So what's going on in schools now?

[Fade]

Culturally it seems vastly different. I went to a school primarily of hispanics, so at the time I went, a lot of kids dressed like "cholos", "gangbangers"...I recently drove by my old HS and that seems completely gone. In fact, it's kinda hard to tell the girls from the boys and vice versa.

[Ultimo Gallos]

I graduated in 92. From a school that cared more about the sports programs than making sure we had modern text books,my AP history book was from 1973. Talking to friends that have kids at that school now...

1.The school use to send 4 to 5 kids a year to the magnet High school in the north of the state. Now in the past 10 years the school has sent 3 students total.
2.Sometime in the late 90s they switched from each teacher having a grade book they kept the students grades in,to doing it all on the school computer network. So now you got students that figured out how to get into the school network and change grades.
3.The only good change seems to be the schools drug problem has shrunk. When I was going there at least every 2 months someone got busted at school with pot.Now the school hasn't had anyone get busted with drugs in almost 2 years.

Also now the school doesnt have enough text books for everyone. So you just leave the book in the class room.

[Lupin the Third]

I graduated in 2004. Ten years later, my high school closed, and consolidated with a town 30 minutes west of my hometown.

[The Captain]

Participation in football has gone down due to more awareness of health issues surrounding it, especially concussions. Either because the kids don't want to play it and would rather play another sport or their parents outright refuse to let them join the team. It's definitely a regional trend here.

[MiLB Fan]

My mom is a school nurse, so I hear about how things are different now from when I was a student. And some of those things make me very happy that I grew up in the time period that I did.

Let's take classroom parties, for instance. Those were a big deal when I was in elementary school. At Halloween, we wore our costumes to school and did a little parade through the building, then returned to the classroom for snacks. When it was someone's birthday, sometimes he or she brought in a treat for the whole class.

Well, time sure has sucked the fun out of that tradition.

You know what the kids get for Halloween parties today? A juice drink and a small bag of pretzels. Thinking about bringing in cupcakes for your birthday? Forget it. They have a new rule that sugar cannot be one of the first three ingredients. I get the concerns about food allergies, but I'm pretty sure those were around when I was a kid. Didn't stop us from enjoying that sugary goodness.

I've heard that this even extends past elementary school--the junior high and high schools have vending machines, but they are unplugged after a certain time.

[wildojinx]

Also, at some schools, they have an "accelerated reader" program. Basically, kids take a test to see what their reading level is at the beginning of the year, and all the books are listed with the reading level (meaning kids can only check out books that are within their reading level). Also, after they read the book, they take a test on it to get points (the books themselves have points, starting at 0.5 and up). These points lead to rewards (for example, getting 75 points means you get to go to the movies). The problem with this is that the kids mainly check out books that are just easy enough to finish quickly (so they can take multiple tests in one day).

[Deleted]

Jun 21, 2017 10:43:03 GMT -5 crabbymelt said:

In regards to football, I think a couple things are going on. One thing is that there are more choices of sports. My school now has a golf and skiing team. The other thing that came to mind is that if a team has 30 consecutive losing seasons, it really becomes the uncool sport, no matter how bad the parents want their kids to play.

One thing I've noticed in working with my karate students over the years is how much lazier both the kids and the parents are. If the skill is just a little bit like work, the kids give up immediately. When I was a kid, a parent wouldn't think to waste their time and money on an activity the kid wouldn't do. Now the parents dump off their 5 year olds and they're nowhere to be found, or they're texting on their phones while their kid is causing holy hell.

I told my two "If you really want to do a sport/activity, you have my support. But if you aren't all in, you're not getting my money to pay for it."

I give my son credit, he tried out for freshman football; they wanted him to be an offensive guard because he's a big boy. Practiced for half a day until he hurt his knee. Then he still stayed another hour doing running & blocking drills until he just couldn't take anymore.
I told him I was proud he stuck it out as long as he did.

Of course, the wife hassled the coach for 2 days to get our co-payment back, which is funny.

[Fade]

Jun 21, 2017 17:15:17 GMT -5 MiLB Fan said:

My mom is a school nurse, so I hear about how things are different now from when I was a student. And some of those things make me very happy that I grew up in the time period that I did.

Let's take classroom parties, for instance. Those were a big deal when I was in elementary school. At Halloween, we wore our costumes to school and did a little parade through the building, then returned to the classroom for snacks. When it was someone's birthday, sometimes he or she brought in a treat for the whole class.

Well, time sure has sucked the fun out of that tradition.

You know what the kids get for Halloween parties today? A juice drink and a small bag of pretzels. Thinking about bringing in cupcakes for your birthday? Forget it. They have a new rule that sugar cannot be one of the first three ingredients. I get the concerns about food allergies, but I'm pretty sure those were around when I was a kid. Didn't stop us from enjoying that sugary goodness.

I've heard that this even extends past elementary school--the junior high and high schools have vending machines, but they are unplugged after a certain time.

I was in HS and about half-way through they took away the Soda machines. My fat younger self was not a happy camper.

