A couple of weeks ago, the Belle Plaine Board of Education spent a considerable portion of its monthly meeting going over the new student handbook with a magnifying glass. With several pairs of eyes looking over the draft for the new handbook, especially the junior-senior high guide, the board members were able to spot some words that changed the meaning of a particular entry, tightened up the language and seemingly sent a clearer message to the students what behavior is expected of them in the upcoming year.
As I observed their deliberations, I realized that while it was a necessary exercise, in a way it was too bad so much time and effort has to be devoted to telling students of that age what is expected of them. I guess when you get to be my age and you realize that you could have grandchildren in high school, some of the things that are spelled out in the handbook seem really obvious.
In my dealings with young people over the years, I have grown to marvel at how so many of them are able to juggle so many aspects of their lives with ease. Some of the best students in school are also involved in one or more extracurricular activities and may also hold down a part-time job while still maintaining some sort of social life. I guess that even as these students show the maturity to budget their time wisely to succeed in school, they still need the reminders outlined in the handbook and board policy to keep them on track.
Again to us older folks, at least those of us who haven’t ever worn an orange jumpsuit with a number across our chest, it would stand to reason that you should wait until you are legally allowed to have a beer. When you walk in the front door of the high school, you should realize that it is a place of learning and your teachers and parents have the expectation that you will learn something while in class and not just cruise through the day waiting for the start of sports or play practice.
The board spent some time reviewing the cell phone usage part of the handbook. When I was in school, if you needed to call home to get your mom to bring your forgotten homework to school, you had to go to the office a beg to use the phone. Now, everybody is wired not only to others with a phone, but in many instances to the World Wide Web as well. The natural reaction would be to prohibit possession of cell phones by all students in school. But I know if I had been a parent of a student in Colorado a few years ago, I would have felt a whole lot better if my kid had called me on his cell phone telling me he had successfully been evacuated from Columbine High School.
As the dialogue continues on how to improve our educational system, many government leaders and educators keep coming back to the value of the positive influence on the home front. Many kids today come from broken homes where the remaining parent has to work extra hours to make ends meet. Unfortunately, some kids come from homes where the parent will dismiss some disturbing behavior by their kids with the comment, “Well, kids will be kids. You should have seen what we did when we were their age!”
There are other parents, and I’ll admit I fell into this group, who really wanted to be a part of the educational process with their kids. But we realize that we are paying a bunch of teachers to teach our kids. Some of us grumbled when our kids were younger when bad weather caused the schools to be closed, since we had to find someone to watch our youngsters during the work day.
What educators and government officials are trying to tell us is that in an era of increased competition for a place in a good college or for a good job, neither attitude will work today. And I guess that’s why school officials still have to spend time making sure the language in the student handbooks is as precise as they can make it. At some point, you hope the kids will wake up and realize they won’t make it in the world if they use their cell phone to message a friend and cheat on a test, or crack open a few beers on the weekend or put off getting help with their school work if they don’t understand an assignment.
In a few short weeks, our students will enter newly renovated school buildings to start the 2010-11 school year. (Just typing those numbers make me feel very old!) Here’s hoping everyone will follow the rules and have a fun and successful school year!
