Monday, March 10, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT
In Preparing Young People For Adulthood?
Every child deserves the opportunity to obtain the knowledge and skills they will need to be productive citizens in the community where they choose to live. For that to happen adults must identify what they believe all children should know and be able to do by the time they leave school. It takes an entire community working together to educate a child, not just the home and schools. That means local citizens must meet, discuss, and agree upon the standards that reflect their definition of a well education individual.
All to often adults, especially parents, make inaccurate assumptions as to what role different institutions and individuals should play in preparing young people to become productive adults. There is a great deal of acceptance regarding the role public schools play in meeting specific academic needs of all children. There are assumptions that parents are responsible for teaching children values, manners, morals and basic life skills such as dealing with strangers, personal hygiene, and proper nutrition. Rarely do adults discuss, let alone try to get any form of accountability regarding the teaching of such things as values, manners, and basic life skills.
If a community is ever going to meet the educational needs of its young people, it must have open discussions about the role and responsibilities of educators, parents, community organizations and services in providing educational opportunities and experiences to all young people. For example, who is responsible for teaching such things as how to:
dial 911
calculate interest rates for a car loan or credit card
turn off water, and power in a home or apartment
use a fire extinguisher
read food labels for nutrition and calories
change filters in furnace
register to vote in a local, state, and national election
properly interrupt a conversation
There are individuals who think all the above, except for how to register to vote and how to calculate interest rates, should be taught by parents. The problem is many parents do not know how to turn off the water or power in their home or apartment or how to use a fire extinguisher or even read food labels. There are parents who accept no responsibility for teaching their child anything except what their children learn from observing what they say and do. In reality, no local, state, or national individual or organization has the right or power to hold any adult accountable for teaching children anything except academic standards in publicly funded schools.
Knowing that it is impossible to hold parents and guardians accountable for making sure the children under their care learn life skills such as:
How to operate an oven, dishwasher, or microwave
Apply for a bank loan
Remove a stain
Change a tire and check the oil in a car
Follow a recipe to make a cake
why take the time to identify specific skills and knowledge all young people should know
by the time they leave high school? Public schools do not have the time or resources to teach important life skills, so community leaders must step forward to identify community standards and then work out a process to have these life skills taught by adults and community organizations.
This can be accomplished by establishing a community diploma program to supplement the traditional academic high school diploma young people earn when they leave high school. The community diploma would consist of social and life skills all young people should know and be able to do that parents and community agencies and businesses would be responsible for teaching. Participation in the community diploma program would need to be voluntary. The criteria for earning a community diploma would be accomplished by holding public forums throughout the county to identify basic life skills and then locating individuals, agencies, and organizations to teach these skills to young people. Let us say how to properly use a fire extinguisher is identified as a life skill that all young people should know. The responsibility for teaching this skill could fall upon the local fire departments. Local fire departments could schedule training sessions throughout the county throughout the year. Parents could bring or send their children to these training sessions and the fire department would verify the skill was mastered. If the citizens of a community believe all citizens should know the Miranda rights or the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony, the local police department could teach these skills. Local banks could offer Saturday morning or evening mini classes on how to invest money, real estate agencies could describe what to look for in buying or renting a house or apartment, local car dealers could explain how to go about buying car, attorneys could explain wills and living wills, and so on.
The role of parents must be clarified in greater detail regarding the teaching of social and life skills to their children. Parents, for the most part, want to do what is best for their children, but far too many do not understand or are unwilling to assume basic parenting responsibilities. A few parents will accept responsibility for making sure their children do homework assignments, get a good night sleep, treat others with respect, or practice healthy nutrition or personal hygiene. It is unfair to children to assume their parents have taught them how to deal with strangers or to say "thank you" after receiving something. Parents need to sit down and discuss basic parenting responsibilities and then make sure all parents are aware of these responsibilities. The fact that the parents who tend to be the most irresponsible will most likely disregards any community parenting expectations is irrelevant. Progress is always slow in trying to reach and change cultural habits of adults who reject any form of accountability in helping education they children they brought into this world.
If something is not done, young people will continue to enter adulthood without adequate knowledge of basic social and life skills. The community, as a whole, has the responsibility to identify and teach basic social and life skills to all young people if there is a sincere commitment to truly prepare young people to face the challenges of being a productive adult and contributing member of society.
