Yes Things Are Really This Bad in Public Schools.

 I didn't write this, but I agree with much of what this self-admitted leftwing teacher says. Schools are out of control and everything is predicated on race, diversity, intersectionality-in short everything except teaching children how to read, write, do math, understand basic science and relate to our shared American and Global historical events. 

Just Read it. Then share it.

And Again....this time Santa Fe, TX.

I look at these shootings and shake my head. 
I look at my students and I shake my head.
Situations which used to be resolved with shouting or a fistfight are now resolved with online bullying and deadly violence.

What happened?

First, as of 2011, more than half of teens had cell phones. Parents bought them in fear, ignoring the side issues of clandestine friends and activities. For some reason parents thought that in an active shooter situation, a cell phone would keep their children magically safe. Is that magical thinking or what? Cell phones are now drifting down to elementary levels, opening up an entire world where not only can they call for help, but predators can find them without their parents knowing. Want proof? Read:
Student abducted from high school

What is horrendous about this story is that the girl's family had moved her to a new school because she was going to testify against a sexual predator who had victimized her while she babysat his children. She had her information on her phone including her internet access. The predator pretended to be a cute guy at her new school who wanted to meet her for a cup of coffee after school. She didn't tell her parents because kids often hide such things from parents. She waited until the crowds thinned after school and got into the car that drove up without looking. It was the predator who raped and killed her. Her parents had no idea she was meeting anyone because teenager use their phones as walls to prevent parents from seeing their real lives.

These stories go on with bullying and suicides, drug deals and sordid parties. One kid had an affair with a teacher and although there was plenty of evidence, he was a high ranking athlete and the parents didn't want his phone history used for fear it would reveal drugs use that would eliminate those hefty athletic scholarships. Had he not been stupid and posted his entire text messages on social media where his girlfriend found it and printed it off, sending a copy to the principal, nobody would have been the wiser. He hid it all on a phone.

I find kids secretly trying to charge phones in my classroom all the time. When one student had hers stolen, the parents tried to blame the teacher-me. After that a couple of times I found phones and upon trying to find out who they belonged to, saw a desktop image that included provocative and borderline salacious photos of one of my students. At that point we have to include the FBI and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children to assure them these images, which are now in a database in Washington DC, are not of a kidnapped and exploited child. Images like that from dumb little girls are bought and sold on the Internet daily. Their parents probably bought them phones to keep them safe. I guess they never read about Pandora. So now I don't even look, I just turn in the phone and leave someone higher up the food chain to make those calls. 

My seven year old grandson knows how to get to the internet and access game sites that he should not be using. If a child that young can get that far away, then what are older kids doing? We already know that texting has eroded the ability to hold conversations- which may be why people spend far too much time yelling at each other on Twitter. We know that too many kids think that "getting famous on YouTube" is a viable career path. And many of them are willing to do literally anything to become famous or infamous. This is a very dangerous path when a kid can buy the supplies and find the instructions for making a bomb courtesy of Reddit or any anarchist site. And if you don't think Antifa is part of that "freedom", think again because I hear their platitudes expressed almost hourly.

So what is my point? My point is we are bombarding young brains with a Wild West of technology without having properly prepared them for its use. As a result they are open to all kind of abuse. If some dirty old man pretending to be a teenaged boy can convince a 15 year old to send him nude photos, is it really that outrageous to think that a shy teen immersed in violent games, movies and imagery could be desensitized enough of other people's humanity to blur the lines between violent games and violent reality? I'm not making excuses, but we are seeing an escalation and now it's not about just guns because this kid studied Columbine's methodology and tried to build effective IED's. You don't buy those at Cabela's. 

This is the endgame of a mantra of "don't judge." We're supposed to not have absolutes and to blindly accept ever aberration regardless of how menacing or strange. 
Why did nobody ask why this kid was wearing a treanch coat in Texas spring heat? 
Why did nobody ask why Cruz had the police at his house 30+ times?
Why do we still not know the content of the minutes of the Newtown shooter's last ARD?
Why is the Vegas case being buried?
Why did the Aurora shooter's parents move three states away and why did college officials suggest rather than mandate therapy?
It goes on and on and on and the bottom line is that political correctness, those gut instinct that tell us to duck when a missile is coming, have been eliminated from our kids. Instead they cling to cell phones like pontoons ignoring that their very lack of attention may be giving these attackers a chance to act. 

