9486 in the collection
Teaching Kids to Care
Ohanian Comment: This piece was written by a high schooler who refused to take the TAAS last year.
A few days ago when one of my friends showed me a small-decorated origami paper Thanksgiving Day boat that she made in her TLC class, I told myself that TLC is a subject too stupid to ignore. I am tired of sitting in a classroom full of strangers and being assigned write a paper on what the word caring means to me and why. More importantly, I am sick of having my time and all my teacher’s time wasted. Students are reluctant to speak out because a journalism student who wrote what he really thought of TLC for the school newspaper then had a couple of run-ins with the administration.
Last year Robert E. Lee High School had the worst attendance rate in the North East Independent School District, which resulted in the school losing money because the school receives money from the state based on attendance. So the administrators at Lee put their creative heads together and produced TLC “The Lee Connection”--to teach the students at Lee important character traits such as “caring”, “responsibility”, and “teamwork”. The Lee Connection is 45 minutes long every Thursday. We spend the time playing charades, eating potato chips, drinking free soda, listening to bad jokes done by Seinfield, playing murder mysteries, and sharing personal information about yourself that you don’t even share with your best friend. Both teachers and students at Lee High School view TLC classes as a total waste of time spent. Many teachers choose to ignore the touchy-feely stuff and simply have students make little mini paper Thanksgiving Day boats that students get to decorate real pretty. We also watch The Lion King.
But as much as students and teachers hate TLC the administrators at Lee seem quite proud of their masterpiece displaying the pillars of character in front of the main office that reads this week’s latest character building skill. The administrators have even started to quote Martian Luther King’s views on character in education on the school’s morning announcements. But has TLC cured or helped any of the students with their real problems…has it helped a student at Lee get enough money to go to college? Has TLC really helped a failing student to make good grades to pass their classes? Has TLC helped any student that needs help the answer is- NO. TLC is not the cure-all medicine that the administration thought would be for some of Lee’s toughest problems… But how do teachers make students care about their futures and their class work? - It’s not by handing out worksheets on responsibility it is by letting the students at Lee know that someone cares about their future and is willing to do everything in their power make sure that student does end up in the drop out rate…but are we really being told about that in TLC while we sit together and play name games, eat junk food, and do character worksheets that everyone could careless about. TLC is more or less taken about as seriously as a joke…Most people at school don’t even consider TLC as a class since you don’t receive a TLC grade on your report card and most students chose to skip TLC until they found out that if you don’t go to TLC on Thursday you end up in ISS automatically.
No one can teach character through worksheets and no one can master the art of responsibility through watching The Loin King. What would Martian Luther King say? What Elie Wisel, Nelson Mandela, or Gandhi people that have shown amazing character have to say about their character traits being taught through a worksheet? Can you even teach their character through worksheets? Many administrators would argue that TLC gives me a place to come and go if I have any problems and a teacher to help me if I need help in anything whether it is in or outside school. But when I am in trouble I don’t turn to my TLC teacher for guidance or advice. My TLC teacher virtually a stranger to me… So whom do I turn to when I have a problem- I turn to the teachers that know me because I respect their opinions and advice. How can anyone logically person argue that TLC makes any student feel comfortable and relaxed when your surrounded by a bunch of strangers and being forced to have discussions on matters you don’t discuss anywhere but TLC or having be involved in games that you played when you were ten in the gym. How does that benefit the students at Lee High School?
Recently a survey was handed out during a TLC class about what the school should do to make TLC more worthwhile the response from my group “make it less boring.” Our TLC teacher said this shows that the school may be getting rid of TLC next year--amidst cheers from the students. Until then the students of Lee can only hope and pray.
— Kimberly A. Marciniak
Teaching Teenagers to Care
2003-12-
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
[1] 2 3 4 5 6 Next >> Last >>
