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| Back
to School Blues |
 August 23, 2004
- It’s that time of year again, late summer.
The kids are bracing themselves or getting motivated for their new teachers.
Sports coaches have begun practices for the fall season. The janitors have
finished waxing the floors and so the teachers are cleaning their rooms,
hanging posters, and gearing up for the first day of class. A new year is
beginning for those whose lives are organized around the school’s calendar.
I must admit I am not envious of my friends who are teaching this year. None
of the four that I have spoken with seem very excited at the prospect of
starting up again. Some are unhappy with their new contracts, dealing with
personality conflicts because of ineptitude, and/or bearing the added
financial strain of more professional development in order to comply with
their schools’ interpretations of a qualified teacher.
The joy of teaching seems difficult to find these days for many who tread in
the quagmire of the educational system. There is too much politicking and
not enough moments of epiphany displayed in the confines of the reigning
establishment. Everything is colored by an agenda that stifles a teacher’s
energy and initiative and forces compliance and conformity.
As a child of the 70’s, I used to love back to school shopping. My mom and I
would go to the mall for two or three new outfits, school shoes and gym
shoes. We’d then go to Turn Style or Venture to buy the essential pens and
pencils, ruler, notebook paper and any other necessities for that grade.
Those days are gone.
For many kids, there is shock and disappointment when their new teacher
collects all of the handpicked supplies and puts them into a group box to be
shared. For others, the PTA purchases the school supplies in bulk and each
child is issued the same materials. Where is the excitement in that?
Kids don’t buy clothes for "school” and clothes for "after school” anymore.
Dress codes are ignored or the schools have opted for uniforms to deal with
the inappropriate attire. The special time that occurs between a parent and
a child during the "rites of passage” hasn’t been factored into the equation
and the element of fun in picking out the school supplies has been
eliminated.
I used to love going home for lunch. It didn’t happen often, because I had
two working parents but sometimes my mother was at home that time of day. I
walked to the house, had a bowl of hot SpaghettiO’s and walked back. It was
so wonderful to have a hot lunch, to see my mom, and to have all of the
focus on me for a little while. I was refreshed and ready for the afternoon.
Most days, though, I brought my cold lunch to school. We’d go to the grocery
store before the week began and pick out lunch meats, chips, and desserts we
wanted to eat that week. We chose the fruit that we knew we’d eat. Sometimes
I packed my own lunch box; sometimes my mom packed it for me. Sometimes kids
brown bagged it. Food not eaten was carried home or traded to another child.
Now kids have about 15 minutes to pick up and eat the lunch that is served
in the cafeteria at school. Most throw away half of their food, provided to
them at free or a reduced cost. They bring money to buy candy being sold by
one student group or another. Trash is often left on the tables and candy
wrappers dropped on the blacktop, where kids are ushered for 10 minutes so
the cafeteria can be cleaned before next gym period.
Many teachers eat hurriedly at their desks and have no time to spend in the
teachers lounge. Bonding between teachers is not over their personal lives
but over which students are causing the biggest disruption and about how the
administration refuses to adequately address the situation. Certainly very
little time can be spent getting to know the students, who in the old days
enjoyed hanging out with their teachers during part of the elongated lunch
period that was recognized as essential to everyone’s rejuvenation for the
latter part of the day. Now, the short lunch periods are often spent phoning
parents, many of whom have given bogus numbers to the school secretaries and
cannot be reached regarding their son or daughter’s most recent infraction.
Small neighborhood schools are becoming a thing of the past. Schools are
built to accommodate large numbers of students who are then bussed there,
because they are too far away to walk. And the experts wonder why obesity is
such a problem among children. Schools are impersonal. Students don’t feel
ownership or pride in them. Many teachers never feel completely comfortable
or let their guard down. Parents aren’t compelled to visit.
All of these changes were made in the name of progress. Each was considered
an improvement in efficiency, convenience, or treating kids more equally.
When I was learning about socialism in high school and college, sometimes I
couldn’t imagine what it would be like. I think I understand now.
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