Article one- Questions for school on Bullying and a Suicide
This past January a tragedy unfolded in a Massachusetts high school. A teenage girl, who had recently relocated to the United States from Ireland, committed suicide by hanging her self at home as a result of being bullied and pushed around in school. This is a scene becoming far too familiar in our schools today as studies show a huge incline in teenage suicide over the past five years. What makes this case eerily similar to others across the country is that it happened as a result of bullying. Bullying that could have been prevented if officials acted properly and saw signs of emotional disturbances as serious ones, instead of assuming harmless high school drama was at fault of such disturbances. When news surfaced that a teenage girl committed suicide, school officials instantly began to come up with ways to defend the school. According to one school official, “Tragedies can still occur.” Now this was said when asked about the preventative measures taken to ensure school bullying is properly addressed. The school insists that it did all it could have done to prevent such a tragedy, however the parents of the victims don’t agree with that one bit. In fact, the victim’s mother tells how she contacted the school not once, but twice to address her daughter’s issues that were stemming from being picked on, and bullied in school. She never got a clear answer but was reassured by officials that all bullying complaints are taken very serious. When the investigation began into why a seemingly accomplished student would take their own life, witnesses provided certain facts that could prove the school did not take the proper steps in preventing this tragedy. People came forward and admitted seeing the student in distress, at least three months prior the incident. Opening up questions aimed toward school officials to figure out whether or not they did indeed act properly when dealing with complaints of being bullied.
The Term Paper on School Bullying 2
Bullying is the use of force or coercion to abuse or intimidate others. The behavior can be habitual and involve an imbalance of social or physical power. It can include verbal harassment or threat, physical assault or coercion and may be directed repeatedly towards particular victims, perhaps on grounds of race, religion, gender, sexuality, or ability.[2][3] The victim of bullying is sometimes ...
Bullying is a huge problem our students are dealing with everyday they go to school. Like we know now, if not addressed and properly dealt with, it can turn deadly. Our students go to school to learn and expand their minds or at least that’s what most people would like to believe. The reality is, our schools today are a breeding ground for clicks, posses, gangs, or whatever other term there is that is used to describe a group of people who are superior to other groups and all this goes unnoticed. Is it simply because the teachers are unaware? That could be the case however I don’t think that is true. Teachers have to be aware bullying is going on because they see everything that the students do. So could it be true that teachers don’t care, or don’t know how to properly take action? Whatever the problem is we need to fix it fast because if we don’t get a grip on it now, it could quite easily evolve into a problem that is unchangeable, bullying could become just as common in the day as enjoying some recess time. However bullying is not simple, innocent fun like playing on the jungle gym. Somebody gets hurt as a result of a person or a group of people finding something “fun to do. In most bullying cases the other kids can’t witness the hurt they had just caused in someone. However in this case the children are fully aware of their actions since they know their actions resulted in a death. Not only the girl who committed suicide is the victim here, the kids who did the bullying also deserve a little sympathy because were they ever educated on the consequences certain actions result in? I mean I cant personally remember one time in school where a professional talked to me about bullying, I guess that’s because that is an issue they feel should be addressed at home, long before one enters school.
As an educator we have to know that the most influential time in a person life is the time they spend shaping their minds in school. We need to offer a safe environment for our students so they can all equally be exposed to everything that going to school is supposed to offer. If bullying continues to go on in our schools and no one properly seeks ways to end it, then as a future educator, I feel we will be robbing the students from what they deserve, a fair and equal education in an environment that does not restrict them from achieving that. Bullying does not have a place and our schools and harsher punishments need to put in place so students know this. It needs to be dealt with more aggressively than slapping a student on their wrist and telling them no. If stricter policies aren’t put in place, students will continue to be bullies and if that is the case, we can expect to keep seeing tragedies such as the one in Massachusetts.
The Essay on To What Extent Should High School Students Be Allowed To
To What Extent Should High School Students be allowed to Exercise Freedom of Speech While on Campus I think that nowadays to deal with an issue of students free speech rights is a tough problem for High School administrators. The matter is that students free speech is protected by the First Amendment. Thus it means that students are allowed to exercise free speech while on campus. But what should ...
