Education and Today's Youth

Back in my day, education was important. My brother and I were cared for by a single mother who had strong feelings about the importance of getting a high school diploma. Schoolwork was just important as doing your chores. My mother made sure of that before we went outside to play or watch the television. Children today are addicted to social media and cell phones. As teenagers, we didn't have cell phones or social media sites to roam. The only things that fascinated people were the beepers. Most kids today don't even go to school regularly. The graduation rates here in town have gone down by 70% more than years earlier. Many children are walking around in the neighborhood when they should be inside the classrooms learning. The city put in a curfew that if students were not going to be in school, they shouldn't be on campus grounds walking around disrupting the learning of outer students who want to learn. The schools are out more during the year for students today than back in my day. There are federal holidays, spring break, and fall breaks. In junior high school, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday wasn't even a holiday. The principal would play the "I Have a Dream" speech over the intercom before our first-period class. We only had the spring break during March. Today children have a week off for fall break during the second for the third week in October. It puzzles me why children don't want to attend school daily. Children are out of school far more today than when I was growing up. I place most of the blame on the parents. If some of them would take an interest in what their child is doing when it comes to their learning, this problem wouldn't even hardly exist. The PTA meeting was a big thing when I was growing up. Parents would have a day after school to talk to their child's teacher to see how they were doing in school. My mother was a faithful member of the PTA when we were in school. She was always involved in all school and after-school activities. Children today get mailed their progress reports every nine weeks to show parents how their children are progressing in school. There was no nine-week progress report when we attended school. At the end of the six weeks, report cards went home with the student. Teachers made certain that parents saw their children's grades because they had to sign the card before bringing them back to school the next day. I can remember taking my boys to school listening to parents cussing out teachers. They were upset because their child had gotten into trouble. That's why parent and teacher conferences are so important o these types of situations won't get out of control. This parent was escorted off the school grounds by police officers for being disruptive. I'm sure this was an embarrassment for the child involved. Being a parent that talks with my son's teachers are important to me. We can both work together to find the strength and weaknesses of the children and help them together. Every parent needs to be more involved with their children's learning. Social media platforms are a large part of society today. Children have iPhones, Ipads laptops, and personal computers. I believe children stay on social media more than going to school. Social media platforms are the main link to cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a negative effect of social media. It causes significant emotional and psychological distress on the child who is the target of being bullied. Cyberbullying is used to harm and harass a person by others posting negative comments about them online. Children start to experience fear, low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies. Bryanna Pickens, a thirteen old student from Lacrosse Junior High, was bullied for three months. Her parents moved because of her father's job to a new junior high school. Bryanna had alopecia, a condition that causes the hair to fall out. Bryanna ended up taking he own life one Friday afternoon. Her mother found her inside the bathroom with both of her wrists slashed. When I saw this on the evening news, it brought tears to my eyes. Another life cut down before she could've lived because of something so senseless. During the pandemic, many schools went to remote learning. Parents felt a lot safer with their kids being home and still being taught the school lessons. My youngest son has multiple disabilities, and learning from home is the best for him. My friend Pamela homeschools all five of her children. K-12 digital learning has become popular here in town since the beginning of Covid. Education is a critical part of our children's lives. It teaches them values that will help through throughout their lives. I enjoyed going to school when I was younger. Learning new things was so exciting. Crime rates have risen so much during these last five years. Children need structure in their lives to teach them to be more responsible. When a child has too much time on their hands, their bound to get into mischief. One summer back in 2005, ten students went to the school bus yard and vandalized the buses. The children thought this terrible act would delay the school from reopening. What they didn't know was the school shop had cameras all around. Their parents were responsible for fixing the damage to the buses. Since the bus damage, the mayor of our small town has built many after-school programs for children's entertainment. The local police department contributes their time in the afternoon to help children become better citizens. The police alliance helps with the purchases of backpacks and the Christmas toys for tots program. Children today have better opportunities than we did back then. Children can get training in their fields of study. If a child wants to go into the medical field, they can get full on-the-job experience. The children can go a couple of hours a week to the local hospital to learn nursing, respiratory therapy, occupational therapy. Today youth has more opportunities than we did yesterday. Only if they take full advantage of their education will they ever achieve full greatness.