Times, they sure are changing. (school)

Shorty2U · ‎03-09-2010

I now have 2 granddaughters in high school and 1 in grade school. Times sure are changing.

The 2 high school grandkids were given electronic notebooks by the school (no more regular books). They can bring them back and forth from home to school and vice versa. (Middle school kids get them too but cannot bring them back and forth.)

Also they can chew gum, wear flip flops (my grandkids don't wear them to school though), they can have bottled water @ their desks, and lastly they can text in school in study hall (or when the teacher isn't teaching/when their work is finished).

I told them the following and they just looked at me and said you're kidding? lol. When I was in school I got sent home for wearing a USA t-shirt. In fact we couldn't wear pants until I was in 7th grade. (all through grade school it was skirts and dresses) One time I got caught with gum and the teacher made me wear the gum on my nose all through class. lol. We certainly couldn't have water at our desk, chew gum, and of course there were no cell phones.

Well none of these new school issues above bother me much except for with my youngest granddaughter. Cursive writing is no longer taught. I think that is ridiculous. Everyone has to sign their name and write at some point no matter how many electronics there are! (So my daughter taught her cursive at home long ago because she felt she needed to know how to write cursive. like the other 2).

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make~ The Beatles

ivey · ‎03-10-2010

Shorty: I taught school for 34 years, so you can imagine the changes I saw during that time. My GD is a senior and what gets me are the silly electives she is taking. She didn't get a chance to choose because she changed schools.

But one critical thing that I think is missing for her is keyboarding and computer knowledge beyond just surfing the internet. She needs the skill for getting a job through college and afterward. (I was a business ed. teacher, by the way, so I am probably biased.) I can teach her--if she will listen. But it would have been better if she could have used that hour learning something useful.

SydneyH · ‎03-10-2010

Not all schools are run that way. My children are not allowed to chew gum or have access to their cell phones during school hours, though they do work on electronic notebooks.....

Marienkaefer2 · ‎03-09-2010

I disagree with students being allowed to text in school, unless it is lunch break and that's it. Otherwise, if they are finished with classwork, they can read or do homework for another class. There is always something else they can do. Especially since one of their biggest excuses for not getting assignments done is that they don't have time. The other is that they know everything already. Sorry, even the top students should be constantly seeking out new learning. Gum...that was a big no no when I was in school also. I guess I don't mind it...as long as they are not blowing bubbles at me while I'm talking to them. I think you are lucky they are getting the latest in technology. Our kids don't have those electronic notebooks, although we did pass a big tech levy last year, so hopefully that will change. We are a small district. They still teach cursive here.

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.--Marcus Tullius Cicero

Qwackertoo · ‎03-11-2010

Our school just started BYOT this year. They bring their own technology. School district isn't providing them. They say they have policies in place to encourage proper use and to not abuse the privilege. Heck, they even had to change the starting/ending times so the elementary can share buses with the middle & high school so they start earlier and get out earlier then buses repeat routes with the older kids. Son is a senior . . . so this is last year for us.

But when they try to pass a tax increase to help with the schools funding it gets voted down. They try to pass a lottery to help with funding, it too gets voted down. I guess they think it just magically gets funded. Not.

We do have quite a few AP and pre-AP offerings and they keep creating these "academies". This will be year one for the Engineering Academy and son is taking a Robotics Eng. class. Also a business, medical oriented and a few others. Maybe this will help the college bound kids determine IF that is for them vs 2 years into it at college and changing majors. Time will tell. Can't hurt.

scotttie · ‎03-09-2010

Well that district (OP) is way different from ours. They get notebooks I think but that's not their only book.

Also no water bottles allowed that you bring in....some kids were filling them with vodka evidently.

There are pretty strict dress codes also.

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

Time changes and we have to change with it. Nothing remains the same forever. I know of no school in our area that allows texting or even using a cell phone during school hours. As a parent, I would have a problem with that. The tablet or notebook thing is common in schools that have the resources. Bottled water makes sense to me, if it's important for us to stay hydrated during the day, that would apply to kids too. Flip flops and gum; gum I'm okay with but I think flip flops are an accident waiting to happen for elementary school kids. Cursive, is pretty much a dead art now. Most people only use it to sign their names on things; absolutely no one writes in cursive anymore. Even as I write this, I'm trying to remember when I last saw something written in cursive and excluding signatures; nothing comes to mine. Everyone prints or uses a computer or tablet.

hckynut · ‎03-10-2010

On 8/25/2014 Shorty2U said:
I now have 2 granddaughters in high school and 1 in grade school. Times sure are changing.

The 2 high school grandkids were given electronic notebooks by the school (no more regular books). They can bring them back and forth from home to school and vice versa. (Middle school kids get them too but cannot bring them back and forth.)

Also they can chew gum, wear flip flops (my grandkids don't wear them to school though), they can have bottled water @ their desks, and lastly they can text in school in study hall (or when the teacher isn't teaching/when their work is finished).

I told them the following and they just looked at me and said you're kidding? lol. When I was in school I got sent home for wearing a USA t-shirt. In fact we couldn't wear pants until I was in 7th grade. (all through grade school it was skirts and dresses) One time I got caught with gum and the teacher made me wear the gum on my nose all through class. lol. We certainly couldn't have water at our desk, chew gum, and of course there were no cell phones.

Well none of these new school issues above bother me much except for with my youngest granddaughter. Cursive writing is no longer taught. I think that is ridiculous. Everyone has to sign their name and write at some point no matter how many electronics there are! (So my daughter taught her cursive at home long ago because she felt she needed to know how to write cursive. like the other 2).

aka-taxpayers

Studies have shown that those that wear uniform dress are generally better behaved.

Do you think these looser standards of dress and other more liberal policies by the schools have helped or hurt the graduation rate?

hckynut(john)

brewhaha · ‎07-25-2010

When I wrote in cursive, I was sent home and my mom washed my hand with soap.

Burnsite · ‎03-10-2010

Schools were too strict when I was attending (Catholic) schools. So was home. My mother didn't permit me to wear blue jeans, so I kept mine at my best friend Mary's house and changed into them before we had double-dates with two friends.

Eyebrow plucking--I didn't, but a friend got into bad trouble for having plucked her eyebrows while bored one weekend.

I think media at school might be potentially more disruptive than t-shirts and eyebrows and blue jeans, though. Students who text are not really _in_ the class.