Elementary School 40 something years ago.

[AUFred]

We started every morning by saying The Pledge of Allegiance.
We had prayer in school.
We had Fire Drills & bad Weather Drills.
We had air Raid Drills which were basically the same as bad weather drills except you got under your desk.
If you got in trouble at school, corporal punishment at school was just the beginning of how sore your backside was going to be.
We kept score in sports.
The kids who were not athletic never had a chance to think otherwise.
We had to learn and grades were earned.
No one was terribly concerned about your self-esteem.

I was thinking about this today when my wife sent me a text.

They had an Intruder Drill at her school today. They lockdown the school and the police show-up and go room to room.
They still do fire drills & bad weather drills.
Kids today don't keep score, the don't pray, they don't pledge and "No child left behind."
Corporal punishment does not happen anymore.
The parents responses are always, "Not my child."
We are raising a generation dumb as a stump with high self-esteem.
I wonder if the best and brightest will still step forward and lead or not want to draw attention to themselves.

Really concerns me about the future of this country.

 

[KLD1019]

The schools here still do everything you listed!

I signed a paper at the beginning of school givingy permission for corporal punishment!

It does bother me when i hear "oh they dont keep score". If they're old enough to play, they're old enough to know and understand that not everyone wins!

 

[AUFred]

The schools here still do everything you listed!

I signed a paper at the beginning of school givingy permission for corporal punishment!

It does bother me when i hear "oh they dont keep score". If they're old enough to play, they're old enough to know and understand that not everyone wins!

I think they send home the corporal punishment permission sheet but The fear of lawyers keeps it from being used here. The score thing was happening when my kids came along. The kids knew who won it was about making the parents feel good.

 

[Kyle B]

We had those lockdown drills in HS. They used them mostly to bring in the cops and search for drugs.

 

[AUFred]

We had those lockdown drills in HS. They used them mostly to bring in the cops and search for drugs.

When I was in school they were more concerned with weapons than drugs. We had a problem every Spring with raging hormones & stupidity.

 

[hart]

I know we said the pledge of the allegience. I don't think they had corporal punishment but then I was a good girl in elementary school. We did keep score in sports and I was NOT a good player We had no drills where you got under your desk though. You did have to earn your grade early on, but toward high school they were starting to talk about money for schools with good grades, so I don't know what might have gone on behind closed doors.

I worry about the kids today too, Fred. I worry my stepson Evan gets all he asks for and won't know how to appreciate what he does get.

 

[Joe the meek]

We started every morning by saying The Pledge of Allegiance.
We had prayer in school.
We had Fire Drills & bad Weather Drills.
We had air Raid Drills which were basically the same as bad weather drills except you got under your desk.
If you got in trouble at school, corporal punishment at school was just the beginning of how sore your backside was going to be.
We kept score in sports.
The kids who were not athletic never had a chance to think otherwise.
We had to learn and grades were earned.
No one was terribly concerned about your self-esteem.

I was thinking about this today when my wife sent me a text.

They had an Intruder Drill at her school today. They lockdown the school and the police show-up and go room to room.
They still do fire drills & bad weather drills.
Kids today don't keep score, the don't pray, they don't pledge and "No child left behind."
Corporal punishment does not happen anymore.
The parents responses are always, "Not my child."
We are raising a generation dumb as a stump with high self-esteem.
I wonder if the best and brightest will still step forward and lead or not want to draw attention to themselves.

Really concerns me about the future of this country.

Hmmm

Let's all hide behind our desks and kiss our ass good by in case of nuclear attack?

For your information, my automatic response isn't "not my child", and my child knows that.

The good old days weren't always good, tomorrow aint as bad as it seems.

I'll take today over the 40's though 90's anytime for the most part.

 

[TGLucario475]

I've already said that kids these days are getting it easy and it doesn't help that they're not getting taught how to be a CITIZEN in a place of EDUCATION.

 

[AnitaBeer]

I know my kids keep score in sports during class and their recess as well as other sports around our area.
I would not allow corporal punishment by a school for my kids, we don't have to worry about that.
I wish schools still did the pledge, but my kids do know it and they did learn it in school so our schools still teach about it, but they don't do it every day like I did growing up.
My kids have to work hard for their grades and they are only in 1st and 2nd grade.
I do worry about self esteem because it's quite typical for someone with low self esteem to be bullied and with all the bullying BS I don't want my kids to be good victims. My kids also know I'll teach them a lesson if I find out they bully anyone else.
Our kids have tornado, fire, and lock down drills.

 

[AUFred]

Hmmm

Let's all hide behind our desks and kiss our ass good by in case of nuclear attack?

