Suspension of Disbelief

The school system of today, at least Montgomery County here in Clarksville, never fails to amaze me. It's bad enough that they lack in what they teach. They are careful not to offend anyone or hurt any feelings that they pass out made up awards so that everyone gets something, but they seriously have to work on what they call discipline.

My son has gotten numerous suspensions in his few years here and most of them have reasons that are laughable. One incident was when my son went to throw a wrapper into the trash like a basketball....he missed. Results? 3 days in school suspension for throwing things in the cafeteria. Another incident was asking if a boy was using zit cream for his pimples...again, 3 days in school suspension for bullying. A boy told him "Don't call me fat or I'll punch you in the face" My son asked 'Fat?' and wham! The kid was a boy of his word, leaving my son with a black eye...and a day of after-school detention. Most recently, this past Friday, some boys were talking in the line up for lunch. One told my son he would 'juke him all over over the place'. My son, not knowing what 'juking' even was, replied in a kidding manor "Yeah and I'd kill you". I was called Monday morning and told to come get him, the incident that happened on Friday was costing him a day of suspension. I know thet now have a 'zero tolerance' for violence, but isn't there a line to be drawn?

My son comes hom in tears because kids have called him names or shot spit wads in his hair and teachers turn their heads or simply tell the boys to stop. But my son throws a piece of paper in the lunch room and gets suspended for 3 days? Something needs to be fixed here!

When I was in school, teaching was a prodession, teachers dressed as professionals. Today, you could walk into a classroom and at first glance, not be able to tell the teachers from the students in their dress code, you just have to go by who has more wrinkles. They won't allow you to invite 'just the boys' to a boy's birthday party because the girls might get hurt feelings. The awards ceremonies are hours long because it's not just simply the basics like perfect attendence and Honor Roll stidents, now it includes "Most helpful" "Most Creative" and "the BUG award" for anyone who's brought up their grade, because they wouldn't want to have a child be upset that they didn't get anything. Is this really progressive to no longer teach cursive writing or require that a child know all 50 states? When I was in middle school, an essay had to be 1-3 pages long, not 1-3 paragraphs. We had book reports with class presentations, not the case anymore. No wonder so many parents who are able turn to home-schooling. Hard work and disappointment are facts of life, but apparently not a factor until they kids turn 18. What a rude awakening moment that will be for them!