Friday, June 01, 2007

Hypothetical School Daze

Liz's recent post about a video contrasting the "inner-city & suburban" schools was eye-opening.

It reminds me of one of the things that scares me about the idea of having children: the public school system.

I catch enough hell trying to fight for my own rights and those of my grown-ass family members. Doing the same thing within a rigid, long-standing, biased school system sounds like a helluva battle - with the highest of stakes.

I don't want my (future) kids to suffer through lower educational standards, substandard facilities, and unsafe environments, but I also don't want them to have to suffer the embarrassment of having a parent who's always, always, always fighting about this or complaining about that.

It's not that the kids aren't worth the fight. It's the fact that it may be a fight that won't be won, but my kids could still end up in the crossfire.

All that said, I probably will have kids and no matter what school they go to, I'll probably be kickin' figurative administrative ass left and right. But it's a scary prospect, nonetheless.

I guess that's why they call it race, because it's precisely what determines how far behind the starting line we'll be.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What you are talking about it real. My kid is set to go to public school in 2008 and I am in full panic mode. My neighborhood "zone" schools are pretty crappy though one has a gifted program. I'm actually considering relocating the family to a suburb in another state just to avoid public school in NYC!

Anonymous said...

West,

There are battles you engage in and have not asked for, and then there are wars you wage as a parent.

Yes, the children may suffer the embarrassment of you being on guard, but they get over it, and they'll come to depend on your watchful eye and ready, willing strategies and tactics (you'll develop a many-tiered thing).

"...how far behind the starting line we'll be..."

A good coach teaches the kid how to breathe, and the proper stance, no? You got it.

Anonymous said...

One of my (if not my) biggest concerns with regards to having children. And nowadays its not only the education you have to worry about, but you gotta worry about their safety as well (I guess you do that in general, but the one place they should be safe is at school, and that's becoming a danger zone in itself).

I've decided to home school my kids. I honestly don't think there's a teacher out there that could educate my child better than myself. Now I know home schooling lacks the "social structure" of a school; but depending on what that structure looks like by the time MY kids are in school, that might be a good thing.

I haven't decided if Imma home school forever, or maybe just until they get to high school......which might be when they need it the most.

We'll see.