Because, invariably, these journeys involve long car rides together, with lots of empty minutes to fill as we both stare out across the asphalt that is whizzing beneath our tires. With all my sons I have found these trips to be some of the most fun and productive times for communicating and getting to know what's going on in their lives. Even more so with my at times closed, and often enigmatic, second born--ie. the Enigma.
Today we had barely gotten into the car when I heard, "So what do you wanna talk about?" My heart soared. But before we eased into the more personal topic of his friendships, frustrations and desires, we started with a slightly less personal topic--labour unions. And, surprisingly, that is what I want to talk about here today.
No, I'm not going to educate you on something I'm sure you all know about...the pros and cons of unions. Nor am I going to lament the reasons why I and many of my colleagues were heartbroken when a union vote went south at our hospital a few weeks ago...although I did talk to the Enigma about all that. What shocked me, however, about this encounter was the fact that when I mentioned the recent union vote to my son his first question was, "What's a union?"
I was, momentarily, taken aback. He'd never heard of a union? REALLY? Of course I don't begrudge for one moment the task of educating my son in matters of every day living. And I have done so repeatedly over the years. I vividly recall conversations with my children, explaining to them how a credit card works. What's the difference between a credit card and a debit card? What is a mortgage? What's the difference between that and a regular loan? Not to mention the discussions we've had about sex, sexual freedom and religion. It is my job as a parent to prepare my children for life as a responsible adult, but...isn't that also the job of the school system?
A few weeks ago I was quite chagrined to see a test that String Bean (third-born son who is 13 years old, 6 feet tall and all of 120 pounds) had brought home from literature class. He'd done very poorly on identifying all the literary devices that were illustrated in various passages. Literary devices that I, a published author, had trouble identifying. In fact, several of them, I had never heard of. At the time I was saddened to see that the school system is still bent and determined to dissect and analyze and generally suck all the life and enjoyment out of so much of literature, but now....now...my question is....
How is it that the school system has all this time to teach kids about literary devices and historical facts that teach very little if anything in the way of critical thinking, and have little or no relevance to their every day lives...and yet they have no time to teach them simple, basic skills of living in our twenty-first century society?
Certainly theoretical math is an essential skill, but so is the mechanics of debt and loan. Credit cards and mortgages. Things like what you should look for when renting an apartment or buying a condo. What about insurance? What are the pros and cons of using an insurance agent, and what are the advantages of term vs. full life insurance? What does an employer expect from a good employee? And what are your rights as an employee according to the federal and provincial laws? What are all the deductions for on your pay stub? What are all the taxes for? What does it mean to belong to a labour union? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Certainly history is important. We can't truly understand where we are until we know where we've come from. But what about teaching kids how to look at the world around them right now!? My kids should understand the basic reasons and the political context of the war in Afghanistan. The issues at work in the Middle East. And NATO and European economies. This is current day, relevant information that is all but ignored in classrooms. And I would love to see our kids learn how to read and watch the media and understand what they're seeing.
These are basic life skills!!
My children are fortunate to have parents who take the time to discuss these things with them. Our children are free to see our pay stubs. They know what we earn and what we spend our money on. And we discuss things as they come up personally or in the news, but many many parents do NOT take the time to talk about these things. So you will often have kids graduating highschool who still don't know enough to check their pay stubs to make sure they're not getting ripped off. Or who have no idea what that "union dues" deduction is for. How our health care is paid for, and what our tax dollar gets us.
Well, okay...sometimes as an adult even I ask THAT question, but...perhaps you see my point.
In my opinion our school system is falling down on the job. Yes, they are teaching our children some valuable skills, but they're missing the boat on so many others. The thing is...now that I've pinpointed this issue what do I do about it?? Perhaps a letter to my Member of Parliament and local school board is in order.
It wouldn't be the first time.
