nt250
Senior Member
- Jun 2, 2006
- 1,013
- 72
- 48
I am in the process of enrolling my 13 year old daughter in an online Distance Learning school that will cost me over $1700 a semester for 8th grade.
Why? Because I have to get her out of the public schools.
I'm 47. When I was a kid, you had to do something really bad for the teacher to send you to the office. Really bad. And you had to do it more than once before the teacher gave up and sent you to the principal. And for the school to call your parents? My GOD! You had to get caught cheating, or stealing, or get in a fist fight. It had to be something REALLY bad for the school to call your parents.
Today? My daughters school called me because they don't like the look on her face. Seriously. We moved to a new town 2 years ago, and she started in this school in April of fifth grade. Within three weeks I got a call from the school's social worker. She looks sad all the time. She lacks socialization skills. They wanted a meeting. I very politely told the woman that she was an introvert and just needed time to adjust. I asked if she was a behvior problem, or if her school work was poor, but the social worker assured me, then, that it was only her "lack of socialization skills" that they wanted to address. I politely declined and just said that she needed time to adjust to the new school.
Two years, and 5 meetings later, the principal threatened to take me to court unless I allowed her to be evaluated by the school psychologist. He threatened to file a 51A against me. That's what authority figures like teachers and day care workers are required to file with the state of Massachusetts if they suspect child abuse and neglect. All because of the look on her face, her lack of socialization skills, and the fact that she has no friends.
My kid is what we used to call a loner. She has not adjusted well to the move, but that's mainly because they wouldn't leave her alone. She's very smart, and she's very stubborn. She's perfectly happy. Except at school.
She hates it with a passion. But every morning she gets out of that car and she walks into that building. And every day is torture for her because they see HER as the problem.
What hope is there for a kid like mine when the principal is a bully? I have to get her out of that school because the next thing that happens is she'll be accused of something and get expelled. And probably arrested. She's already been set up once by two girls who lied about something she said.
Right after we moved here, there was a bomb threat written on the wall of the 7th grade girls bathroom. My daughter was in 5th grade, so she didn't have access to it. But she has never been in the bathroom in this school. She knows if something like that happens again and she's anywhere near it, she get blamed. And she's right. She will.
$1700 a semester is small change compared to that. It's just too bad. I know she'll make friends eventually. I just can't risk it. Because they will not leave her alone. The teachers, I mean.
What happened to public schools in this country when teachers decided that they couldn't control their own classrooms? That every little thing had to be referred to the social worker?
When did every child have to a Stepford Child?
Why? Because I have to get her out of the public schools.
I'm 47. When I was a kid, you had to do something really bad for the teacher to send you to the office. Really bad. And you had to do it more than once before the teacher gave up and sent you to the principal. And for the school to call your parents? My GOD! You had to get caught cheating, or stealing, or get in a fist fight. It had to be something REALLY bad for the school to call your parents.
Today? My daughters school called me because they don't like the look on her face. Seriously. We moved to a new town 2 years ago, and she started in this school in April of fifth grade. Within three weeks I got a call from the school's social worker. She looks sad all the time. She lacks socialization skills. They wanted a meeting. I very politely told the woman that she was an introvert and just needed time to adjust. I asked if she was a behvior problem, or if her school work was poor, but the social worker assured me, then, that it was only her "lack of socialization skills" that they wanted to address. I politely declined and just said that she needed time to adjust to the new school.
Two years, and 5 meetings later, the principal threatened to take me to court unless I allowed her to be evaluated by the school psychologist. He threatened to file a 51A against me. That's what authority figures like teachers and day care workers are required to file with the state of Massachusetts if they suspect child abuse and neglect. All because of the look on her face, her lack of socialization skills, and the fact that she has no friends.
My kid is what we used to call a loner. She has not adjusted well to the move, but that's mainly because they wouldn't leave her alone. She's very smart, and she's very stubborn. She's perfectly happy. Except at school.
She hates it with a passion. But every morning she gets out of that car and she walks into that building. And every day is torture for her because they see HER as the problem.
What hope is there for a kid like mine when the principal is a bully? I have to get her out of that school because the next thing that happens is she'll be accused of something and get expelled. And probably arrested. She's already been set up once by two girls who lied about something she said.
Right after we moved here, there was a bomb threat written on the wall of the 7th grade girls bathroom. My daughter was in 5th grade, so she didn't have access to it. But she has never been in the bathroom in this school. She knows if something like that happens again and she's anywhere near it, she get blamed. And she's right. She will.
$1700 a semester is small change compared to that. It's just too bad. I know she'll make friends eventually. I just can't risk it. Because they will not leave her alone. The teachers, I mean.
What happened to public schools in this country when teachers decided that they couldn't control their own classrooms? That every little thing had to be referred to the social worker?
When did every child have to a Stepford Child?