educated

 There has been much discussion about the quality of education in America. We are falling behind the rest of the world in many key areas. The blame is placed on the school systems, on the curriculum being taught and financial incentives to graduate children. Very little blame is being placed on the parents. In fact, many parents are now suing the school system! That is the hot topic in the City of Baltimore these days as that city tries to deal with crime. Crime is correlated to education. The young adults and kids committing crimes are doing so because they lack a good education. That is the narrative being pushed forward. Yes, I agree, lack of education can lead to crime as a means to make money. But my thinking is this, if the children aren't monitored, made to attend school, and are allowed to just run amok, you can't really expect much else. I fail to understand how any parent could not be aware of their children's progress or lack of that, in school. It isn't that the school isn't there and available to get that education, you have to actually attend that school to learn.

 Getting an education is a direct result of accountability. When I was in school I was held to account by my parents and my teachers. That's what report cards and teacher conferences were all about. If I were failing, or in the opinion of my teacher not "applying" myself, that was reported to my parents, immediately. I was expected to show up at school and do my work! That's what it was called too, work! We learned to work independently and work with a group. You had to complete the task at hand or pay the price. Extra-curricular activities were just that, extra! You didn't get to participate in that stuff until your work was done. After all, you were not going to make a living doing that stuff. Teachers are not parents, teachers are educators. That is their job, to educate you. I didn't want to disappoint my teacher because I knew there would be consequences. That was the motivation to succeed. Don't attract attention is always good advice. The attention you get may not be the attention you want. That's always been my experience anyway.

 I don't know what needs to be done to change this course we are on, but it needs to be changed. I'm not blaming the school, the teachers or the system. I'm blaming the parents. It is the parents that have to instill that sense of responsibility in their children. It is the parents that need to monitor and indeed test their children when it comes to education. If you have teenagers that can't read, that's the parents fault! Barring any mental/medical reasons there is no excuse, none. Parents need to ensure their children are attending school, doing their work and progressing. When all of that is accomplished, if the child is still failing then it's time to question the teacher, the school and the system. It is the responsibility of the parent to raise their children!

 In my opinion we don't have a quality of education problem, we have a quality of life problem. Morality, ethics and accountability are not being taught. That's the reason many of these students are failing in school and failing in life. There are no real consequences, always second chances. The value of life is being measured in the value of the objects you own. It all begins with the parents/guardians. They set the example, the standard to be satisfied. It has been said it takes a village to raise a child and there is much truth in that. The thing about that is, the parents have to teach the children the rules of the village! They have to teach them to obey those rules or be subject to correction/punishment. That's what the village will do! It's not the fault of the villagers, it is your fault! But if you raise a village of idiots, well, that's what you get!