Ah, education. A wonderful theoretical concept. In Canada, one of the tenets of Confederation, as part of the agreement of Upper Canada, (where you live and good things groooowowoooo) and the other soon-to-be provinces to sign on and begin to form a dominion and then a country was that the provinces would have certain rights and responsibilities and the (now federal) government would have other rights and responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteCurrency and military are two no brainer ones. Government of Canada is solely responsible for that. There's a whole bunch of them. Oceans, Immigration, for instance. Health is a tricky one...it is both federal (assuring overall well being, governance, medical protocols, research, drug/equipment/procedure approval, following the basic philosophy of medicare, etc.) The provinces are responsible for the nuts and bolts of the health system. Licensing, hospital funding, primary to tertiary care delivery etc.
Education is solely in the hands of the provinces.
So. Writing a letter to your MP would be useless (well, as someone who used to write letters for politicians, those letters justified my inflated, unionized salary, but I digress)- try your provincial politician. Why? because it is the province, not the school boards that mostly determine curriculum in the schools.
The schools rely on direction (and funding) from the province. Unless you are part of a private school that does whatever it wants (and the provincial curriculum on top of that).
Why am I boring you with all this?
To illustrate and reinforce what you are writing about. I didn't learn about any of this at school - although some of the political stuff was taught there, but I didn't take those classes.
I learned all this by reading, listening and observing. Asking questions. Learning to be more media savvy and understand that NEWS, is not really about North East West South, but rather about New Events Welcome Sales.
Although schools have a big responsibility to "teach" concepts and put in the foundation of learning "how to learn", they cannot now be places were everything is learned. Occasionally, however, an inspiring teacher does come along and does something that changes the lives of either one or many students. I've been fortunate enough to have had several of these. I have also had the misfortune of having several teachers who served no purpose other than to dull my appreciation and understanding of everything.
The point of the lengthy ramble is that it is the parents and family...the community...and friends that play a much larger influence in the moral, intellectual and critical thought development of young people.
Teachers either can't (too overwhelmed with work/prevented by administration), won't (don't see the point/have become blasé), or are too dull themselves from poor teaching to be responsible for that.
The Enigma (coincidentally the same name as a device used to decipher code) is evidence of the learning process working effectively - and showing the wonderful feedback of a talkative, caring and responsive offspring.
Oh, and don't forget to talk to him about Charge cards and leasing too.
The opinions expressed in this self-serving rant are those of the writer, and do not reflect the opinions, policy or direction of any other individual, group, or organization.
I agree 100% that schools cannot--ever--be expected to teach our children everything. Regardless of the fact that a disturbing percentage of parents can't be bothered to teach their children ANYTHING, the home is the core of learning. I also understand that the school system has limited funds, limited resources and limited time. So to me...this is all about priorities.
ReplyDeleteI know the school curriculums continue to change and grow...if at a slower pace than I would like to see. Keyboarding skills and computer technologies have been added...which is wonderful. However, it disturbs me that WWI battle techniques and the history of beaver trapping continues to take priority over current global politics, conflicts and advances in communication. And that literary dissection takes priority over financial education.
So thanks for the tip on the letter-writing campaign! I think I did know that it was the provincial government's responsibility...just hadn't quite gotten there yet. ;-)
Leasing. Ugh.
Beaver trapping...really? Where would Canada be...or Nikki for that matter, without the proficient and practiced art of beaver trap and release?
ReplyDeleteLiterary dissection was developed to teach students how to analyze and synthesize words and meaning...too many generations of ill-taught teachers have transformed this skill into a meaningless, rote analysis of parts of speech and use of pronouns and gerunds.
I mean, seriously. Is TS Elliot's "The Wasteland" about the snow melting in that cruelest month, April? Or is it about modern society losing touch with spiritual roots, with the natural cycles of life?
I'd rather think about beaver trapping.
We are talking about the kind with fur and a big tail, right?
ReplyDeleteEverything on a man's mind has to do with fur and big tail, doesn't it?
ReplyDelete