Oh people - how do I put this to you in a way that doesn't sound so disgusting that we would rejoice at the financial devastation the schools have suffered with this current economy crisis? Let's see - I think we'll start by addressing what I believe is the foundation of education:
It is my personal belief, as the grandson of a highly credited and honored teacher of younger children, that the entire purpose for the education system is to offer our children the opportunity to advance their lives, starting from the point where ours come to an end.
Confusing? Let me 'splain - no, that would take to long, let me sum it up: Rather than reinvent the wheel from scratch, rediscover electricity, or repeat historical disasters, an education should be designed so that, by the time our children graduate and are prepared to head out into the world, they will have a foundation of knowledge upon which to build. So, instead of cutting rocks until they're shaped like a tire, they can take the rubbery treads and try to make something better. Instead of hooking a key to a kite string to determine the foundation for electricity, they can take the knowledge they've gained and design renewable energy sources and advance electrical production in a way to help all the world. And, instead of recreating the events of the world that involve war, death, famine and other atrocities, they can develop a better life for themselves.
But, the day that the government took over the education system, applied 'lottery' monies as the source for financial support and developed an educational standard that is substandard to the rest of the entire (non 3rd world countries) world, is the day we let down our children. I present to you this article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31131902/: School cancels graduation ceremony to teach cheaters a lesson.
Now, let's reanalyze just the title of that article: the school, the educational institution whose obligation and duty is to our children and the betterment of their lives, cancels the 'ceremonial,' rite of passage (Joseph Campbell insert here!!), that seniors go through before heading out into the world, to teach cheaters - students who broke the rules of the curriculum - a lesson (you know - lesson - as in what the school should have been providing students PRIOR to the graduation ceremonies). So, is it just me, or does that make you wonder how an ENTIRE, senior graduating class cheated? Wait a second - they didn't!! That's right - a select "few" cheated. And, as is customary for the school systems of today, rather than hold the students who did this responsible (because we wouldn't want to teach students accountability or responsibility as that would just be a silly thing to pass on before they head into the world), they are punishing everyone. In fact, part of the school's justification for this is because they "believe" (again, their all-knowing 'perceptiveness') that other seniors knew about it and didn't report it. Well, thank goodness the schools are failing to teach the importance of holding guilty students responsible, but holding those who don't feel they should betray their fellow men to the authorities for something as *gasp* terrible as cheating, because, otherwise - it might make it more reasonable that we also allow these same schools to teach our children about s - e - x!!
But, let's step back for a moment.. shall we? One of the tests that was cheated on (again, they 'believe) was: Early Aztec Indian History. WHAT? Wait up! Hold up, homie G. Step back, my brother. You mean that these HORRIBLE, terrible, out of control seniors DARED try to step into the modern world, amongst their fellow men, having failed to fully grasp the actual facts behind EARLY AZTEC INDIAN HISTORY? How DARE THEY! After all - the history books in schools are so accurate that - EVERY YEAR - they have to be modified to include new and updated facts!! But, let's not dwell on the point of teaching inaccurate information and focus on what's important - knowing when the aztecs planted maize in the fields vs. when they developed their ancient calendars! WoHO! These students are definitely OUT OF CONTROL!.....
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Okay - I'm sure I'm just being silly here. Because, truthfully, we all know the REAL reason the school is upset - right? Because the students lied! I'm sure that's it! As Superintendent Holden stated, it was impossible for the school to separate the "wheat from the chaff," amongst the cheaters, non-whistleblowers and.. oh yeah.. those students who had gotten to the end by working hard. So, Holden has held to the Biblical principal - don't try to tear out the bad wheat, or you'll accidentally pull the good wheat with it (parable of Our Lord, Jesus the Christ)!! Of course, Holden and the others have failed to acknowledge that you're supposed to actually then harvest the WHOLE field and afterward separate out the bad wheat (aka - do the ceremony and then let those that cheated fail - although, I'm not sure how their cheating in world cultures or AZTEC INDIAN HISTORY, is going to cause them life failures - I know it's helped me out so many times - when watching JEAPARODY!!). Well, of course, there's also the Biblical principal that you can't know what's in the heart of another - only your own - and without FACTS - without WITNESSES - without the ACTUAL EVIDENCE - you can only assume - and therefore - CAN NOT PASS JUDGMENT. But, Holden and the others - you know - the superintendent, principals and teachers who are all supposed to be highly educated - seem to have MISSED that part of THEIR world cultures studies!!