[Milkman Norm]

I was going to find out but then Donald Fagen and Walter Becker told me I could never go back.

[edgestar]

Not much, since it's summer vacation!!

[hossfan]

No peanut butter.

[Ultimo Gallos]

Jun 21, 2017 18:33:45 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

Also, at some schools, they have an "accelerated reader" program. Basically, kids take a test to see what their reading level is at the beginning of the year, and all the books are listed with the reading level (meaning kids can only check out books that are within their reading level). Also, after they read the book, they take a test on it to get points (the books themselves have points, starting at 0.5 and up). These points lead to rewards (for example, getting 75 points means you get to go to the movies). The problem with this is that the kids mainly check out books that are just easy enough to finish quickly (so they can take multiple tests in one day).

Found out from my cousin that lives on the coast that Jeff Smith's Bone is in the AR program. And that is why so many kids read it. Easy read that is worth a bunch of points. Back when I was in elementary school,late 70s thru early 80s,they would have a reading challenge 2 times a year. Whoever read the most books in 3 months got a prize. After 1st grade no one wanted to enter it. Mostly cause I would read a book a day and win every time.

But back when I was in high school you could still bring a pocket knife with you to school. Hell until my senior year you could leave school for lunch. And if you had a note from your parents ,you could smoke at school during break.

[Malibu Stacy]

I was a sub for the same district I attended as a student, graduated 2001, subbed 2005 - 2016. The elementary schools there REALLY reduced opportunities for physical activity during the school day. It used to be 50 minutes of P.E. and 15 minutes of post lunch recess daily, with added recess for special occasions.

By the time I quit subbing, P.E. was reduced to 45 minutes 3 times a week. I'm kind of torn about P.E., never liked it much myself being a chubby kid who hated organized sports, and loved to run but hated to be told to. But at least it's an opportunity for physical activity.

Recess varied by school, but most of them were reduced to every other Friday, provided they got a green cup (good behavior) at lunch every day in the 2 weeks leading up to then. And if it rained, recess had to wait another 2 weeks, still getting those good behavior cups. Also, a couple of my schools wouldn't allow subs to lead recess, so that got it cancelled, too. Which I can understand from a liability standpoint, but it sucks the kids get punished because the teacher had a doctor's appointment or funeral to go to.

I'm a big believer of giving the children time for free play. I feel like it helps them vent, both emotionally and physically. Helps their mood, their in class concentration, burns off some of their excess nervous energy that'll otherwise get channeled into acting out. And I know, the argument could be that this is school, not a play group, they can always play outside of school hours. But I still find it irresponsible to expect 6 - 11 years old kids to sit still and be quiet 7.5 hours a day and not give them a chance to vent.

[Chainsaw]

Jun 21, 2017 10:42:12 GMT -5 MC Blowfish said:

The whole Common Core thing makes sense. I really wish parents would attend school conferences and ask questions. My son is going into third grade and they were showing us what they do for common core. His teacher also told us that they'll be teaching them the straight forward way to solve problems. Her reasoning for Common Core was that it taught the kids to use other methods to solve a problem. Which to me makes sense.

Eh, it's easier to just blame it for everything and demonize it, instead of putting the onus on uncaring parents and massive educational cutbacks over the last 20 years.

Funny thing is, with the way my brain works sometimes, I think I would have excelled at school if I had grown up common core instead of being an average student. The only thing that bugs me about that is that the things I loved as a kid, english, writing, arts, etc, would have been extremely defocused.

[Ultimo Gallos]

COmmon Core sounds a bit like the Saxon math system.They introduced it into my schools when I hit 9th grade. Supposedly cause it would help the kids that aren't good at math. All it did was cause every class to slow down to the speed of their slowest student.

Cause you had to at least make it past lesson 30 to go onto the next book. My 3 years in High school I had Algebra II all three years. Because we never made it past lesson 30. So while I took Algebra II for 3 years I got credit for the two math classes past it. Even though I never saw the text books for them.

Found out years later the only reason they used the Saxon system was cause it was offered to them extremely cheap. Mostly cause it had been used in other areas and proven to not work.

But it didn't help that in that area I grew up in most math teachers would quit and goto work at the shipyard or one of the chemical plants. Cause they could make 3 times what they were getting paid as math teachers. So you ended up with math teachers that didn't care. The one I had 10th and 12th grade told us first day of school "Show up,don't cause any problems. And you will get a 84 in class." So I did just that. Show up,pull out a book and read until the class was over.

[OGBoardPoster2005]

Going by a lady friend of mine, she missed 50 days of school last year. 6 in a semester would have gotten your ass in trouble when I graduated (2009)

[Ultimo Gallos]

Jun 22, 2017 16:30:43 GMT -5 OGBoardPoster2005 said:

Going by a lady friend of mine, she missed 50 days of school last year. 6 in a semester would have gotten your ass in trouble when I graduated (2009)

Yeah my senior year I missed 14 days the last semester of school. Which was the limit on how many days you could miss. Then got in trouble and got suspended for a month with 2 weeks of school left. So I almost didn't graduate cause I missed to many days.