Article two- Harlem Arts School Shuts Over Financial Problems
An arts school in Harlem that has been the heart of a neighborhood for decades was shut down due to lack of funding. The Harlem School of the Arts has been operating for nearly fifty years and offered children alternatives to learning that they normally would not have been exposed to if not for THSA. The THSA gave students the opportunity to trade their traditional books in for instruments, paintbrushes and poetry and allowed them to find what they have a passion for and expand that passion into something. Now, due to the lack of donors, the THSA’s doors remain shut, denying families who have been apart of the program from the beginning. There still is some hope that the school will be saved and reopen in the spring, however the board of directors do not see that happening because they say there is just not enough people who care to contribute to the school any longer, causing a sense of fear in a community because they view the school as a pillar holding up the community. Now with that collapsing pillar all the community can do is pray and hope a miracle will work this problem out.
The shutting of any school is never a pretty sign. A lot of the times we read about schools being closed shut due to lack of performances amongst the students, which in many cases have a correlation concerning the teachers as well. For cases like that we can only hope that the students will be distributed throughout the district and find their niche in a new school. However this case is a little different. Because the school is an Arts school and not a traditional one that focuses on the core course such as math and science, funding for it is solely up to donors and private parties, there is usually little or no government funding which is unfair because I feel that exploring the arts are just as important as a liberal education. Children have many styles in which they learn but all the schools that receive most of the government funding teach their children in the standard subjects, in a way that limits children’s creativity. The schools that dedicate themselves to the arts are truly unique and something must be done to ensure they have a future in our cities so children can continue to find themselves and explore into their creativity to unveil what makes everybody their own person.
The Essay on Is School Bad For Children?
Education has always been an intense topic of discussion among many cultures and different groups of people. For many years it was believed that without formal structured education, academic success couldn’t be achieved. Today that idea has been challenged and proved invalid by homeschooling, online classes and alternative learning of all sorts. In the article,”School is Bad for Children,” ...
Living in Schenectady I have actually experience with schools for the arts because some of my close friends decided to explore that route. I was told that not only are the school for arts good in the sense they let children find themselves, but also they help a lot of kids stay out of trouble. A traditional school can be boring to some, so in return they disrupt the learning of every other child in the building. So for the kids who think school is boring, an arts school can offer a sense of excitement and a sudden eagerness to want to be in school, resulting in a positive outcome for everyone involved.
Article three- Paterson Delays School Aid, Citing State’s Lack of Money
Governor Paterson decided to delay government aid to many school districts in New York City, aid that amounts to 2.1 billion dollars, aid that is much needed in the school districts that are already strapped for cash. Paterson made the announcement after he and the Legislature failed to agree on a budget deal that would have began at the beginning of this past fiscal year. Paterson claimed that in order to take action to secure the states future, short term cuts such as the cuts he announced are necessary. Paterson and his aides continue to stand by their decision, although districts are coming forward and saying that these delays are drastically going to impact the children’s education in many different ways. In response to that Paterson went on to say the districts aren’t completely left stranded because this is just a delay and payments are expected to be made the first of June if the money is available, however people need to understand that many districts are operating with little or no money for a third of the school year in 2010. The president of the New York State United Teachers unions, Richard C. Ianuzzi, ended the article by claiming, “Once again the governor-and I’m not saying on purpose-created a scenario that hurts the poorest and neediest New Yorkers worst.”
The Essay on Special School District
Clare Foley, an eleven year- old, is suffering from mild mental disorder. According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Special School District of St. Louis Country (SSD) should provide special education for children with disabilities in public schools (153 F. 3d 863). However, due to proximity, Clare’s parents transferred her to St. Peter’s Catholic School. ...
