Problems in Education

I chose this chapter on education because education is something that has defined my life and my family. And not just because we've all attended school or anything. From the time I was very, very young my parents knew they wanted to give their kids a really good education. I was the oldest so when I was three years old I began attended a music academy and when I was four I began to read voraciously. I started preschool at a local Christian school but only attended for half a year. My mom pulled me out and started homeschooling me. My three siblings and I were home-schooled by mom until I was in seventh grade. She did an incredible job especially considering there were four of us to teach and she had two more babies at home. Yes, I have five siblings but super-woman mom didn't let that effect the quality of education she strove to maintain. My dad worked on history, geography and reading with us and my mom taught us spelling, grammar, memorization, vocab, math, and science. They are a great team and made learning fun and competitive. Of course some days it was disorganized and we got less done than we were supposed to. During my homeschool years my parents were always hunting for other schools. My mom didn't want to continue throughout high school (and I don't blame her) but they never found anything they thought was rigorous enough.

Before seventh grade my parents heard of a school in north Idaho so we moved up there to go to Logos in Moscow. So far, four of us kids have graduated and my two younger siblings still attend. My parents effort to give us the best education possible, even if it meant moving to another state, has made me realize just how much education molds you into the kind of person you are. I think education has one of the greatest impacts on our country because it is creating the product that makes the decisions about the direction of the United States.

Right now I would say our education system is in dire straits. Among other things, I think one problem is that the educational system has lowered the bar which has caused the value of an education to decrease. Schools want to encourage kids and allow the great majority to be able to pass into the next grade at the end of each academic year but by lowering the standard they are only slowly tightening the noose around their own neck. Eventually, we are going to realize that our slow decline is the reason the United States is academically lagging behind many other developed countries. The 'No Child Left Behind' Act has crippled our system.

Articles:
This New York Times article shows that over the past few years, some states are lowering their levels of proficiency for reading and math. States are working to define common standards but not all have joined in on the effort and the process could take a long, long time:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/education/30educ.html

This link to an interview with analyst Michael Davidson on a study that confirms that in the United States our education is falling behind other countries. We are on level in reading and writing with many countries but almost always behind on math and science:
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/07/131884477/Study-Confirms-U-S-Falling-Behind-In-Education

Video: link to video clip from Fox News on the U.S falling behind in education. These stats are depressing!
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4453981/us-falling-behind-in-education/

Internet Sites:
This link to the U.S Department of Education website have all the information about the No Child Left Behind law. It also keeps readers updated on new news and all the laws on school funding, tenure, and progress on reform:
http://www.ed.gov/esea

Many people think that whites are the only ones suffering during our academic slump. But Hispanics are feeling the fall out too:
http://www.vdare.com/articles/american-schools-lowering-standards-for-hispanics

Quote:
"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence."
- Abigail Adams

Family Problems

The family is to me the most important social grouping. Family forms a person's identity from the very beginning, before a child even knows who they are, they know who there family is. And a child understands from the very beginning how things are done in his/her family and understands it as "normal". Family. and the experiences a child learns from the family, is the foundation from which we often judge others for the rest of our lives. Our moral compass and the way we treat others is often similar to that of our parents. Of course I'm generalizing but in general these things are true. The strong power of the family is the reason I chose this chapter.

I believe that many of our social problems could be fixed if the family was a better unit. If parents stayed together and were involved and invested in their child's life then I think a large percentage of social problems would disappear. Think about it. If your parents have modeled a marriage that exemplified sacrifice to each other (any marriage that is going to last is going to be about a lot of sacrifice) and stuck with it even in tough times, children are going to extrapolate that into so many areas of their life. They will be more long-suffering with their friends, more diligent in their school work, learn that they may have to sacrifice desires such a under-age drinking because they know its bad for them etc. If parents stay involved in their child's life so many problems can likely be prevented: drug use, teen pregnancy, dropping out of school, violence etc. The lis goes on and on. And it starts with parents. I've seen both sides of it. And it seems to obvious that families where the parents stay together are more successful and go on to have successful families of their own. But divorce and bad parenting will only start a trend of broken families and problems. Its not a one size fixes all but I have definitely seen a correlation. Could that explain why with more split families there is also a rise in teen violence, teen pregnancy, criminal behavior among youth and a foray of other social problems? I think its something to consider.

