a disservice announcement
i have often felt that the american k-12 system does a disservice to our students in a lot of ways. this is not to say that i have the answer and i can solve the problem or that i think someplace else does it better. what i am saying is, we have a problem.
i believe in the very politically incorrect notion that not everyone should get, needs to get, wants to get, or will merit from a college education. i know. you can yell at me whenever you want. but i have seen lots of students go through college miserable, all because of parental pressure, societal pressure, or the fact that their high school counselor told them to go to college. (i also don't think that just because you don't have a college education means you are an uneducated idiot... gasp!) this is a digression from my point.
my point is this. how many of you, in your everyday life, at your everyday jobs, have to ask for permission to go to the bathroom? i am not talking about excusing yourself to go to the bathroom... i am not talking about that at all. i am talking about asking for permission.
k-12 (and i get why they do it... but...) forces students to give up a fundamental right by asking permission to go and relieve oneself. now this may seem like a silly problem i have, but do you know how often, how many times, how many minutes i have spent answering the question, "may i please go to the bathroom"? A LOT. these are adults. who have been brainwashed. who think they need permission. this is sad to me.
this is so sad to me that it took a step further the other day in class, a large class, where a student raised his hand to get permission to leave because he was sick and ended up vomiting on the people around him. yes. this is a true story. why must we train our kids to ask for permission? can't he have been taught, if you think you might harf, then please get up and go...???
i believe in the very politically incorrect notion that not everyone should get, needs to get, wants to get, or will merit from a college education. i know. you can yell at me whenever you want. but i have seen lots of students go through college miserable, all because of parental pressure, societal pressure, or the fact that their high school counselor told them to go to college. (i also don't think that just because you don't have a college education means you are an uneducated idiot... gasp!) this is a digression from my point.
my point is this. how many of you, in your everyday life, at your everyday jobs, have to ask for permission to go to the bathroom? i am not talking about excusing yourself to go to the bathroom... i am not talking about that at all. i am talking about asking for permission.
k-12 (and i get why they do it... but...) forces students to give up a fundamental right by asking permission to go and relieve oneself. now this may seem like a silly problem i have, but do you know how often, how many times, how many minutes i have spent answering the question, "may i please go to the bathroom"? A LOT. these are adults. who have been brainwashed. who think they need permission. this is sad to me.
this is so sad to me that it took a step further the other day in class, a large class, where a student raised his hand to get permission to leave because he was sick and ended up vomiting on the people around him. yes. this is a true story. why must we train our kids to ask for permission? can't he have been taught, if you think you might harf, then please get up and go...???
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I'll never forget that day in 2nd grade when Peter Nudi turned around in his seat and barfed his breakfast all over the floor. Fortunately I wasn't directly behind him, but behind and one row over, so I didn't get splattered.
And I don't remember asking for permission to pee in college. Probably because I skipped way too many classes.