Delayed funds for any district can greatly impact the schools, but imagine the impact the inner city schools or what some would call the poor schools feel. Public schools count on government funding just as much as they count on good teachers, both are crucial to the school. Good, effective teachers can only do so much when the budget is dried up but unfortunately we keep reading about teachers that aren’t so good or nearly as effective as the school district would like. Teachers that engage in misconduct to teachers that help their students cheat on state exams so the school can look good on paper. This article made me stop and think about the two, about poor districts that keep getting funds cuts and about the bad teachers I have read or heard about in The New York Times, as well as many other media sources. Could these delays and cuts be a direct result of bad teachers? I mean if there is limited or no money can even the best teachers continue their way of teaching. At some point the good teacher in the poor district will have to make choices that could ultimately label them as a bad or ineffective teacher. A title I think would be unfair considering you were limited in resources resulting in poor execution of your teaching style. Nowhere in the article does it even discuss bad teachers, it’s just something I thought about when I read it and wanted to touch on.
The fact is, school funding is extremely important because our children are our future and there should not be a price put on that. Public school funding should be the last thing delayed if New York or any state for that matter is in a bad financial situation. I just don’t understand that if the state can’t provide their aid for the schools, what are they providing aid for and are our children really less important?
The Essay on Primary Education and School Children
The Government of India in 2001 launched the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a nationwide programme to provide universal primary education, thereby encouraging secondary education also. The Center passed The Right to Education Act in 1 April 2010, which guarantees free and compulsory education to every child in the 6-14 age groups. But, the lack of awareness on the requirement of pre-school education ...
Article four- Bill Would Allow Layoffs of Teachers with Seniority
Earlier this month, the Bloomberg administration announced that there may be possible layoffs for teacher’s district wide in New York City. Naturally this caused a panic among teacher because under the current layoff rules, the teachers who were the newest hired are the teachers that would be the first to be laid off. Many people find this unfair because although a teacher may be a new addition to a school, it does not mean their less effective than teachers with rank or seniority. Due to the amount of controversy surrounding the possible layoffs, a couple of state officials are trying to get a bill passed that would completely reform the current lay off rules. The bill these officials are trying to pass has gotten both positive and negative reactions. Positive reactions by organizations that are lobbying for young teachers and negative reactions by the Unions because they feel teachers who have seniority will be targeted for layoffs first because of their pay scale. The layoffs are targeting one of the poorest school districts in New York as well as on of the most wealthiest so children from all demographics are been affected and in both districts, teachers from other districts with higher seniority will replace the teachers being laid off.
Officials feel that by shifting experienced teachers, meaning teachers who have been involved with the districts for many years, around then the state will save money and the children’s education would not feel a negative impact. However there are many people who disagree and think the districts issues can be solved by changing the rules. The chancellor of the schools said, “Experience matters, but it cannot be the sole or even principal factor considered in layoff decisions, we must be able to take into account each individuals track record of success.” basically backing up the new teachers and showing his support for the bill to be passed. Jonathan Bing, an assembly man representing the Upper East Side also shows his support by pointing out that all the current rules are in place to simply get rid of all the young teachers. Teachers that are in the beginning of their careers and just starting to gain classroom experience. A major change the bill would make is to put each schools representatives in charge of making lay off decisions for their own schools, instead of having the state come in and change things. The school representatives involved the process would consist of parents of the children in the school, teachers from the school and the school administrators. Again, the teacher unions are the only people upset over the proposed change because of their support of seniority. In Washington D.C. school officials got rid of the seniority rule and to date has seen a increase in teacher turn over, actually weakening the schools. So as it stands there is still a lot of debt concerning the proposed bill. They only thing that both sides of the opposition can agree on is that having parents directly involved in the schools decisions concerning the budget and layoffs is a good idea. This bill is set to be voted on sometime before summer and could be effective immediately if passed.
The Essay on Condoms vs Abstinence for Public School Children
Rush Limbaugh’s article, “Condoms: The New Diploma,” berates the common practice of distributing condoms to school children. The iconic conservative talk show host, who is blessed with “talent on loan from God,” uses forceful, colloquial arguments and analogies to warn against the messages and possible dire consequences that public school condom distribution can impart on America’s children. He ...