So what can be done?
First. kids under the age of 15 don't need full internet access on their phones or at home, Period.
Second, we need to spend at least one tenth of what we don on athletics on making schools safer.
Third, students don't get to duck out and say they don't want to cooperate with security measures. I have to fight every day just to get kids to wear a photo ID. Whether it is clear backpacks, limited parking, no off school lunch, wearing uniforms or whatever-it should be stressed that this is for security and that those who won't cooperate will be removed.
Fourth, out high schools are too big in the name of competitive sports, performing arts and such. It's time for schools to be small enough that counselors, teachers and administrators know them.
Fifth, we need to start recognizing that not all kids are academic. We need to offer them a way out-whether it's dual credit or vocational programs they enjoy. We need to make schools be a place for kids from all kinds of backgrounds.
And finally, we have to go back against the ADA and stop allowing seriously mentally ill kids to be mainstreamed into classes where they disrupt and victimize at will. In most cases, not this one but most, the increasing delusions of the seriously psychotic occur as they reach the end of adolescence. I've had kids like this-kids who have histories of violence, who have spent time in mental health wards, who are on thorazine and it's ridiculous that they are in regular schools under the guise of being fair.

Why Meddling With Enrollment to Ensure Outcomes Doesn't Work

Over 1000 elite colleges now don't use SAT scores as part of the criteria for admission. This was ostensibly done to increase minority enrollment (I'm guessing illiterate enrollment mainly), but as with all things, there are unintended consequences.

Here's the story and research: Story Here

Validating Mediocrity

My district has begun a new initiative. Rather than penalizing students for using phones in class, we will now celebrate them. We are supposed to allow phones, cameras, Ipads, Ipods, laptops and all other kinds of gizmos, gadgets and gewgaws to be accessed for the concept of what is labeled as "deeper understanding." In talking to teachers in other districts, this initiative seems just as trendy as Whole Language was back in the day. In short, someone has attended a seminar which has promised to solve all problems and insure good test scores. The words a teacher fears most is "The Board has been to a seminar." It's a precursor for all kinds of mischief under the guise of improvement.

Don't get me wrong. I like technology. I have a smart phone, a laptop and courtesy of a grant, all sorts of scanners, printers, cameras and digital devices. I understand that the kids in school today are not like those even five years ago. They have been steeped in the stew of digitalism from birth. And that's not a bad thing. But it is also a type of placating act to simply throw up one's hands and let them rule the school with their electronic things.

What disturbs me the most is the varying messages we get from administration. Last year there was a fine for having a cell phone. I got griped at for letting my AP students listen to music on the Ipods while they worked on independent projects. We had filters that limited access to sites like Facebook and Sodahead. In theory, the students will only access the internet via a network for them. But almost anyone with a 4G phone can subvert that. So what's the point? In the same manner when this was introduced teachers were told IN WRITING that "teachers should not be overly concerned with monitoring students' internet activity." Today we were told that we need to make sure all students are on task. Now I ask you, with thirty plus kids and their devices in class, what do you think the odds are that the average teacher is going to be able to catch all kids on task?

Another troubling aspect to this is something I observed from a film created by middle school kids in our district and shown across the district as an example of prime work. In that film, students essentially said they should be allowed to do what they want to do. In one vignette a question was asked "What were the causes of the civil war?" All the students had different ideas from different sources. That's fine, I am a fan of research. But what was not fine was the following statement "All of our opinions are valid." Really? So if I said the civil war was started by people who liked dogs better than cats, that would be equally valid? The implication is that there is no right or wrong and I take issue with that. I think in this world there are some things that are either right or wrong. Murder, right or wrong? Wrong of course. This seems to be just more of the celebration of esteem over content and that is what is wrong with our schools and our graduates today.

My future son in law read a recent article, which he's supposed to send me, that discusses how video games now are different than those even five years ago. It seems that games like "Myst" where there are no cheats, no shortcuts and no freebies which are pure mental problemsolving are gone. Today's games give hints, cheats are prevalent and the problemsolving element has gone down greatly. One man who wrote code for game systems had his son ask for Nintendo Connect. The father asked why and the son said he wanted to play games with his friends. This was a preteen kid, the ripe age for video games of all kinds. So the father said that if the son could beat one of his old Nintendo games, he would get him the system. The son has worked on it for three months and has not even leveled up one level. What does this say about the soft bigotry of making things easier and academic achievement? What does this say about our future?