Corruption and the classroom
Fall is here and with it the comfort of structure and the stress of meeting a
demanding daily schedule. You kiss your child and send him cheerfully on his way;
back to the familiar classroom, with the promising knowledge that all is just as
it should be.
Or is it? Just who are these “professionals” charged with the noble duty of educating our youth?
A quick search on google brought a startling realization. A search for “teacher arrested” returned 1,960 results, from just the “news” tab, double the amount found doing the same search, just one year ago – and these are the results for only the last month. Our children are in danger, from the very “professionals” entrusted with their care.
These are not isolated cases. Instances involved teachers close to home and from as far away as Okinawa, where an Air Force service member who teaches at an elementary school was recently arrested on drug charges.
Nasty Little Secrets
As a home educator I can certainly sympathize with parents who have gone to great lengths to ensure their children are attending a “good school.” In fact, I have yet to speak with a parent of a public schooled child who believes their child to be attending a “bad school.” We all want to believe that we are working in our son/daughters best interest.
The truth is every public school has it’s nasty little secrets. Only in recent years, have we begun to hear more news reports of teacher and administrator arrests. Many cases are settled quietly, out of the public eye.
Just last year, the California Department of Education had an astounding number of court cases pending, many of which where filed directly against Delaine Eastin, former
California Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Teacher Arrests
Once cases are settled, and the petitioner wins the case, the public may never know because the state will request the records be sealed and gag order the litigants as a stipulation in the settlement. I have seen this happen first-hand.
This is the very same problem many parents are facing when they attempt to fight Child Protective Services in family court. It’s a flaw in the judicial system that needs to be repaired. The sooner the better.
Schools are very aware of the importance of maintaining their public image and protecting it at all costs. Cover-ups could become even more common in coming years, due to new sweeping education laws requiring the reporting of
“persistently dangerous” schools. It’s simple self-preservation.
Families Erode
A Baltimore School is giving parents a lesson on the signs of drug use, training
parents in detective work. Is this the message we want to send our children? Are
parents nothing more than in-home cops? What happened to developing trusting
relationships with our children?
So long as children are spending the lion’s share of their time in classrooms with
teachers whose true character and motives are unknown and with peers who are from
various ethical (yes, I meant ethical, not ethnic) backgrounds, we will continue
to see the erosion of the family unit.
While critics may argue that children need to have the influence of many individuals
to develop a well rounded view of society and fit into a “global” community,
it can be argued that children who are prevented from forming close attachments within
the family unit may never learn to trust and be trusted. A child who has spent the
majority of his time in child care and sitting in classrooms from a very tender age
does not have the essential family bonds to develop into a secure individual who is
emotionally ready to face the pressures found in society.
That is not to say children only thrive when cared for by their own loving parents.
However, caregivers, even educators, should not be chosen carelessly or in a
haphazard fashion. Just because an individual is able to purchase the education and
gain license to instruct, does not mean the moral fabric of said individual is indeed
worthy to form young minds.
Just because one is “capable” of teaching is not a clear indicator that one
should teach. Children need to connect with their caregiver, they need stability and to
know they are loved. This is one reason many choose grandparents when searching for a
capable child care provider. It makes good sense to entrust that little one with very
person you bonded with as a child. It can provide a great comfort to a child who needs
the security of family during those early developmental years.
Early American Teachers
In early America, our neighbors were well acquainted and most likely attended
the same church; shopped at the same grocery. Teachers had very strict standards
that were expected to be upheld. In effect, you found a decided accountability
to the community as a whole.
Today we are strangers, living side-by-side. Most of us live within a block or
two of a known sexual predator of children. We have reason to be fearful for our
children’s safety.
Every playground presents its risks. We must be ever mindful of who our children are
learning from and exactly what they are learning. What kind of message are our children
getting? Where do our priorities lie?
The choices we make today will affect their futures and our future generations.
Will they have our values or the values of a stranger? Do parents have the right
to influence their childrens’ view of the world? There are those who believe the
state has the duty to intervene…in the child’s best interest, of course. They
want to take away the right of a parent to direct their childs education and the right to choose holistic, chiropractic or homeopathic treatment in opposition to forced allopathic medicine.
Homeschooling is one way of developing close family ties. Building trust takes time,
precious time, and we have little of it to waste. It takes a great deal of fortitude
to make the choice to go against the norm within our society. The pressure to conform to that societal standard can be tremendous. We’ve all been subjected to it.
The question we must ask ourselves is who do we trust more? Can we trust ourselves to prepare our children for the tasks which lie ahead? Can we adequately prepare our young minds for the future?
We must weigh the risks with the benefits and answer these questions honestly for
ourselves. It is clear that our current system of education is broken.
Many caring and talented individuals teach in private and in public schools, they take their role as guardians of the future very seriously, however, it only takes one teacher to lead a child astray. Ask anyone if they had a teacher who made a difference in their lives; Then ask them if they remember one teacher that stands out in their minds that made life miserable for them. We each can look back and see a point in our life where one person made all the difference in the world to us, for the better or for the worse. Just one
person.
Someone is going to be that one person in your child’s life. Who is it going to be?