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Originally Posted by kane
A while back I saw a girl wearing white pants that were basically see-through. You could see her orange thong sticking up out the top of them and you could see right through them. She had a shirt on that was basically a short tank top that showed off her belly ring. She wasn't the only one. There is an endless parade of short shorts, skimpy tops, lowrise jeans and various other stripperwear.
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And the problem is?
Kidding aside, sounds like a crappy school and a lack of parental supervision. Oh, I'm not kidding myself; I know my kid will be sneaking out clothes out of the house that I'm not aware of.
Honestly, tonight I went to the local high school for the football game - Friday Night Lights and all of that stuff. The dress code after school hours is relaxed and I did question some of what I saw. But I also think society has changed in a big way. I didn't see anything that was outrageous.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kane
Add in that a lot of the kids are just little disrespectful pricks. A friend of mine is a cop who has 2 daughters. One just got out of high school a year ago and the other is a sophomore now. Between being a parent and occasionally going to the school on calls he is around the kids a decent amount. Several times he has seen students tell teachers to go to hell and screw themselves. When asked why they take it the teachers just tell them that they choose what battles to fight.
If I told a teacher to go to hell I wouldn't be here typing this because my mom would have killed me and disposed of my body.
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Some kids will always be like that.
I'm was friends with a family that had three boys and one daughter. The parents seem really nice, mother weighs more than I do (and I'm overweight myself), but they don't pay any attention to what their kids are doing. All three boys are not yet legal drinking age and on probation. I'm not sure how a parent can fail to that degree.
We decided about a year go to keep our kid away from their kids.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kane
You are correct that it is the parents problems. . . to a degree.
The problem with my nephew is his mom. She never EVER punishes him. He does what he wants, he says what he wants. He is a disrespectful little shithead and she goes to great ends to make excuses for him. He has been arrested several times and, like I say, failed all his 8th grade classes and eventually got expelled from high school. She refused to hold him back, because, well. . . she never stands up to him. She has done him a terrible disservice by teaching him that there are no consequences for his actions. Not too long ago he got arrested for breaking into a car. Now he is 18 so they held him for 4 days until he could get someone to bail him out. Since this is no longer juvenile he got real punishment. The judge gave him 6 months in jail on a 2 year suspended sentence. Basically if he can go 2 years without getting into trouble the charges will be dropped. If he gets in more trouble he will have to serve his 6 months. I am about 98% sure he will end up serving that 6 months.
So his mom failed him. However, at some point I think the school needs to step and say, "These are our standards. If you can't meet them you don't graduate and move on." That is how it was when I was in 8th grade. My brother failed 2 classes his 8th grade year and he had to go to summer school to make them up or he couldn't graduate and move on. My mom didn't have a say in the matter. When you are unlucky enough to have a shitty parent sometimes the system needs to step in on your behalf, but now the schools get paid based on graduation rates so they just move everyone along and let other people deal with them later.
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I've never punished my kid. It's not difficult - teach your kid to be respectful and how to have fun doing it. If your driving and swearing at all of the crappy drivers, well, your kids picks up on that. Instead be calm and point out what the other driver is doing wrong and hope your kid picks up on that also. If my kid ever steps out of line I'm not afraid to raise my voice, although I never ever get angry.
I take it back - i have grounded my kid... for bad grades last year.
And I'm not sure I'm not the perfect parent either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kane
There is a school in Philly (I think, but it my be Pittsburgh) where everything is digital. Instead of being issued text books the kids are issued laptops. All their books are on the computers. The teachers can drag and drop assignments and every night the school has at least one teacher available online for tutoring. They teach not only the fundamentals, but the teach the kids how to use the computer (if needed) and they have school uniforms. Everything is streamlined and students there do very well. If kids gets out of line the parents are immediately brought in on the discipline and then if the parents don't do anything about the kids are kicked out of the school. I will admit that the school requires kids to apply and interview to come there so, like private schools, they can cherry pick the best students, but I think the school really shows how they can match modern technology with a little old school discipline and come up with something good.
It isn't always how much money you spend, but how you spend that money that counts.
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My kid's school isn't all digital, but there has been some discussion about it at the high school level - which is (gasp!) a year and a half away. However, they do have a computer lab and do a lot on computers.