A CAUSE OF THE MORAL VACUUM IN SCHOOL

A CAUSE OF THE MORAL VACUUM IN SCHOOL

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD Traditional Realist

Parental blindness of the child’s misbehavior and the unwillingness to listen to and respect the teacher's word has made it taboo for schools to confront inappropriate acts. This parents supporting of the child over the teacher has led to acceptability of antisocial behavior in our schools.

Schools prefer to keep parents content under the illusion their child is close to perfect. It is easier. From the school’s perspective it is much smarter to avoid a lose-lose bruhaha with parents and their children by overlooking lying, cheating, stealing and being lazy. The most efficient way to achieve this goal is to create a low stress and high enjoyment environment for students.

Entertaining students, not expecting much effort from them academically has become acceptable. Permitting them to socialize with peers however, whenever and wherever they desire is the norm. This permissive atmosphere reduces student gripes and attitude problems towards teachers, administrators and most importantly to parents.

Too many parents lie to themselves especially about their children’s school achievements. They put bumper stickers on their cars saying their child is “the student of the month” even though he shows poor academic ability at home. The parents bragging about their child's questionable skills and achievements is more about boosting their reputation as good parents. They rationalize this promoting behavior by telling others they are increasing the self-confidence of their child. Really they are creating a false reality for a less than competent student/youngster. This is not a protective act as it is setting up the child for future failure.

Modern parents want to be close friends who are able to share intimate feelings with their children well into adulthood. They believe their close relationship insures their child's telling them the truth. This is not the case. Children are not perfect: they lie. The trust level the modern parent has for his child is dangerously high.

This power of trust granted to children by their parents is foolish. Modern media culture through the Internet, social networks and targeted advertising along with increased peer freedom is a hazardous world for today’s students. It is crammed with life and death temptations.

In a student run asylum (school) the temptation to attempt forbidden behavior for peer acceptance is greater than ever before. Resorting to lying to cover up cheating, stealing and laziness is applauded by their peers as cool. In our present culture this is the most influential audience for the majority of youngsters.

This behavior of not being forthright even when caught red handed has become commonplace. Many students compete to be the "slickest con artist" rather than be as the openly defiant rebel that was fashionable in the past. The popularity of passing as an obedient student with authority figures while living a double life, as a devious troublemaker amongst peers is an attractive status creating many converts.

The lack of close supervision of student behavior and the built in policies to minimize any confrontation with parents has led to avoiding serious investigation of school incidents. By not determining the facts of the incident there is no need to identify the perpetrator or the victim. The difference between right and wrong is diluted.

It makes political sense from the school's viewpoint to ignore and when necessary to downplay any student problem by giving all participants the same non-serious consequences. In the short run no one involved suffers enough pain to raise a stink with his parents. The long-term result of this approach is horrendous. The moral climate of the school is drastically decreased. The worst and sneakiest students thrive while the good, naive youngsters withdraw and become perennial victims.

The unintentional lesson being taught at our facilities is immoral behavior works. The epidemic of cheating on SAT tests and school officials lying to protect their involvement is only the tip of the iceberg. Lying and cheating have not only become acceptable but a good cheater and liar has become revered in our schools. Studies of student’s cheating have shown a drastic increase over the past 50 years. 80% of the country’s best students cheated to get to the top of their class. Our society is not only ignoring the cheating but is rewarding it.

It is the parent’s responsibility to teach their children that they will punish them wherever they are. Parents should appreciate other authority figures taking time and effort to teach their child that lying and cheating do not pay, not condemn them.

Everyday we fight to protect our children from the consequences of their poor decisions. It is another lost opportunity to develop a strong moral foundation in our children. By parents joining hands with conscientious community leaders to support appropriate consequences for misbehavior. This would bring meaning to the expression “crime does not pay.”

Creating a solid moral foundation in our children is the most important legacy parents can leave them to insure their success. Parents should be the leaders in their child’s moral development, not their personal apologists.

You can visit Dr. Maglio at www.drmaglio.com.

HOMOSEXUALITY ACCEPTANCE IS NOT SCHOOL BUSINESS

HOMOSEXUALITY ACCEPTANCE IS NOT SCHOOL BUSINESS

By Domenick J. Maglio PhD Traditional Realist

Public school teachers do not have an easy job. They often complain about the lack of student preparation when children enter school. Teachers have advocated for higher readiness skills for kindergarten entrance. The lack of sleep, poor nutrition, obesity and acting out children have been highlighted in the media recently as obstacle in the education of modern students.

Our public schools are not functioning as well as in the past compared to other developed countries. Our national drop out rate in college is approaching 50%. The National Assessment of Education Progress has demonstrated we are 31st in math 23^rd in science and 17^th in reading as compared to other developed countries. The 2011 SAT results were the lowest ever recorded in reading and writing sections for college bound seniors. Only the scores of 43% of the students taking the SAT were predictive of success in college while 67% were not.

We as a nation have made education a high priority. The present administration has increased the education budget by billions over the past three years with no significant positive results. Public education is receiving half a trillion dollars per year from local, state and federal governments with little return on the investment.

The issues facing public schools are deep rooted and complex. Yet progressive politicians and educators are engaging in social engineering instead of focusing on improving student achievement.

Dakota Pope a 14 –year-old student from Ft. Worth, Texas was given an in-school suspension for telling a fellow student that homosexuality was wrong. According to Liberty Council attorney, Matt Krause, representing Dakota, the student was inappropriately informed by his German teacher that homosexuality was ”happening all over the world and you have to accept that homosexuality is just part of the culture now.”

Furthermore, Attorney Krause stated “There has been a history with this teacher in the class regarding homosexual topics. The teacher has posted a picture of two men kissing on the wall that offended some of the students.”

