Schools
The local newspaper yesterday had a headline saying that a survey of high school students in my neighbourhood showed that 5% claimed to belong to a gang. Police are disputing that claim saying that our community does not have the demographics or city layout that would encourage gangs. But I guess the question must be asked, doesn't it seem disturbing that 5% of high school students would want to be identified as being part of a gang?
About a week ago, there was an article stating that violence in schools now needs to be reported to the school Principal, and to the parents of the victim and the accused. I very much support the idea of mandatory parental involvement. Too many parents don't make time for their children, or have been told by society that they have no right to "intrude" on their children's lives. Nice to see parental involvement coming back, even if it is the State that is mandating it!
About two weeks ago the same newspaper ran a statement. I forget if it was from the school board or the police, but it stated that every school in our community has a drug problem. The article went on to discuss a number of measures to deal with this (all of which I applaud).
I should add that the community I live in is nice, modern, and has one of the highest per family incomes in Canada. There are playgrounds, modern schools, well used libraries, etc. It really is a nice place to live. It is not the kind of neighbourhood that you would drive through and say, "this place is trouble".
But given all of the above, I do find it surprising that people ask us why we homeschool. Or even more surprising that they imply (or outright state) that we need to stop sheltering our children and send them to school. To which I state that there are usually many reasons why an individual family would choose to homeschool, but sheltering my children from gangs, gang admiring attitudes and drug dealers are definitely on my list of reasons.
About a week ago, there was an article stating that violence in schools now needs to be reported to the school Principal, and to the parents of the victim and the accused. I very much support the idea of mandatory parental involvement. Too many parents don't make time for their children, or have been told by society that they have no right to "intrude" on their children's lives. Nice to see parental involvement coming back, even if it is the State that is mandating it!
About two weeks ago the same newspaper ran a statement. I forget if it was from the school board or the police, but it stated that every school in our community has a drug problem. The article went on to discuss a number of measures to deal with this (all of which I applaud).
I should add that the community I live in is nice, modern, and has one of the highest per family incomes in Canada. There are playgrounds, modern schools, well used libraries, etc. It really is a nice place to live. It is not the kind of neighbourhood that you would drive through and say, "this place is trouble".
But given all of the above, I do find it surprising that people ask us why we homeschool. Or even more surprising that they imply (or outright state) that we need to stop sheltering our children and send them to school. To which I state that there are usually many reasons why an individual family would choose to homeschool, but sheltering my children from gangs, gang admiring attitudes and drug dealers are definitely on my list of reasons.
posted by Shawn Abigail at 8:50 a.m.
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