There is a song by Crosby, Stills and Nash called “Teach Your Children” and some of the lyrics are: “Teach your children well, Your father’s hell, did slowly go by. And feed them on your dreams, the one they pick’s the one you’ll know by.”
The song is about how different generations influence each other. I’m not sure why it came to mind today when I heard that we had a bomb scare called into a local school and all the kids had to be evacuated to a local church. But it did.
I think it was the idea that we have “taught our children well.”
By itself, the event is something that seems to happen every other year or so, some yahoo deciding he/she would like to get some attention or cause trouble or whatever. Heck, we even had them in the 70’s.
Unfortunately, it’s not an isolated event in our schools in 2021. In the last month we have had a horrible school shooting in Michigan, and in Maryland ( our state) a school stabbing, a huge fight at a high school involving many students and serious injuries, two students caught with guns at two different schools, two students arrested for gun violence, and various other scares about guns and finally the bomb threat mentioned above. Here is a social media post about a threat in Dundalk:
Fortunately, this was not a real threat. But, there have been others that were real.
I’m sure you are wondering, what the hell is going on?
I’m wondering, what did you expect?
Currently in our schools, we have divided children into various sub-groups by race, gender, vaccine status, sexual preference, etc. We have taught several groups that they are the oppressed and have designated other groups as the oppressors, merely on the basis of skin color. We have identified some as incurable racists, regardless of their actions or beliefs. We have told others that they will never succeed while other groups exist.
We’ve taught them that NOTHING in the history of this country is a positive and they should be ashamed of the United States, its flag, its anthem, its heroes, their family history, etc. They believe the only way to save themselves is to destroy our country and betray their parents.
While we have been doing that, the Federal Government has implemented discipline policies in the schools that don’t prevent violence, but actually encourage it. We have effectively created a “gang” culture in our schools. What do rival gangs do? They fight with each other and commit violent acts and the Department of Education forces the schools to implement policies that remove any consequences.
To speed this process along, we have uselessly clad our children in masks that do nothing to fight disease, but effectively damage their mental and physical health. We’ve told them that other people are dangerous and we should not get close to them. Don’t believe me? Ask the parents whose children are so anxious about getting sick that they panic when they see anyone without a mask. Ask the parents whose children now have physical ailments that are directly connected to the masks.
You can thank your local Superintendent, Health Department, School Board and now State Superintendent and School Board for that. Remember them? The ones who didn’t want to hear from you? The ones who think parents are ” domestic terrorists?”
The most shocking thing of all is that this doesn’t seem to be by accident. It seems intentional and many in the education establishment are complicit in policies that are promoting violence in schools. More about that later.
Educators and politicians will give you several different answers about why this is happening and how to fix the problem. The Baltimore County Executive, Johnny Olszewski, wrote a letter to parents regarding the violence. Did he propose more stringent discipline policies for student offenders? Did he suggest school resource officers to present a strong presence in schools to deter violence? Did he recommend that we stop teaching our children to hate each other and our country?
Oh, come on, you know better than that.
His answer is that we need better school facilities. Yep. If we would just spend billions more on building more modern schools, all the violence would melt away like last year’s snowman. In his defense, he does mention Career and Technology programs and alternative schools. However, I wonder why, since these things have been around for at least 20 years, he hasn’t thought of that sooner. Did he just wake up yesterday and have an epiphany?
Even though his school system gets $16,552.00 per student that is not enough to implement those programs. They need more money for, for, for something….and that is a different something which would eliminate violence in the schools. Forever. Yeah, okay.
That per pupil cost doesn’t include numerous Federal and State Grants. Many private schools, which historically have a better academic record and are not beset with violence, would love to have that amount for each student they teach. And, yes, I know they get to “choose” their students as the public school wonks will tell you. Yes, the public schools take everyone.
The public schools also waste a ton of money on programs that sound good but do nothing and on staff that is unnecessary, particularly in the central administration.
There are solutions that wouldn’t cost any additional funding, but the people in charge would rather not discuss those.
Here’s a letter from the Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools regarding violence in his schools and his answers. My comments are following each paragraph in italics.
Dear Team BCPS,
I have heard from members of our community who are concerned about challenging student behavior and its impact on school environments. I want to provide an update on our ongoing efforts to address student safety and also solicit your help with this critical work. Our schools continue to take proactive measures that foster safe, secure, and supportive environments for all students and staff throughout Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS). The ongoing trauma experienced by families as a result of this global pandemic continues to manifest itself in an uptick of disruptive behaviors. We are not alone, school systems across the nation are facing similar challenges. The associate director of the Center for Childhood Resilience notes that the return to full-time in person learning has resulted in “a prolonged adjustment period” because of the increased interaction and structure.
Notice the euphemism used for violence. It’s called “challenging student behavior. ” They can’t even use the correct terminology for gang fights and gun threats. We all know that you cannot solve a problem you won’t identify accurately.
Also take note of the blame for all of this. It’s the new catch all for everything. The pandemic. The very people who promoted the pandemic and closing schools are now using it as an excuse for violence.
Like you, I am troubled by the reports of increasingly disruptive behaviors that have created added stress and exhaustion for staff, and additional worry for families. There are no easy answers. However, my team and I are committed to working with all members of Team BCPS to tackle these issues. It is important to note that social media threats and community-based conflicts, at times involving adult members of our community, are carried into school environments. This creates an additional hardship on schools and impacts school staff’s ability to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for all. Below are a list of actions and opportunities we are taking to partner with the BCPS community to ensure that our schools can focus on teaching and learning:
Here is an interesting cause of violence. “Social media threats and community based conflicts, at times involving adult members of our community.”That is code used to describe those pesky parents and community members who have demanded accountability from the Board and Superintendent via meetings and social media. Instead of listening, Dr. Williams would rather blame them. If only they would keep quiet and allow the school system do what they want without questions.