This teacher’s off subject attempt at desensitizing and indoctrinating students in homosexual acceptance is undermining the focus and quality of public education. This teacher is wasting student’s valuable time by attempting to impose his personal progressive agenda. The teacher’s subjective opinion on the state of homosexuality is not part of his job description of teaching German. This is an abuse of his power as a teacher sanctioned to teach German and malpractice by the school district for not monitoring and disciplining the staff member.

The school district has not explained why the 9^th grade German teacher was discussing homosexuality. There was no comment on any disciplinary action for the teacher‘s unwarranted comments. Students should not lose their First Amendment rights just because a school official feels their comments may offend some other student.

Even if Dakota’s comment personally offends someone he still has the right to Freedom of Speech. In the United States an individual can inform a fellow student that he disagrees with his teacher’s controversial opinions and concerning the morality of homosexuality. This is especially true due to Dakota’s strong religious background, which is protected by our Bill of Rights.

Acceptance of a person’s sexual orientation is not the same as tolerance. Muslims, Christians and Jews should not have to alter their moral and religious beliefs to conform to an atheist or secular viewpoint. People who believe that homosexuality is contrary to natural law and is religiously sinful should not be punished for their views.

It is wrong when a student is punished for voicing his honest opinion on personal or moral issues. Once a school system allows its staff to engage in this unprofessional behavior it should be denied government funds. The public buildings are no longer being used for education but have become centers of indoctrination.

In the entertainment media it is becoming common place to titillate the audience with explicit homosexual behavior as two teenage boys kissing on the television show “Glee”. The parents have the ability to censor their children from watching the program. On the other hand government schools have a captive audience of young minds and therefore have an obligation to all the taxpaying citizens to educate the citizens in the fundamentals of a classic education. They do not have a public mandate to alter or to eradicate the moral values of our children.

There is no place in our Constitutional Republic where our government can or should force the public to accept homosexuality or any other type of sexual relationship. Our Constitution does not permit our government to deny citizens their moral beliefs. Public schools should concentrate on giving our children a solid education while protecting their individual liberties

Dr. Maglio is the author of Invasion Within and Essential Parenting. He is a psychotherapist and the owner/director of Wider Horizons School.

Visit: www.drmaglio.com.

GENERALIST EDUCATORS ARE NEEDED MORE THAN EVER

In the 1950s before consolidation of public schools, neighborhood schools were accessible and were staffed with teachers who often knew their student’s whole family. They were entrusted with teaching all the subject areas. The students knew the teachers and children of the entire school, which made them feel comfortable and safe. They mastered the fundamentals that allowed them to be successful in the higher grades. These children were able to build on the solid education foundation they received at these simple yet accommodating facilities.

Today’s public schools have chosen to go down a different path of fancy mega schools and ultra specialization. Each curriculum area has a professional specifically trained to teach it. This specialized approach to education has been implemented in lower and lower grade levels. Even in the first and second grade where there are homeroom teachers in charge of most of the curriculum some specialists are penetrating the classroom. These specialists are being rotated into the classroom and problem children are often sent out of the room to be remediated by specifically trained teachers in a particular area.

Every parent wants his child to learn things in depth. These teachers usually possess more knowledge in the focused area than the average generalist teacher who has been exposed to all areas. This narrow focus approach ignores the fundamental issue that a teacher needs more than an hour or two with a classroom of students to know them as individuals.

A successful elementary teacher has to have extended time in different situations to study the child to determine his strengths and weaknesses and develop a trusting relationship to maximize a child’s learning. Teachers should learn directly from the child the best method to teach frustration tolerance, delayed gratification, motivation, and a host of positive academic and emotional habits. These essential skills and habits will assist the student to persevere in improving his academic performance.

This need to teach the “whole child” is greater today than ever before. Modern mothers in the work force might have been liberated from their former responsibilities but they have left a vacuum for their children to be prepared for school. Coupled with frequent absentee fathers and single parent families, our children have little exposure to their parents.

These parents have compensated for their absence by concentrating on basic learning. Today’s children are given ample opportunities by their parents through educational toys, electronic gizmos and reading before going to bed to learn what knowledge the parents think is important to be prepared for school. Cognitive learning like colors, numbers, and letters does not insure school success.

Today’s modern family does not have the time to adequately teach the elements of building strong character. They are often not present to teach essential lessons to prepare the children for life’s obstacles. Emotional, social and overall character development are the areas that have suffered.

Today’s children do not have “quantity time” with their parents to consistently form the solid habits of a well-rounded healthy youngster. These deficiencies have to be corrected for the child to be whole and successful. The early grades teacher is the second chance for many of these children. More than ever today’s teachers need to have the opportunity and time to recognize and to fill in these gaps.

It is not how much a teacher intellectually knows, it is how well she is able to assist the learning of the child. The student is the best person to show the teacher the most effective method of instruction to reach him. This individualization of teaching the particular unique child is far superior to using a cookie cutter approach to teach to the medium level of the class.

Even before Socrates, teaching has been an art rather than the science as it is presently portrayed. A teacher who reaches students has to be a well rounded person of solid character who possesses a heavy dose of empathy.

Generalist teachers are the most efficient and effective way of educating modern children. The non-specialist teacher has the opportunity to be an expert in making an accurate assessment of each and every child’s learning style. She has the ability to pin point the strength and weakness of the child to assist each of them to be competent learners. This takes intuitive insight, quantity time and dedicated thought to uncover the missing pieces of the individual child’s puzzle of how best to learn.

Dr. Maglio is the author of Invasion Within and Essential Parenting. He is a psychotherapist and the owner/director of Wider Horizons School.

Visit: www.drmaglio.com.