But folks, this is NOT what I'm upset about. Oh no - this is not even the BEST of the story. You see, the best part of this story is about to come - the part where the school must hang its head in SHAME, where the ENTIRE school district must be put to the utmost scrutiny and punished for this. Why? Well, I know many of you are still feeling that the school is justified. Many of you are still believing the school is in the right because we shouldn't let cheaters through - even if it's only for world cultures and stupid information that's not going to help the non-future archaeologists - even if it means punishing the innocent along with the guilty (and yes -the innocent are punished when their rite of passage - a VITAL part of growing up and the ENTIRE point of working hard in school is to achieve success and feel the good effects of their accomplishment through that Rite). So, let me point out the painfully obvious that, thus far, has apparently been missed:
The school didn't "catch," the cheaters. Oh no - the school "noticed" HIGHER THAN EXPECTED GRADES - and it brought to their attention the potential for cheating. STOP! HOLD ON - and let's rethink this. "Higher - than - expected - grades." So... the school noticed that students were getting high grades and this was concern for cheating? Well, I mean - of course, why not? After all, we wouldn't expect our students in American schools to actually be getting good grades, right? It's just silly to believe that students might be doing good - or that the TEACHERS ARE DOING THEIR JOBS!! Okay - who's lost? Who doesn't get the point I just made? Those of you that are missing this - get up - go wash your face off with cold water - and re-read the article, especially the part about the parents holding their own ceremony and the school not being welcome. Reread the part about one student having the test and still failing - and that this is one of the highest, academically rated schools in the state!!
Just remember - because it is one of the highest rated schools, wouldn't mean much if the graduating grade-level of a high-school senior is less than the fourth grade (no, that's not an insult to the students - but to the educators and the system teaching them). The students were SO disinclined to care about world cultures, so unmotivated by their teachers - so worried about a teacher who obviously likes to make the "tough" tests that they feared they wouldn't pass - that they cheated. Do students cheat because it's easy? Maybe - but fear and guilt always play a factor in that equation - such as fear of not knowing info on the final - so the usual answer is - NO. Students cheat when they're worried about their grades, about not passing - because - whether it's their fault or the teacher's - they didn't get the information. Now, not knowing the teaching style in the classroom, here's the only thing I can say, and the point of all of this:
THE SCHOOL FAILED. Not the students who cheated or didn't "whistleblow," but the SCHOOL. Cheaters don't cheat others, they cheat themselves. Their going through the rite of passage would have been empty and unfulfilling and they would have been the ones to suffer for it (well, if we were talking about reading or math, albeit ANCIENT Aztec history is SO vital to getting a job at some big company like ... Congress). The school is withholding the ceremonial graduation because they are EMBARRASSED! They are humiliated. They are.. wait.. stupid. Why? Because - they could have held the graduation ceremony and notified the parents of the cheaters and not invited them. Wait - haven't schools done that in the past? Isn't that what happens for a student who doesn't graduate? Why, yes, it is!! The school could have kept this under the carpet, protected the HARD WORKING, deserving students (because those world cultures cheaters are so terribly bad!!), and maintained the ceremonial graduation and SAVED FACE in light of having had to realize that there were cheaters amongst them when their students, in their "highly accredited" school got good grades............. (sorry.... have to pause again as I am dumbfounded by the sheer ignorance of the school in making that public.........), and still operated in the fashion that a low-grade, poor-quality, American school usually does.
