Friday, June 22, 2007
Q1 - Hands Off: Hugging is now a punishable offense at a Fairfax County, Virginia, school. School children at Kilmer Middle School in suburban Washington, DC, are now under a zero-tolerance touching policy. They're banned from poking, prodding, hugging, and even high-fiving one another. In your opinion, is this a good or bad thing? I believe acts of kindness (hugs, high fives, handshakes) are a good thing. I do them all the time. However, poking, pinching, smacking, etc. should be banned. These are intelligent adults, right? They should know the difference between "good" and "bad" physical" contact.
Q2 - School Lunch: Did you bring a bag lunch to school or did you buy your lunch in the cafeteria? Did any of the schools you attended--excluding college or prep school--offer breakfast? I did both. Lunch in grammar/high school was only a $1. Breakfast was offered, but we never partook. I went to a junior college, so there was no "caf".
Q3 - Paying for Performance: Starting this fall, New York City students and their families could earn as much as $1,000 a year for doing well on standardized tests and showing up for class. As part of the City's new Opportunity NYC program (a conditional cash transfer program aimed at helping New Yorkers break the cycle of poverty), families can earn $25 or $50 per month for 95 percent school attendance for elementary, middle, and high school students; $25 for attending parent-teacher conferences; and $50 for obtaining a library card. An improvement in scores or proficiency on standardized tests at the elementary and middle school levels can earn a family from $300 or $350 per test; while at the high school level, a student can earn $600 for each passing grade on individual Regents exams. Incentives of $25 will be earned for both parental review of the test and discussion with teachers; high school students can earn $50 for taking the PSAT exam, and will share $600 with their parents for annually accumulating 11 credits, and a $400 bonus for graduating. Again, in your opinion, is this a good or bad thing? Should we be offering cash incentives for academic participation and performance? All I know is this: If my school district did something like this when I went to school, that $1,000 would have helped with my college costs. Rewarding students is okay, I guess. I mean cash incentives have been proven to have been given to athletic performance. Academics always seem to fall by the wayside, if you can score a touchdown, run or goal.
Q4 - High School Reunions: Have you ever been to a high school reunion (yours or someone else's)? If so, what was it like? If not, is it because you refuse to go to one? If so, why? I went to my 10-year high school reunion. Everyone was a little larger but no more mature. Everyone broke off into the "cliques" we had when we were 18. Grow up! We're 28, now! It's pathetic. I sat with my parents at the Homecoming festivities. I kinda wish I hadn't gone.
If you would like to answer "Four on Friday", go here: http://www.belicove.com/archives/beliblog/cat_four_for_friday.html
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1 comments:
The problem with the first thing on this post (the no touching policy) is that the adults in charge of these schools are not really out to "protect" studends, they're out to protect themselves from lawsuits, and in the process, they take away a child's right to be a child. Just recently one of my co-worker's son's, who goes to a school with a no touching policy, was accused of "sexual harrassment" for a prank that was MOST DEFINITELY NOT sexual in any nature. Because of the school's unreasonable rules and standards a perfectly innocent kid was almost marked for life as a sexual deviant...seriously, this is a huge problem in my opinion. Lucky for him he's got parents with the ability to fight on his behalf, and the accusation was removed from his records...what happens when a kid doesn't have parents with the ability (whether intellectually, financially or just the ability to take time off work) to defend their kid? I think it's horrible.
Okay, stepping off my soap box now, looking around, smiling meekly...I got a little carried away there! ;-)
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