Biking this morning around 9AM, we passed a young boy, maybe 9 years old, walking down the street presumably on his way to school. Late. No other students in sight. Trying to scratch in his open workbook flapping in the wind as he walked. Crying.
Yesterday I heard a report on CNN that high school kids do an average of 3 hours homework per week. This was joked about by the newscasters and (who else?) blamed on the teachers. Right. Like kids have time to do homework. Not when they watch 4 or 5 hours of TV every night and play an average of 20 hours a week of video games. Can anyone in their right minds blame that on teachers?
Like that miserable little boy this morning. Did the adults in his life make a quiet spot in his life or his home to complete his homework last night? Did an adult get him up in good time for school? Did he have breakfast? His day was obviously off on the wrong foot, was it his fault? Is he not performing up to potential or is it the grown-ups in his life? If he had a bad day at school today, was that the fault of his teacher? Did Painesville public schools fail this boy? Did they buy the wrong workbooks?
I hope he was greeted with some love when he got to school this morning. Having signed in at enough counters in enough school offices and seen the reception of enough kids who arrive late, I can say the chances of that are pretty slim.
But then, it's just one day out of the kid's life. Right?
1 comment:
What a sad story of a sad little boy!
I, too, hope he got some love when he got to school.
On another note: I used the "bathroom" poetry exercise that we used in Vietnam. Worked well! Also got two of your books shipped in.
You sound busy. I'm enjoying your blog from 10,000 miles away!
-Shamash
http://shamash.typepad.com
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