In Preparing Young People For Adulthood?
Every child deserves the opportunity to obtain the knowledge and skills they will need to be productive citizens in the community where they choose to live. For that to happen adults must identify what they believe all children should know and be able to do by the time they leave school. It takes an entire community working together to educate a child, not just the home and schools. That means local citizens must meet, discuss, and agree upon the standards that reflect their definition of a well education individual.
All to often adults, especially parents, make inaccurate assumptions as to what role different institutions and individuals should play in preparing young people to become productive adults. There is a great deal of acceptance regarding the role public schools play in meeting specific academic needs of all children. There are assumptions that parents are responsible for teaching children values, manners, morals and basic life skills such as dealing with strangers, personal hygiene, and proper nutrition. Rarely do adults discuss, let alone try to get any form of accountability regarding the teaching of such things as values, manners, and basic life skills.
If a community is ever going to meet the educational needs of its young people, it must have open discussions about the role and responsibilities of educators, parents, community organizations and services in providing educational opportunities and experiences to all young people. For example, who is responsible for teaching such things as how to:
dial 911
calculate interest rates for a car loan or credit card
turn off water, and power in a home or apartment
use a fire extinguisher
read food labels for nutrition and calories
change filters in furnace
register to vote in a local, state, and national election
properly interrupt a conversation
There are individuals who think all the above, except for how to register to vote and how to calculate interest rates, should be taught by parents. The problem is many parents do not know how to turn off the water or power in their home or apartment or how to use a fire extinguisher or even read food labels. There are parents who accept no responsibility for teaching their child anything except what their children learn from observing what they say and do. In reality, no local, state, or national individual or organization has the right or power to hold any adult accountable for teaching children anything except academic standards in publicly funded schools.
Knowing that it is impossible to hold parents and guardians accountable for making sure the children under their care learn life skills such as:
How to operate an oven, dishwasher, or microwave
Apply for a bank loan
Remove a stain
Change a tire and check the oil in a car
Follow a recipe to make a cake
why take the time to identify specific skills and knowledge all young people should know
by the time they leave high school? Public schools do not have the time or resources to teach important life skills, so community leaders must step forward to identify community standards and then work out a process to have these life skills taught by adults and community organizations.
This can be accomplished by establishing a community diploma program to supplement the traditional academic high school diploma young people earn when they leave high school. The community diploma would consist of social and life skills all young people should know and be able to do that parents and community agencies and businesses would be responsible for teaching. Participation in the community diploma program would need to be voluntary. The criteria for earning a community diploma would be accomplished by holding public forums throughout the county to identify basic life skills and then locating individuals, agencies, and organizations to teach these skills to young people. Let us say how to properly use a fire extinguisher is identified as a life skill that all young people should know. The responsibility for teaching this skill could fall upon the local fire departments. Local fire departments could schedule training sessions throughout the county throughout the year. Parents could bring or send their children to these training sessions and the fire department would verify the skill was mastered. If the citizens of a community believe all citizens should know the Miranda rights or the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony, the local police department could teach these skills. Local banks could offer Saturday morning or evening mini classes on how to invest money, real estate agencies could describe what to look for in buying or renting a house or apartment, local car dealers could explain how to go about buying car, attorneys could explain wills and living wills, and so on.
The role of parents must be clarified in greater detail regarding the teaching of social and life skills to their children. Parents, for the most part, want to do what is best for their children, but far too many do not understand or are unwilling to assume basic parenting responsibilities. A few parents will accept responsibility for making sure their children do homework assignments, get a good night sleep, treat others with respect, or practice healthy nutrition or personal hygiene. It is unfair to children to assume their parents have taught them how to deal with strangers or to say "thank you" after receiving something. Parents need to sit down and discuss basic parenting responsibilities and then make sure all parents are aware of these responsibilities. The fact that the parents who tend to be the most irresponsible will most likely disregards any community parenting expectations is irrelevant. Progress is always slow in trying to reach and change cultural habits of adults who reject any form of accountability in helping education they children they brought into this world.
If something is not done, young people will continue to enter adulthood without adequate knowledge of basic social and life skills. The community, as a whole, has the responsibility to identify and teach basic social and life skills to all young people if there is a sincere commitment to truly prepare young people to face the challenges of being a productive adult and contributing member of society.
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