I teach in my hometown. Some might think that is a mistake. Get out, experience the world, see other educational environments, etc., etc. I have no regrets and have witnessed changes in school climate.
When I was in elementary school, I thought all schools were the same as mine. There were 4 classes for every grade, and everyone knew everyone. If someone new moved in, it was exciting. It was also rare in the 1970's. There was not much diversity in my little hometown. The main diversity was in socioeconomics. If someone lived in a house with more than one bathroom, a finished basement, and a two car garage, that person was rich.
The principal's office was a scary place, and he had a paddle that hung on the wall. He didn't have to call parents for permission to use it. Fortunately, and not because I didn't deserve it, I never had the paddle used on me. Whew!
We had wooden seats for our swings, none of those rubber seated swings that squeezed you. We used to have contests to see how far we could jump out of them. No teacher ever made us stop.
We had merry-go-rounds that we purposely pushed to go around so fast to challenge the bravest to hang on, and some failed. No teacher ever made us stop.
We had monkey bars that seemed to reach the sky - everything looks so tall when you are little. We would swing from bar to bar and sit at the very top. We would sit on the bars then drop to hang upside down from our knees. No teacher ever made us stop.
We had teeter-totters, and the funnest time making the other person's bottom fly up in the air as we dropped to the ground with a jolt. No teacher ever made us stop.
We played dodge ball, kick ball and baseball, and Red Rover. The rougher the better. We played cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, and my favorite, Star Trek (our pretend phazers were rarely set on "stun.") No teacher ever made us stop.
We had fun and knew the "dangers." We got scrapped knees and bruises, but had been taught common sense. We were tough. This is a funny statement coming from me because I was always the smallest in the class, but I had that "small person syndrome" that caused me, not always with the most logical reasoning, to take a dare no matter the personal fear or hazard.
Sometimes fights would break out on the playground. A teacher would step in and take the two brawlers by the ears and take them inside to write one hundred times, "I will not fight on the playground." The two offenders were playing together the next day. We were taught to never throw the first punch, but to finish the fight. I was a runt, and I felt I had to stand strong or be trampled and never given any respect. If I went home to complain, my mother told me to hold my high and to handle it myself. Self-respect, self-control, and self-confidence bloomed from any tough times. She never stepped in to fight my fights or to soften the consequences of my own making. In fact, if I was in trouble at school, I was in trouble at home... no ifs, ands, or buts. That is what kept most of us out of trouble. Fearful respect of our parents kept us in line.
We walked home from school, rode the bus to our friends' houses, and took rides from other parents or older siblings. We didn't have to have a signed permission slip from our parents on record in the office.
If we got hurt at school, it was our job to go home to tell our parents about it, and the parents' job to ask. We never heard of a lawsuit against the school.
Some of these things have been turned into over-exaggerated silliness that have created an atmosphere of fear. Fear of what? Not a scraped knee or a black eye, but of parents who will sue. There is also a fear of hurting a child's psyche if a "situation" is handled too harshly.
We didn't even think about our "rights" as little kids. We were just kids, and the school and our parents let us be kids. Today's kids have so many pressures, and do not always get to be just a kid. Sad. There is a culture of victims rising up that creates havoc for the majority. Sad.
Today is very different. Trust is out the window. The school system has had to change to protect our children. Most changes are out of necessity because of the society we live in, but some are ridiculous. A little boy cannot even create an imaginary gun with his fingers today. We hear news stories of kids being suspended for such a minor offense - for being a kid with an imagination.
Article: Elementary School Discipline Goes too Far
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