This was an issue that many Saint Rose students can relate to because soon a lot of us will be looking for jobs as teachers. If teachers are getting laid off constantly, and those teachers are the last ones in, then I feel that is going to discourage a lot of graduates from applying for jobs in certain areas, areas that could really use good, young teachers. Instead we will be more likely to look for jobs in more secure districts, in schools that have high yearly budgets. Personally I would love to work with inner city kids, in schools that don’t have huge budgets so I can be creative with what resources there are and be just as effective as teachers in richer school districts. But applying to struggling districts can be freighting for many because at any moment, in the midst of their experience, the can be laid off and left stranded with minimal experience making them, the younger teacher, less marketable than the teacher who has consistent years of classroom experience. The highlight of this bill is allowing parents to be involved in important decision making. I think parents would feel like they have more of a role in the schools and ultimately making them more involved in all areas of the school, not just with the teachers.
We do have to give those teachers with seniority a fair chance to. This bill needs to equally benefit young and old teachers so no conflicts arise. We can’t pass it and get rid of the highest paid teachers to save money or get rid of the newest teachers because they need a chance to prove their self worthy to the district. So I think making the decisions concerning layoffs should be based on past performance, maybe over x amount of years, not rank.
Article five- The Examined Life, Age 8
A program that is currently being ran on a trial basis in a Springfield, Mass. Elementary school is one that is not usually seen involving children that are so young. However a Professor from Mount Holyoke College and his graduate students are finding it very effective. What professor Wartenberg does on weekly basis is visits the elementary school and talks philosophy with the children. He does not get into the complex details; instead what he does is engage the children in activities that generate self thought and self reflection. Instead of the traditional method style of teaching, students are able to really get into their own thoughts and explore ideas on their own, using their techniques. This type of teaching is not common in the United States but it is incorporated on a regular basis in over sixty countries, and show far has been shown to be an effect teaching technique to apply early on. In Springfield it has shown to be working great but there are critics of the program. They say that book knowledge is crucial at a young age because children absorb more then and can think and explore later on in life after they have been taught the core subjects. However these critics can’t stop the program because everyone directly involved with it are very satisfied with the outcome thus far. Teachers and parents have seen an increase of children being social and wanting to find answers to the ‘whys’ in life because they are now being introduced to them and understand the exsist. Professor Wartenberg goes on to say that he has encountered a lot of children who have no idea what the want to do after high school because they have not deeply learned how to think about that. So implementing philosophy in elementary school can get children thinking on their own and have them explore earlier on so they know what paths to take in life.
My first philosophy class was actually last semester, at the age of twenty four. I just never had to take a course in it so I really had no idea how deep it can get. I find myself thinking about things I have never thought about, not in twenty five years of being alive. I saw this article and it made me wonder what I what have turned out like if I began exploring and seeking questions to all of life’s answers sooner in life, like when I was eight. Would I have chosen a different career path? Would I have my own family? I have no idea. It is really a cool idea to bring such a topic to elementary schools. People always say that kids say the darnedest things, imagine what they would say or do if they weren’t so restricted or afraid to do so. The classroom would be a much more creative place, instead of the boring, very structured places they are now. Doing field experience I have witnessed students being told how to solve an answer, and when they asked why, the teacher just said because. The students never said anything more but sat there with the ‘because why’ look on their face and the teacher continues with the lesson. What if that student had the time to ask why in a way they felt comfortable in further exploring the solution to the problem, increasing the child’s thought process as oppose to leaving the child behind, utterly confused.
Teaching philosophy at a younger age can, in my personal opinion, really change the way our children grow up only for the better. Let children question and ask why, no harm can come from it. The only thing a child can gain from being taught how to reason, ask, reflect, and ponder can only be positive, honestly I can’t see any bad that could come from it.
References
Confessore, N. (2010, March 31).
Paterson Delays School Aid, Citing State’s Lack of Money. The New York Times, p. A11.
Eckholm, E. & Zezima, K. (2010, April 2).
Questions for school on Bullying and a Suicide. The New York Times, pp. A1, A3.
Goodnough, A. (2010, April 8).
The Examined Life, Age 8. The New York Times, p. ED26.
Lee, T. ( 2010, April 4).
Harlem Arts School Shuts Over Financial Problems. The New York Times, p. A13.
Medina, J. (2010, April 13).
Bill Would Allow Layoffs Of Teachers With Seniority. The New York Times, p. A22.