Look at some of these stats:
* Kids twice as likely to be juvenile delinquents if father is not at home
* Rapists, murderers, lifers, drug users, and abuse victims are most often from broken homes
* 3/4 of all juvenile delinquents who are a threat to the public came from broken homes
* Boys whose fathers were not at home doubled the chance that they would be incarcerated
http://www.divorcereform.org/crime.html

Articles:
This article on how single parenthood effects children describes some of the specifics about the way a parents decision will play out to effect their child's life and the community around them. Economic hardship, lack of parental supervision and support, and stress and instability are the ones I want to focus on.
http://www.familyimpactseminars.org/s_wifis02c04.pdf

This is a fact sheet and guide on how to stay involved in your kids education and how they can benefit from it. Schools understand how important parental involvement is to their success so schools are working to educate parents on this matter as well.
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Final_Parent_Involvement_Fact_Sheet_14732_7.pdf


Here is a pic of my awesome family from a few years ago before I got married. My parents have been married for 28 years and love each other and us kids very much. I'm second from the right:)

Video: Benefit of parental involvement. This is a project done by New Jersey to prevent child abuse and teach parents their important role.

Links:
Is government encouraging strong family ties? This article discusses the UK sentiments.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-392777/Family-life-disintegrating-say-pressure-mothers.html

More statistics on the breakdown of the American family and the problems it has caused. There is a paragraph on the relationship between the crisis families are experiencing and society's major problems.
http://www.tparents.org/library/unification/talks/colvin/secular.htm

Quote:
"I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich."- Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford

"An ounce of blood is worth more than a pound of friendship." -Spanish Proverb

Alcohol and Other Drugs

Chapter 3 on alcohol and other drugs highlight the damaging effect of foreign and illegal substances. Not just damaging to the body but also to the family and society that surrounds the individual that subjects themselves to them. Being a college student, drinking is all around you. I have been shocked at the extreme amount of alcohol that my peers drink day in and day out. Partying isn't just for the weekends. And I'm also surprised how alcohol isn't viewed as much of an addiction as drugs might be. I think that's because we have easy access to it and don't have to ever be without it for very long. But it is an addictive drug as well.

Of the 126 million Americans age 12 or older, 22.7% (or 55 million people) said they were binge drinkers. Well I'd like to say that 3/4 of those are in most of my classes. So much for our educational system as well.
This link below is for an article which shows that binge drinking damages the white matter of the brain which effects thinking and memory and may even effect school performances. Well fancy that! http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2009/04/22/binge-drinking-may-damage-teens-brains



The lifetime of prevalence of illegal drug use is 46% in America! That means that almost half the population will use illicit drug sometime during their life. Understanding how pervasive and destructive the drugs are makes me realize how important it is to help young people to resist because once they start addiction is extremely hard to combat.

After reading Beautiful Boy, a story about the author David Sheff's young son battling with his addiction to meth, my view towards drug addiction changed. There is not an easy fix for addiction. There is no law that will make drugs disappear or children from wanting to take them. Nic Sheff was 12 when he first tried drugs. Prescription drug use is becoming hugely popular. A substance that may be easier for children to get at than other drugs. The problem of drug use starts at home. Parents need to be shouldering the responsibility for raising their children and not expecting schools to be watching everything. It is the parents job to make sure they know their childrens' business.

But I chose this chapter because I think that it is a social problem that can be helped by the work of common citizens. I think that it starts in our homes. It can't be fixed through government regulations. They may be able to curb some of the excessiveness of this social problem. But we have some power over this and that's why I wanted to cover it.

Video: Drug abuse pictures before and after.

Links:
This link talks about how family members need to understand that their love for a user can enable them. Tough love is usually what's needed and that can hurt the family and friends more than the user. That's why its good to know how to stop them from using before they even start.
http://www.drug-addiction-support.org/drug-addiction-family.html

This link is just proof that with parent involvement many of the users would have been discouraged to take drugs. There are so many articles that provide programs and steps to help parents learn how to help their kids. This article is proof that it works.
http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k9/159/ParentInvolvement.htm

Quote:

“Anyone who has lived through it, or those who are now living through it, knows that caring about an addict is as complex and fraught and debilitating as addiction itself.”
― David Sheff, Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction