[geeks] New Tech Schools: Digital Harbor in Baltimore

[Andy Wallis]

On Fri, Apr 13, 2007 at 11:51:05AM -0500, Lionel Peterson wrote:
> Kids haven't changed that much, IMHO - the expectations of the parents have. I went to see a 
> speaker about the negative effects of competition in schools, 
> the majority of Validictorians that apply to Princeton University don't get in. 
> but I'm sure the parents of these kids would blame the school 
> (but Johnny worked so hard, why can't he get in?)...
A search of the phrase "Helicopter Parents" will either make one break down laughing at their
antics and cry for the people who have to deal with it.

"Why can't Johnny get into Harvard. We had him do so many extracirrcular activities. He's 
entitled. Whine, Whine, Whine." Those aren't parents, they are breeders.

NCLB was a crock of shit designed to kneecap schools. The worst of it is the idea that all
students want to learn and the teacher is always to blame. In my family of teachers, they can
talk for hours about slacker students who simply refuse to work. The kids don't care, can't be
made to care, and only drag everyone down. Some students are not college bound and don't want to
do to any vocational education. VocEd itself has been cut back and it isn't treated as a good 
alternative to college preparation. Even the idea that a stuff can take a GED and leave could
be an improvement.

The hair pulling part of it is not exempting the mentally retarted from the goals. Simply put, 
even a mild retartation can make college prep unsuitable. A student with Down's Syndrome who makes
it to college is a newsworthy event. Even in that instance, the retartion is relatively light. 
Simply put, Special Education is a quick way of making a teacher burn out. I don't blame the school
district who worries about the severly profound kid coming into the district. There is no way that
kid will ever succeed. I can't stand the breeders who demand that their kid is mainstreamed and 
treated like a normal child. Simply put, if that kid is always going to have the mental age of a 
child or toddler, he/she will never be normal. 
While most parents of the mentally retarted have accepted that concept, I always curse when I read
articles about their lawsuits and refusal to accept reality.

-Andy Wallis