Upcoming Live Virtual Town Hall Meetings by zone during the Week of December 13. These solution-oriented meetings are a follow up to the systemwide meeting held in October and will focus on community-related safety concerns. They will be facilitated by School Safety Managers and Executive Directors that work directly with schools. Meeting information will be sent via School Messenger.
You didn’t think they would do live meetings, did you? Much too scary. I’d also like to know about the solutions were created in the October meetings? Did they work? Doesn’t seem so.
Deployment of central office staff to schools to address identified needs, provide an enhanced adult presence, and help ensure safe and supportive environments.
This is the most ridiculous idea of all. Let’s send those gray haired central office wonks out to the schools to prevent violence. You know, the folks who haven’t been around an actual school building for years. Can’t wait to see them break up a fight or command obedience from real, live kids.
Use of alternative education options for students in need of additional support. School staff will work with families to create responsive solutions to meet the needs of all students.
This phrasing is exactly what is part of the problem. While schools are busy creating “responsive” solutions for the students in need of “additional supports,” they are eschewing solutions that have been proven successful in the past, you know, like standards and actual discipline and consequences.Meanwhile, do their victims get “additional supports?”
BCPS Student Council will launch a system-wide mental health awareness campaign in December and partner with the Maryland Center for School Safety for a “See It, Hear It, Report It” campaign in January.
More feel good stuff that won’t do anything. Sort of like the “see something, say something” campaign to prevent terrorism. What’s next? Student Council as TSA? Inspecting back packs and taking off shoes?
Upcoming Parent University presentation on conscious discipline entitled “Supporting the Social-Emotional Needs of Your Child and Yourself” with a focus on the topic of composure. It will be held on Tuesday, December 14 at 12:30 p.m. For more information and to register, visit the Parent University link or call 443-809-0365.
First off, what is “conscious discipline” and how is it different from “discipline?” Is regular discipline, established over the generations, no longer valid? Quite frankly, from what I have seen children suffer from a total lack of discipline. Period.
Recognize that phrase “social emotional?” That comes from “social emotional learning” a program that, with CRT, shows kids and families that they need to have the acceptable values that the state wants, not what their beliefs dictate. Since it is included in most school system mission statements for the past three years, I wonder why this hasn’t been successful in stopping school violence.
Parent Teacher Association Council of Baltimore County will be meeting in January to share resources with all local PTA presidents focused on the important role of the community in working with the school district to build safe and supportive learning environments. Local PTSA’s will host school specific meetings focused on safety.
We will bring together leaders, teachers, support professional and community partners for a multi-district, round table session. Participants will collaborate and work together in January 2022 to identify innovative solutions.
This actually means that the school system will select people they like and agree with to talk about and mutually admire the problem of school violence. Then they will check the box, pat themselves on the back, and do nothing. But they will brag about it endlessly. And they will ask for…more money.
We invite you to participate in as many of the upcoming activities as possible. Please continue to work directly with your school leadership teams to collaborate on positive solutions for the school community. Our partnership is critical during these challenging times.
He actually means the partnership is critical if you totally agree with him. Otherwise, suck it.
With appreciation,
Darryl L. Williams, Ed.D.
So, two leaders from the same county, one of the largest in Maryland, proposing the same unsuccessful lip service to a huge problem. I guarantee that you could take either of these letters, put them on a different county’s letterhead, sign them with a different Community leader/Superintendent’s name, and send them out. They all want more money and talk. And that is it. Real solutions take hard work and tough decisions.
While all of this philosophical discussion of answers that won’t work is going on our State School Board has created a mandate for masking children in public schools indefinitely, or until 80% of students and teachers in a school are vaccinated. Can you say “coercion” boys and girls?
As local schools are dividing students into groups who hate and blame each other, the State School Board is ensuring that there will be scapegoats available for the ongoing masking. Imagine being in a school where 75% of the population is vaccinated but certain children and teachers aren’t. What do you think will happen to these people? Do you think we might have some bullying and targeting? Of course we will. All you have to do is look at the vitriol against the unvaccinated on social media and even on certain cable television programs ( like Jim Cramer on CNBC) to see the death threats and call for the military to forcibly vaccinate people. Spell NAZI while you are at it.
And nationally, the disastrous school discipline rules started under the Obama Administration are now back. These are the rules that are blamed for the Parkland, Florida mass murder in 2018. To even use the word discipline for this policy is a joke.
Rather than explain these to you myself, I am including two links to articles about these policies. One is from November 2019 and one is from May, 2021.
Read them and judge for yourself about why this is happening. Most parents and community members don’t know about these policies. I think once you do, you will know what the plan is for our children and our schools.
Yes, we have taught our children well. And it is indeed, hell.
Obama’s Deadly School Discipline Policy https://townhall.com/columnists/sheriffdavidclarkeret/2019/11/23/obamas-deadly-school-discipline-policy-n2556756
Biden Administration Expected To Bring Back Obama-Era School Discipline Rules, Which Led To Racial Quotas https://www.truenewshub.com/dailywire/biden-administration-expected-to-bring-back-obama-era-school-discipline-rules-which-led-to-racial-quotas/
