The Fox is in the henhouse.

The old adage is “Spare the rod and spoil the child”, right? I remember getting many a spanking when I was young for doing something that my parents thought was not acceptable. My crime could have been anything. If it upset them, it was wrong, and I was told to “go get me a switch.” Even schools had used paddling (corporal punishment) to correct major defects in my character. Soon all forms of corporal punishment may be gone.

Let me go on record here and say that I am in favor of corporal punishment, including paddling and swats in school. As a “victim” of such nasty behavior, I certainly learned that doing things outside the norms of society come with consequences. When I hit Mr. Keller in the sixth grade with that snowball, I knew I was going to get a swat, I just did not expect it to be publicly administered in front of the entire class! But, I learned my lesson, and I have not thrown a snowball at my principal since. (I was tempted to save some from winter and then throw them at my boss, but the fear of the paddle kept me from it.) I was also known to whack my own kids a couple times when they got out of line. This stopped when they got as big as me.

A board of some sort that was convened to suggest changes in Arizona schools has suggested that schools do away with paddling. I thought this was done years ago! But, apparently, Arizona is one of two dozen states that still allows it. So, this group which consists of mostly child psychologists and social workers, and educators from the ivory towers of academia (people who do not deal with students day in and day out, but rather sit and think of ways to deal with students) has made suggestions on how to better discipline and correct students. That is like someone who has no kids, and is never around kids telling me how to parent. Better yet, why don’t I tell the pilot of my 747 how to do his job, or maybe let me work on the Hubble. After all, I did sleep in a Holiday Inn last night….

Dorothy works as an aide in a local school about three blocks from us. She attended a meeting the other day so Human Resources could go over the rules of the work place. I was astounded and amazed at some of their rules. They do not want people to put in extra time, especially the aides and non salaried people. One rule says that aides cannot go to their rooms ahead of time, nor can they stay late. They cannot clock out and then go back and volunteer their time helping the teacher. No volunteering in an area where they help! If an aide is going to be gone and knows it ahead of time, the aide must find someone to take their duty THEMSELVES. They may not miss their lunch hour and they must leave the room or the situation to take it. The teachers and aides cannot go to their rooms on weekends and put in any extra time creating an educational environment for the kids. They are not allowed to be there over the summer or holidays.

The people who wrote this rule book are obviously people who have not been in a classroom.

The point to these to stories is this: If people who have only “paper” expertise and little or no practical experience keep running things, education in America is going to have deeper problems with significantly fewer positive results. Public education as we know it is going to go by the wayside.

The Fox is in the henhouse.

Doughnut