Jumping through hoops.

When our 14 year old daughter decided she wanted to go to high school, we had a loooooooong discussion. We explained to her that she would have to get used to not having as much freedom, that if she was going back she would have to play by all the rules, not just the ones she agreed with - sort of taking the good with the bad.

We don't bad-mouth the public school system, that is not why we chose to homeschool, it was a personal choice for our family and it was not made in judgement of others. Of course, there are things we don't like or agree with about the system, but that is the way the system has to work - it can't be any other way when you have that many kids to deal with.

Today, our daughter and therefore, us - were thrown into one of those situations. She is taking an Art class, she is a junior in high school. There have been a few problems with the teacher of this class. Alyson had this teacher for study hall for the last two years and this teacher has made it apparent that she doesn't like Alyson. There is definitely a personality conflict. We always tell her that she isn't always going to like everyone - that's life - but she HAS to be respectful. This is one thing we repeatedly hear from all the teachers is how respectful Alyson
is, so I guess she listened.

Anyway, yesterday, they were assigned a word search/crossword puzzle for Art. For as long as I can remember, when she has done word searches (in 3RD grade!), instead of circling the entire word in one circle, she circles each letter in the word. Maybe not common, but still gets the job done. Well, she went to class today and the teacher called her up to her desk. "I am not going to give you any credit for this paper (it was worth 50 points) because you didn't circle your words right."

Of course, Alyson was pretty shocked and asked why it mattered how she circled the words as long as she found them. The teacher actually said to her the following statement: "I can't use my answer key without having to really look closely and find what words you circled." Needless to say, Alyson was pretty mad. She called me after school before she went to work and told me what happened.

I called the school and talked to this teacher and she proceeded to tell me the exact same thing. That is was too hard for her to see her answer key and compare it to Alyson's paper.

Where do we start? Do we start with the fact that these kids are 16/17 and still doing word searches? Do we start with the fact that this is an Art class and isn't Art about creativity? Do we start with the fact that so many of these teachers are on such a power trip with these kids? What would have been wrong with saying that the way she did it made it difficult for her and could she please just make lines instead of circles, please? Do you have to take away 50 points? What about the fact that a fucking word search is worth 50 points in the first place? God forbid if anyone has a creative way of doing things - or doesn't just follow along like the other 35 kids in the class. It's Art for Christ's sake - is there any room for creativity? Maybe the kid was trying to make this mundane, mindless exercise a little more exciting?

The principal was not much help either, he backed up the teacher, of course and when I asked about 17 year olds doing word searches his comment was: "I can't comment on the curriculum." WTF??

We ended the day with a talk with Alyson about how in life she is going to have personality conflicts with people and she will have to learn to play the game whether she likes the rules or not. Yes, it's not fair, yes, people on power trips are no fun, yes, these things piss you off.......but hey, welcome to life. Wait until one of these people is your boss!!

Isn't there a better way for our kids in public school to learn? Do they have to be so dumbed down that they are bored stiff? Do we have to turn them into sheep in the herd? Can't anyone have an original thought or different way of doing things? Would it really make the teacher's job that much more difficult? It might even make their job a little easier if they gave it a try. Not in my lifetime, I'm sure.

Okay teachers, I'm ready for it - blast me - I probably have it coming.