Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
::Today's soundtrack: Bob Durough and Friends "Schoolhouse Rocks" ::
Something that has long bothered me is when parents don't take on the responsibilities as a parent in the department of their child's education. Too many parents these days (in the United States, anyway, I can't speak for places I don't know), live under the idea that teaching their kids basic educational ideas are up to the teachers when their kid starts school. This couldn't be more wrong.
You are this child's parent, therefore you are it's primary caregiver and model for adulthood. Your child instinctively takes its development cues from you, whether you want it to or not. To your child, you, the parent, are the "be all and end all" authority figure in its life. Doesn't it now sound as though this kid may absorb information put forward by YOU, the parent, much better than an "outsider"?
Furthermore, if you are raising this child, it is ultimately YOUR responsibility to see to it that it GETS the proper education, isn't it? It just keeps on happening that if little Billy is having trouble reading, well then, it's all the school's fault, and not his parents' for, heaven forbid, talking to their son to find out what's wrong or maybe, also god forbid, helping him on your own time outside of school. Why is it when a child's grades are low that the parents these days are quick to blame the teachers and not their child for not studying or themselves for not putting in the time of BEING A PARENT? face it, a child could have the best, most competent teacher in the world, but if it isn't doing its homework then its grades will be poor and there is only so much a teacher can do, after all, a teacher doesn't go home with each of their students to ensure the work gets done, no, that's YOUR, the PARENTS' "job"!
I, personally, am not a parent, but I firmly believe that BEFORE a child even enters school (kindergarten, approximately age 4), that it should have some foundation of knowledge from which to build. Heck, a teacher cannot start from a blank slate, can it? I humbly put forth these kindergarten prerequisites:
Child should be able to recite the Alphabet Song
Child should be able to count to ten
Child should be able to write and recognize its own name
Child should be able to tie its own shoes
That's it. That's all I ask. I would also love it if your kid could read Green Eggs and Ham, but I don't want to push it. I just think that if *I* could do these things, then it ought to be a feasible goal (I am, after all, rather decidedly average). Sadly, even these four minor things seem like asking too much of parents in my country in this day and age. Like I said earlier, they choose leave it all up to the teachers and all but want nothing to do with their own child's education. Don't you want to give your child a leg up? As a parent, you DO need to take some level of responsibility for your own child's education. I'm sorry but you do. I am putting my foot down and saying that you can no longer deflect the blame. For gods' sakes, get in there and get involved! Raising a child is a lot of work and it's high time y'all got around to doing some.
William the Bloody (involved parent)
