years ago?
What is different are the families that send kids to school.
For example:
About 40% of children born in America are born to a single mother. This leads to many problems affecting the children.
How many children are coping with divorced parents?
Children spend endless hours watching television and playing video games or texting.
Many children come home to an empty house.
A high priority for our children (and their parents) is to be involved in numerous sports or other activities, all of which takes time after school.
Parents, rather than supporting teachers, find it easier to blame them for their children’s failings. “I demand my child be in AP classes!”
In other words, like too much today, it is easier to find a scapegoat rather than take responsibility.
I understand that the American family never reflected Ozzie and Harriet or Father Knows Best or even Life With Father (if you remember that you must be 60 plus). However, neither did it historically reflect today’s all too often dysfunctional “family.” We changed the role of women in the family, then created a society where two adults had to work, first to gain all the “necessities” of life but eventually simply to make ends meet. We created an economy based on unaffordable (think credit) demand and demand based on two incomes.
Somewhere along the way priorities changed and children became external pieces of the family in many cases adding to the make ends meet spiral by adding childcare costs to family expenses. Yes, today many mothers have to work, but why and how did we get to this state?
Regardless, the changed family structure has an impact on schools through less parent involvement in everything from bake sales ( sans anything made with peanuts of course) to teacher conferences and back to school nights not to mention monitoring and helping with homework on a daily basis.
I recall a story I heard from a teacher about parent who was called into school because of the poor performance if her six-year-old. In front of the child she said,” I don’t have time for this, I’m going to school myself at night.” Now there is an example to set. No doubt the child’s problems were the fault of the school.
I fully realize that the problem facing education in the US is not as simple as I make it appear. However, to say the problem lies solely with the schools and the teachers as politicians make it appear is ludicrous.
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