Folks - this is not a travesty - this is an absolute failure of the system. This is so degrading that it reeks of filth and putrescence. I am so disgusted by this, that my grandmother is rolling over in her coffin. If one of her students was struggling, if she thought that they felt the need to cheat, one on one, she would step up to the plate, talk with their parents, and try to help. My son's school will call me if they feel there are issues that my child is having, and open the lines of communication (expecting, as they should, that I as his dad should be responsible for my own child), to help my child succeed. They don't just assume he's stupid and should get bad grades - like the ENTIRE education system in OHIO! Ohio residents should be outraged. They should be terminating the ENTIRE school board system - and let them see what it means to punish the innocent with the guilty - then rehire the ENTIRE staff, weeding out the idiots. You see - the problem is that - the schools are not just failing in what level of education they provide, they are failing in how they operate:
Should I even bother? Should I even bother to tell you why this is wrong, and how wrong it is? Do you not understand? Yes - the parents that are supporting a pre-prom cocktail party are WRONG - and they should have to be dealt with. The police can sit outside wherever these students are having their party, raid it and make bank (as they were probably planning anyway). But, the school doesn't want to support an "orgy." First off - just publishing that is WRONG. These are young minds who have obviously been swayed toward the degraded, low-end of the evolutionary ladder. Do we need to call their prom an "orgy?" Are we not encouraging MORE of this behavior? The school is right not to support this - I agree. NO ONE should support participating in ANY activity which degrades a child, no matter the circumstance. Is a graduation ceremony for a "potential" cheater, degrading? No - not at all - it's their cross to bear and a disgusting treatment of the hard working students - but so is cancelling a prom that the parents are the wealthy ones sponsoring, and will sponsor anyways!! The kids are going to Disneyland to stay in hotels together without ANY adult supervision?
The REAL problem? The school cancels the prom because, under THEIR supervision - THEIR guidance (and sorry Kellenberg Memorial PRIVATE high school - but it is YOUR responsibility what takes place AT and DURING the prom), that Brother Hoagland (yes - "BROTHER" as in MAN OF THE CLOTH) felt had turned into an orgy. But, wait - that's not true. "During" the prom, while the students stand in a gym and dance, they are monitored. Oh no - hold on, my bad - the school has been letting them rent out some big house and hold the prom there, unsupervised, where the kiddies are fed alcohol - even though one of the parents thinks it SUCKS that THEIR good student, that they have helped instill with morals, shouldn't be TALLIED in with the guilty and FALSELY labeled and alcoholic and drug addict. So - who failed, the students? Yes, in part - because they are not so ignorant enough to understand that societal norms don't support their raging hormones getting themselves pregnant as teenagers. Did society? Oh - big time - I can't even begin to say this enough.... Did the parents? Yeah - if every time you give your kid money, peer pressure leads them to go buy alcohol or drugs - STOP giving them MONEY - duh (at least the parents said they're relieved and glad that the schools morals are "saving" them - not the kids - but the parents, from contributing to their child's delinquency....?? um.. what? What IDIOT said this? How did they become a parent? How have they managed to actually survive up until now without walking off the edge of a well-marked cliff-side?)? Did the school - YES. YES. and.. um, YES.
What takes place after the prom- that's NOT the school's responsibility. What takes before the prom - is not the school's either. If it's an alcohol issue - I'm sure that the Sheriff's department would have more than gladly (and probably delighted in it as they are sadistic), stood at the door and offered the 'quick-check' alcohol breath strip, if the teachers were too afraid to. Then - the kids with the responsibility and maturity level of a dog in heat - could have been kept out.
Finally, what does this all mean? What is the point of my long-winded banter? (hey - it's a blog - not a newspaper article!!). It means, that when the school has options to consider holding students accountable and responsible, yet fails to do so - it hurts the students. When a school punishes the innocent, it teaches them their hard work and efforts were for nothing and it hurts the students. It teaches the 'stray' kids that they can keep doing what they're doing and let the innocent take the fall. It means that these people are setting BAD examples for our children. It means these people have no idea what the purpose and value of an education is. School is MORE than just reading books - it's opening your mind. Of course - the school in New York has taught one valuable lesson - they're not going to keep letting history repeat itself - just only after it's happened over and over and over again and didn't "self resolve," magically. Hmm... I wonder if that's not the same, ignorant standard that the world leaders used when they ignored Hitler after he took one country... then another... then another... the problem not resolving itself, until finally, they took a stand. Hey - I guess history DOES repeat itself!! And, the school DID fail to teach a valuable lesson...
No... wait.. that's not good.. is it? Good luck!!