Last night was Curriculum Night at JH's school, and while I love the teachers and staff at his school, and some of the kids are really amazing, his school has more than his share of, shall we say, problem children. Or, to be more accurate, problem parents.
I didn't have my camera with me, but I will draw you a word picture:
About ten kids, ages six to eleven, fighting with each other on newly poured bark chips, throwing the bark chips at each other and all over the place, wrapping the swings around and around until they were unreachable, screaming and hitting each other, while some of their parents did:
Nothing. Well, that's not exactly true. They ate their hot dogs and smoked their cigarettes and talked to each other, occasionally scratching their bellies.
When I walked over and confronted the kids and told them not to do that, they didn't even stop. But they did look at me and laugh and one of the fifth graders told me that JH takes his bus. Was that a threat, kiddo? Because you have no idea what will happen if you lay one hand on my child. No. earthly. idea.
I consider myself to be pretty liberal, with a live-and-let-live view most of the time, but some people should not be allowed to have pets, much less children.
Oh, and JH? He's doing great in school, his teacher loves him, the principal made a point of telling me that "he is the most enthusiastic first grader" she's ever met.
Sigh...
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4 comments:
He gets his enthusiasm from his Mommy!
Annie I so hear you on the kids out of control thing and the parents being clueless. The sad part is that they intentionally ignore the child's behavior therefore making it seem OK when what they really need is someone to look them in the eye and give them an earful of well you know...
That's my favorite thing to do when I take the kids to the park, find the kid who's messing with everyone else and confront him (bullying - the latest school issue nowdays) and they will either leave or stop. How hard is that? Parents need to get a clue or visit the dr. before the kids come along.
grrrrr, I can't stand situations like this. The worst is when you say something to the child or parent about how the behaviour is unacceptable (ie throwing a ball at my door in the waiting area of a music school), and the parent actually tells you off.
How do people get like this? I truly don't understand.
I love it that you called them out on their behavior -- I think it's the responsibility of all grown ups everywhere to straighten kids out (verbally) when they get out of line.
It takes a village, baby.
I think I might be in a small camp on that, though -- I see too many grown ups look the other way in situations like this.
Ooh, I so love living in a small town when this happens. We now know a good 40% of the kid population by sight (we are lacking in info about 4th-8th grade). And it's a lot easier to threaten a misbehaver when you know their name or their mama's name! They are a snotty bunch though. I can't believe the disrespect that is tolerated in high school classrooms, even in small town America. If you mouthed off in class more than once when I was in high school, your ass was in the office and you were way more worried about them calling your parents.
Glad JH is having a spectacular time. Kindergarten is going way better than we ever hoped for (said with fingers still crossed) and my older son is a reading fool, racking up the AR points like nobody's business.
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