What the hell, school?

[tripperfunster]

My son is doing an extracurricular activity through the school. Each Saturday, for twenty Saturdays, he goes to the local university and he and a group of other students his age, from other schools learn about different career options, like archaeology, chemistry, native studies and human rights, etc.

This past Saturday was 'family day' and I went along with him to see what he does there, and take part in the classes. At the end, we were given a survey to fill out, with questions like; "Do you talk about career options with your child A) regularly B) sometimes C) never." And "What would have made your experience today better." Yanno, fairly normal questions. And then there was this one.

Do you feel your child has the potential to succeed? YES/NO

All of the kids in question are under 12 years old. Really? Could any of these children be SO FUCKED UP that a parent or guardian would think they have no potential to succeed?

Instead of circling yes or no, I wrote; "Seriously? Did you actually just ask that question?"

And today, my son brought home a permission form so that he could MAKE A WISH LIST at the book fair. It was made clear on the note, that ALL CHILDREN would be attending the book fair, but they needed parental permission for the children to TAKE A PENCIL AND WRITE DOWN THE BOOKS THEY LIKED.

What the actual fuck? I wrote "Why would any child need permission to write a list? This crosses the line of ridiculous."

What I wanted to write is "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? IN WHAT UNIVERSE IS THIS SHIT OKAY? DO YOU NOT HAVE ENOUGH CRAP TO DEAL WITH ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS THAT YOU NEED TO POLICE A FUCKING WISH LIST??

*sigh*

Bonus stupid thing: Every Monday, for the last three years, I have taken my children out of school 10 minutes early, because they have private music lessons and we have to leave a bit early to get there on time. Last week my son came out and informed us that we had to go into the school and 'sign' them out. WTF?? After three years? I really don't want to be 'that parent', but I just snorted and told him to get in the car.

The amount of needless bureaucratic bullshit floating around in that school is ridic.
I understand that they have a lot of frustrating red tape that they have to do to protect the kids, but I have my limits on how many (and how stupid) hoops I"m willing to jump through.

Comments

[sra-danvers.livejournal.com]

I can see those things here too. The bureaucratic ones.
But I didn't know about 12 years getting advice about careers! Wow...

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Now that I sat through the whole day of that career trek, I highly suspect it's like an advertisement for the kids to go to university. There was a LOT of talk about what courses they would need to take, if they would need a phd etc.

It's all new to me too. I had never hear of it until he was selected to join.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Hang on now, I expect giving a kid a pencil could be considered a health and safety hazard, I mean they might poke someone with the pointy end.

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

You would almost think so, but since they require us to spend almost $150 on markers and paper and PENCILS at the start of the school year, I happen to know that they have access to these 'weapons' all the time, anyway. *eyeroll*

[myriadprobold.livejournal.com]

At least you are paying attention. I think many parents don't. I'm glad you are questioning the school's procedures on things that should be common sense. Many parents don't. And things will get more ridiculous.

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

This school has been annoying from day one. We've gone through four principles in 7 years, and I quite like the one who started last year, but I assume this sort of bullshit isn't his department.

Clearly, someone complained about their kid making a list without permission, which is why they're doing this now. I've never noticed any of MY complaints making a lick of difference.

[dickgloucester.livejournal.com]

Appropriate icon is appropriate.

The only one of these rules I'd agree with is signing your children out - this should have been in place from the first time you did it. In the UK, at any rate, children are required by law to be in school for the requisite number of hours unless there is a legitimate reason for them to be elsewhere; also, the school has to be sure the child is being handed to someone authorised to have them - for the child's safety.

But... permission needed to write a list? *shakes head*

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

I agree, the signing your child out makes sense, if you DO IT ALL THE TIME. Keep in mind this is a TINY school. less than 180 children. My kids wait in the school office and when they see me drive up, they put on their jackets and come out.

Everyone/anyone in the office can also see me pull up. And, as I said, this is year three of us doing this.

[piplover.livejournal.com]

My mom's a teacher, and I can tell you, a lot of time, the teacher's agree with you. However, it's the PARENTS who are pushing for the BS rules. "You want my child to write a wishlist? How dare you!" So now all the kids have to have permission. It's ridiculous, and parents like you roll their eyes, but I pretty much guarantee the teachers are, too.

If you want to know why the rules have changed, look to the parents around you and wonder why the hell they're demanding all the BS rules. Because trust me, teachers would love to be able to teach without having to reinforce things which should be common sense.

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

Oh yes! I wasn't blaming the teachers here, I was blaming the school. I replied in a comment above that it's obvious that someone had a problem with little Johnny making a list, so that's why this happened, but it's no less WTF to me.

A few years ago, one mother had a problem of her son being bullied at the school. (these kids have all moved on now.) I am still flabbergasted at the lack of support she and her son received, despite numerous complaints and meetings and such. (we are, of course, a zero tolerance school.*eyeroll*) They really did NOTHING to help this child, and yet stupid things like this permission list get pushed through the machine no problem. *sigh*