For your information, my automatic response isn't "not my child", and my child knows that.

The good old days weren't always good, tomorrow aint as bad as it seems.

I'll take today over the 40's though 90's anytime for the most part.

Never said they were the good ole days. I was bullied and I was unatheletic. I learned to be smarter to compensate. I ended up tutoring some of the bullies.

 

[Zorak]

If you got in trouble at school, corporal punishment at school was just the beginning of how sore your backside was going to be.

:ninja




:willy_nilly:

 

[Boomerang]

We still say the Pledge of Allegiance everyday as well as our school pledge. The school pledge mentions taking responsibility of their own actions, being respectful to others, and doing what is right because they expect it of themselves.

I do agree with some things. I mean, kids do have it way too easy nowadays. They complete their homework and they expected to be rewarded somehow for it. I can't STAND that!

However, I think it there are some obvious improvements as well. I think it is great we are implementing good self-esteem in the kids. People that are afraid of failure will likely never succeed. Also, the diversity in kids nowadays is amazing. My classroom is like a miniature model of America. I have students from all over the world that speak all different languages. Their knowledge of different cultures surpasses anything from the old days.

And I have to completely disagree with the whole raising kids "dumb as a stump" comment. The amount that they have to learn now can not even be compared to years ago.

 

[Joe the meek]

Never said they were the good ole days. I was bullied and I was unatheletic. I learned to be smarter to compensate. I ended up tutoring some of the bullies.

Bullying has been around forever, and I don't see it going away.

You remember that other recent thread about the father of the autistic child who recorded the teachers? Do you think anything like that happened 20 or 30 years ago? Heck no.

 

[Kyle B]

We still say the Pledge of Allegiance everyday as well as our school pledge. The school pledge mentions taking responsibility of their own actions, being respectful to others, and doing what is right because they expect it of themselves.

I do agree with some things. I mean, kids do have it way too easy nowadays. They complete their homework and they expected to be rewarded somehow for it. I can't STAND that!

However, I think it there are some obvious improvements as well. I think it is great we are implementing good self-esteem in the kids. People that are afraid of failure will likely never succeed. Also, the diversity in kids nowadays is amazing. My classroom is like a miniature model of America. I have students from all over the world that speak all different languages. Their knowledge of different cultures surpasses anything from the old days.

And I have to completely disagree with the whole raising kids "dumb as a stump" comment. The amount that they have to learn now can not even be compared to years ago.

We had one of those pledges that were read over the announcements every morning.

Found it off the school's website LOL

We pledge to:
1. respect each other‟s space, property, and differences.
2. speak politely, in pleasant tones, and we listen to each other.
3. seek out sources and ask questions when confronted with lies or rumors.
4. strive to meet responsibilities on time and with our best effort.
5. expect and promote adherence to this code from each other.

For some reason, I remember the code being a lot longer. The principals got tired of reading it every morning so they just forgot about it.

Then at the end of the announcements we were told "Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours!!!"

it was all pretty funny because everyone mocked it

 

[CityGirl]

And I have to completely disagree with the whole raising kids "dumb as a stump" comment. The amount that they have to learn now can not even be compared to years ago.

I would venture to say that their is little change in the amount being learned compared to years ago but it is the content of what is learned that has changed. I don't think there is any doubt that testing is dumbed down as most tests are a multiple choice format. There is nothing like an essay question to ascertain how familiar a student is with a subject.

For those of you who might be interested, here are a few tests from long ago.

This one is a test given elementary students in W VA back in 1931.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/education/v/tests.pdf

This one was given to 8th graders in Bullitt County KY 1912
http://www.bullittcountyhistory.com/bchistory/schoolexam1912.html


1954 8th grade civics test
http://www.rense.com/general75/pass.htm

Salinas KS April 13, 1895 8th grade exam

http://fanaticcook.blogspot.com/2011/11/1895-eighth-grade-final-exam-from.html

This site shows questions asked of 8th graders today
http://nationsreportcard.gov/testyourself.asp

 

[Panacea]

I wonder what correlation exists if any between those tests and societal expectations for the completion of high school? War, agriculture, drop outs, traditional gender roles, etc...

Standardized testing is in crisis, imo, I agree.

It's my opinion the helicopter parenting generation is doing a lot of social damage. Not only does micromanaging and carrying the load for your child's life into adulthood create a less capable individual, it creates a person primed for a lot of emotional anguish. I think people naturally WANT to work. They want to compete and succeed/fail on their own. It's perpetual discouragement and blurring of this process that causes problems. Brush self-esteem and mental health aside all you'd like but how we feel influences what we do.

We have a doing problem and I think it's related to how we feel.