(no subject)

[jcaswell.livejournal.com]

Our school is running a pilot scheme for Key Stage 3 exams. Today is the first batch of those exams, so we've got all of year 9 (aged 13/14) in IT rooms running this new software we've got for it. Each of the four of us has been allocated a classroom to make sure there're no technical problems etc. All well and good, we expected teething problems, and were prepeared for that. What we (or at least me) were unprepared for was the abuse we'd be getting from the little angels. I''ve been called fat, told I'm not qualified to do my job, and been told to "fuck off", "piss off" and been called a "fucking idiot". The last three were all by the same student. An incident report will be raised. I am not prepared to put up with that.

Comments

[fragbert.livejournal.com]

Our society's apparent turn towards avoiding all personal responsibility has given birth to a generation of sociopaths, I swear. Some of these little angels are being TAUGHT that they should have no cares as to the ramifications of their actions.

What was once a clinically-defined mental illness is now seemingly becoming a norm.

[jcaswell.livejournal.com]

Worrying, isn't it? I don't know about elsewhere in the world, but the government here in the UK seems to be far too concerned with the "rights" of the student than those of the staff members, or with teaching the little fuckers to be reasonable human beings.

[cirobi.livejournal.com]

i don't think it's a bad thing to be concerned with the "rights" of students but when it goes as far as to not allow you to discipline the bastards when they ARE out of line... that's a tad rediculous. it's a problem here in the states too. i'm sure you've caught bits of info on all the school shootings we've had over here. society seems to have gone passive-agressive socially. you just can't hurt anyone's feelings and i'm guessing discipline would hurt the poor bastards' feelings. *rolls her eyes*

[jcaswell.livejournal.com]

The whole rights issue seems to have gone too far now. We can't discipline them beyond a 10 minute detention - what's that going to teach them?! I can (and do) remove internet access - but only if they're accessing stuff they shouldn't be (there was a great one a few weeks back where I caught the kid surfing Pamela Anderson porn. He denied everything, till I told him the URL of the site he'd been to). But beyond that, we can't do anything. It's stupid, it really is.

Luckily we've not had any of the shootings here that you've had there yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. The kids aren't getting the discipline at home, and we can't give it to them at school...what chance do any of us stand? :(

[cirobi.livejournal.com]

wow... 10 minute detention? um... hello kindergarden time out! i fear for the future, i really do.

[jcaswell.livejournal.com]

Me too :\

[darkblade1.livejournal.com]

I just HAVE to post on this one. Society, no matter where your located currently is starting to go to hell in a hand basket. Like you two have commented, kids these days are disrespectful. I remember in the younger days where you had respect for your elders, or even such people as teachers. You didn't dare swear, or break things in front of them.

I feel more sorry for my kids, but as long as I raise them ok....hopefully they'll be able to survive in this messed up world.

[jcaswell.livejournal.com]

We can but hope. The stupid thing is all my friend s who have kids are the same as you - they recognise that there's a problem and are doing something about it. My 9 year old nephew is wonderful - he gets away with nothing, and he's polite at all times. The trouble is, he's being bullied at school for it. :o(

[fragbert.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, your government seem to be adopting the kid-gloves technique of handling discipline in schools that we in the states have been using for the past 10 years or so.

I'm not advocating caning or whipping, mind you, but we recently had a case where a local school system outlawed grading with red pens because red ink "caused undue stress." They changed to purple.

My inner teenager was heard to quote, "OMGWTFBBQ" and other such gems.

[jcaswell.livejournal.com]

What the...? That's CRAZY! And they expect these kids to run the world of tomorrow. They don't stand a fucking chance.

Unfortunately, I think you're right. Our government seems to be taking lessons from yours. Unfortunately, they're not taking the right ones. We didn't have corporal punishment even when I was at school, but we were still taught about discipline, and how not to talk to adults. I'd never have had the guts to swear at a member of staff like that - and I'd have expected a bollocking for it if I had. Christ, I'm 35 and I still won't swear in front of my mother!

I only ever had one detention at school (didn't do my history homework), and I still remember the conversation with a friend who lived in the same street as me. We were both terrified of telling our mothers that we had detention. When I told mine though, she just looked at me and said "well, it serves you right". But that was enough - I never skipped my homework again.

[cirobi.livejournal.com]

i had a chance to go to Russia back in my senior year of high school. i remember being extremely jealous of the school system because it seemed to allow those who weren't academically inclined to still learn to be functional adults but let those who were academically inclined soar in terms of how much they learned. plus, the discipline in the classroom was phenominal. not to an abusive point but just enough so there was a definitive boundary between student and teacher without it being domineering.

i agree though, as a kid i was scared to death of getting in trouble - being sent to the principle and such - because i knew there'd be issues when my parents found out. i hate how parents refuse to take responsibility for their children these days. i'm only 23 and my parents didn't do much disciplining of my brother and i, but we were taught right vs wrong. when i become a parent i'm definitely going to try to raise my kids as my parents raised us... free thinkers with knowledge of right vs wrong. i'm all about giving kids various freedoms as they grow older but only if they deserve it. -_-

[jcaswell.livejournal.com]

enough so there was a definitive boundary between student and teacher without it being domineering.

That's what we had - and it worked. We respected the staff, and we respected the equipment. We have to replace the mouse at least once a year on every one of our 400 machines because the kids rip the buttons off of them. We'd never have got away with that!

i become a parent i'm definitely going to try to raise my kids as my parents raised us... free thinkers with knowledge of right vs wrong.

Ditto. If only more people felt that way :\

I dunno, maybe things will improve as people realise what they're doing. I hate to think of them getting any worse.

[cirobi.livejournal.com]

maybe it'll work like stock markets seem to. there needs to be a crash before the majority of the world, which consist of idiots, realizes there's a problem. i sure hope that isn't the case though. =/

[jcaswell.livejournal.com]

Me too. Although, how much worse could it get?

[cirobi.livejournal.com]

i don't know, but i'm not even sure i want to try and imagine it getting worse.

[jcaswell.livejournal.com]

Nor me. I wonder if they'll let us emigrate to Mars yet...

[cirobi.livejournal.com]

haha, that'd be awesome. when i was a kid i wanted to be the first orchestra conductor on the moon. maybe now i could just be the first client computing manager on the moon. *ponders*

[cirobi.livejournal.com]

HAHA yea i remember reading something on cnn.com about that. i read it at work and had a hard time not laughing out loud at that one. god forbid students learn how to deal with stress at a young age or better yet... challenge themselves to do better. -_-