Perhaps Some Good Old Fashioned TRUST

Mechanical pencils have been purchased, wide-ruled and college-ruled loose-leaf paper has been put into the 1 ½ inch (not 2 inch) binders and text books have been covered with stretchy colored fabric.  I have signed 3,258 forms swearing my children have read the rules for French class and promised to pay for all damages caused in Chemistry by my oldest should that occur and given approval for them to be photographed, have their name published (should they win a huge contest in PE or something), and to eat a hot pretzel at lunch instead of the normal hot meal.

I can only imagine the school files for each child in the office!!  How to even begin to organize such information?  This one can’t have tree nuts. This one can’t have their picture taken.  Craziness!

I don’t ever recall having to even get a permission slip to get on three huge buses and travel with the band to an out of town football game in a city an hour away.  Ever.

We were told to bring money for a snack, show up at 3:15pm and we left.  That simple.

The book damage forms my youngest had to complete this week for each text book that was checked out to him, required him to draw and label all the damage that was already on the book when he got it, list the pages that were torn previously and sign his name and his life away that it was accurate.  Trust me, it was more complicated than any car rental damage form I’ve ever had to complete for a $25,000 car.  Text books are meant to be used and dog-eared and loved and the occasional pencil smiley face on the bottom of page 248 isn’t going to hurt a soul. 

Our trust and good faith in people has been lost.  It really makes me a bit sad.

Who do the schools think they are dealing with? Don’t they think as parents, we teach our children to respect the rules their teacher tells them and to respect their classmates and supplies.  We really don’t need a five-page list of the rules and consequences if he forgets to turn in his homework 6 weeks late.  Trust me, if my child is turning in work six weeks late, there WILL be consequences.  

I think we’ve gone a little overboard on all the dotting of the “what if” i’s and the crossing of the “just in case” t’s.  Kids are kids and yes, this generation has a few more bells and whistles than I had, but they are kids.  They are going to run in the halls with a pencil in their hand so they can try and get a seat next to that cute girl in Science and they are going to forget their assignment in their locker on occasion because that’s what kids do. 

I don’t have the solution for every school issue, but I do think a little trust in parents and good faith in our children goes a long way in my book (which isn’t covered in a stretchy fabric and a few of the pages are underlined and I still managed to graduate from college and be a respectful grown-up).