"Field Day"

Being where I am right now, I am begining to see things in a completely different light than I ever have before. And let me warn you, my perception of things is very different than what you would expect.

First, Alex.

He made his first "successful" day at DEAP yesterday. I am soo suspect of that it is unreal. My heart screams "foul!" and my brain cannot compute it. Not that I shouldn't be "proud" of him. But let's look at it through my eyes for a moment. The teacher just had to go through a disciplinary process over her treatment of my son. The day before (Monday) he scored a wonderful 12. The things that she had itemized on the paper are the same behaviors he's been having, none of which have brought him one good day yet (in out of 46). The difference on yesterday? The aide sat with him the ENTIRE time and she noted that he still lost points (ok, so what???? At least he finally had ONE good day!). Today was business as usual, with a beautiful 22 - complete with a descriptive narrative on how he kicked himself in the head several times today and proceeded to bite his own arm (don't know, don't ask, can't explain it, is NOT normal for him).

Now, on "field day".

This was the day scheduled for Dayna's school to have field day. As a child, I remember the fun of field day, organized activities, Mom and Dad being there, sharing lunch together....how it signified the begining of the summer break. Loads of good memories for me. But today I really saw it in a completely different light.

This school is unable to provide the children with "recess" on a continuous basis. It's either wet, or too hot, or too cold....the children are lucky if they get 15 minutes on a day that they are able to have recess. So you have a school chock full of children under the age of 11 with NO way to burn off excess energy or even build endurance for physical exercise! It should be no surprise to see students ending up in DEAP!

And so, one day a year, they dedicate and ENTIRE day of strenous physical activity. Yes, the kids are on teams and they play these "organized" games. Yes, there is a section that is full of water games (let's face it, it's Texas and it is SUPER hot here, even at June 2nd). But these kids are running out of energy within the first 3 games and it ends up being a mess of whiny, hot, tired children, who continue to be drawn through a massive amounts of "games" to where they are finally taken to the water section....so at the end of the day, they are mush and soppy on top of it.

(insert sigh here)

And we wonder why our children are overweight? And we wonder why they are not as healthy as they once were? Why are they getting into so much trouble? Why are so many now ADD/ADHD?

The schools are at the point where they are having to teach based on being able to get the students to pass at standardized scoring. The teachers are the ones left "raising" our children whether we want to admit that or not. Seriously? Our kids are there at least 7 hours of their day. Where do you think they are learning about life from?

One teacher today walks by me with her voice raised - at this point she is just as frustrated and tired as her students. I hear, "What part of PUT THAT DOWN did you NOT understand?" I giggled. I've used that one.

As I sit here, however, I am more sad now than before. What a legacy to pass from us! I, now more than ever, are compelled to be the one in charge of my child's education!