How You Can Fix the Educational Crisis in America
The September 10, 2008 addition of the International Herald Tribune entitled, "Obama Stressing the Problems of Public Education in Campaign" states, "Senator Barack Obama learned how hard it can be to solve America's public education problems when he headed a philanthropic drive here a decade ago that spent $150 million on Chicago's troubled schools and barely made a dent"
Take a moment and think about that. One Hundred Fifty Million Dollars in one city, Chicago, and it barely made a dent. No matter what newspaper you read, TV news that you watch or radio talk show you listen to, the conclusion is always the same, "Spending more money on a broken system will not fix the problem, it will only make it bigger".
Interestingly enough most school districts in the United States offer more "Special Education" programs for students each year than the year before with very little improvement on the academic advancement of the students that these programs were created for.
The public school crisis in the United States has become much like the nursery rhyme entitled, "Humpty Dumpty". By adding a little twist, the ending could go like this, "All the legislators and all the tax money could not put the public school system together again". However, the problem does not end when a student leaves high school. Many states have had to establish programs to teach high school graduates basic educational and social skills to enable them to be assimilated into the work force.
So what is the problem? Why is the public school system failing? There are several answers to these questions, but I want to address one issue that can have a great impact on the public school crisis, parenting. Parents must become responsible for their children. The public school system was established to help educate children not to be responsible for children.
One of the greatest mishaps that have happened in the United States especially among the "boomer" generation is the thought that more money makes for good family life. Their certainly is nothing wrong with parents pursuing a better life for themselves and their children, but money will never take the place of a parent devoting daily time interacting with their children. It is never too late to shut down the excessive television viewing or turn off the excessive video gaming and spend time interacting one on one with your children.
According to an October 1 2007, CBS News report, researchers found that children who watched more than two hours of television per day from age 2 1/2 until age 5 1/2 were more likely to develop sleep attention, have fewer social skills and develop aggressive behavior problems than those who watched less. The report also reveals that parents need to monitor their children's television use, especially during the early childhood years.
To combat this problem parents must adjusting their children's play and free time with less TV and more parent child interaction.
Numerous studies reveal that the greatest impact upon a child's development happens between infancy and age 6. This means that when parent invest their time through daily interaction with their children between these ages, they will be providing them with the ability to successfully grow and learn. When you think about it, what parents are actually doing during this phase of a child's life is preparing them to become successful and productive adults.
What greater legacy than to see your little boy or girl become an adult more successful and more productive than you and to see them invest quality time into their children because of you. As more parents participate in the daily lives of their children, they will receive a far greater return on their investment than they will from their 401k plan
Take a moment and think about that. One Hundred Fifty Million Dollars in one city, Chicago, and it barely made a dent. No matter what newspaper you read, TV news that you watch or radio talk show you listen to, the conclusion is always the same, "Spending more money on a broken system will not fix the problem, it will only make it bigger".
Interestingly enough most school districts in the United States offer more "Special Education" programs for students each year than the year before with very little improvement on the academic advancement of the students that these programs were created for.
The public school crisis in the United States has become much like the nursery rhyme entitled, "Humpty Dumpty". By adding a little twist, the ending could go like this, "All the legislators and all the tax money could not put the public school system together again". However, the problem does not end when a student leaves high school. Many states have had to establish programs to teach high school graduates basic educational and social skills to enable them to be assimilated into the work force.
So what is the problem? Why is the public school system failing? There are several answers to these questions, but I want to address one issue that can have a great impact on the public school crisis, parenting. Parents must become responsible for their children. The public school system was established to help educate children not to be responsible for children.
One of the greatest mishaps that have happened in the United States especially among the "boomer" generation is the thought that more money makes for good family life. Their certainly is nothing wrong with parents pursuing a better life for themselves and their children, but money will never take the place of a parent devoting daily time interacting with their children. It is never too late to shut down the excessive television viewing or turn off the excessive video gaming and spend time interacting one on one with your children.
According to an October 1 2007, CBS News report, researchers found that children who watched more than two hours of television per day from age 2 1/2 until age 5 1/2 were more likely to develop sleep attention, have fewer social skills and develop aggressive behavior problems than those who watched less. The report also reveals that parents need to monitor their children's television use, especially during the early childhood years.
To combat this problem parents must adjusting their children's play and free time with less TV and more parent child interaction.
Numerous studies reveal that the greatest impact upon a child's development happens between infancy and age 6. This means that when parent invest their time through daily interaction with their children between these ages, they will be providing them with the ability to successfully grow and learn. When you think about it, what parents are actually doing during this phase of a child's life is preparing them to become successful and productive adults.
What greater legacy than to see your little boy or girl become an adult more successful and more productive than you and to see them invest quality time into their children because of you. As more parents participate in the daily lives of their children, they will receive a far greater return on their investment than they will from their 401k plan