Wednesday, January 18, 2012
My Letter to the School Board
My son attends the AcTal program at Greystone (grade 7), and they are
off on a curling field trip next week. We have been informed that the
kids are going to be required to wear helmets for this, and that this
requirement is a school board policy.
My wife and I are at a loss on this. Our son is going to be 13 in a month, and, while he has only curled once before, he has managed to play outside in the schoolyard all winter long without once falling and hitting his head (I note that this is not meant to be taken facetiously: walking on school fields before the recent snow has been monumentally treacherous this winter, due to all the ice). We also note that one of his classmates is an experienced curler and will also be required to wear a helmet.
We are raising a generation of (to use the phrase so recently picked up by a new TV program) Bubble Wrap Kids. I see nothing wrong with setting the rules and doing so firmly, letting the kids know that with the first sign of roughhousing, on the ice or even off, and they get to sit out the remainder of the field trip. But, unless there has been a rash of severe injuries involving this sport, a number that shows some sort of statistical significance, then we don't see how this makes any sense. And here let me add that a study by Monash University finds that most curling injuries involve shoulder, knee, and back pain, which comes as no surprise.
It is right and proper that we should teach our children to be safe, and I believe that the responsibility for this task falls on the shoulders of all caregivers: parents, teachers, other family members, and beyond. But we also need to teach our children that we trust them, especially when they are already under direct supervision. As they get older, children take bigger steps, remove themselves more from our obsessive need to control every little thing they do, and that's a good thing. By insisting they wear helmets for a slow-moving sport, we are showing these children that we do not trust them, nor do we trust the previous lessons involving their safety that were made by their caregivers.
If this sort of decision is made to ensure that the school board and all schools and teachers are not liable for any accident, then by all means send a release form, and we will gladly sign it. If not, then as parents we obviously will have to make our own decision about whether or not he takes part. And that strikes me as ironic, that parents might pull children out of events not because of safety concerns, but because so many of us are too afraid that some nebulous thing might happen.
Sincerely,
Derryl Murphy
My wife and I are at a loss on this. Our son is going to be 13 in a month, and, while he has only curled once before, he has managed to play outside in the schoolyard all winter long without once falling and hitting his head (I note that this is not meant to be taken facetiously: walking on school fields before the recent snow has been monumentally treacherous this winter, due to all the ice). We also note that one of his classmates is an experienced curler and will also be required to wear a helmet.
We are raising a generation of (to use the phrase so recently picked up by a new TV program) Bubble Wrap Kids. I see nothing wrong with setting the rules and doing so firmly, letting the kids know that with the first sign of roughhousing, on the ice or even off, and they get to sit out the remainder of the field trip. But, unless there has been a rash of severe injuries involving this sport, a number that shows some sort of statistical significance, then we don't see how this makes any sense. And here let me add that a study by Monash University finds that most curling injuries involve shoulder, knee, and back pain, which comes as no surprise.
It is right and proper that we should teach our children to be safe, and I believe that the responsibility for this task falls on the shoulders of all caregivers: parents, teachers, other family members, and beyond. But we also need to teach our children that we trust them, especially when they are already under direct supervision. As they get older, children take bigger steps, remove themselves more from our obsessive need to control every little thing they do, and that's a good thing. By insisting they wear helmets for a slow-moving sport, we are showing these children that we do not trust them, nor do we trust the previous lessons involving their safety that were made by their caregivers.
If this sort of decision is made to ensure that the school board and all schools and teachers are not liable for any accident, then by all means send a release form, and we will gladly sign it. If not, then as parents we obviously will have to make our own decision about whether or not he takes part. And that strikes me as ironic, that parents might pull children out of events not because of safety concerns, but because so many of us are too afraid that some nebulous thing might happen.
Sincerely,
Derryl Murphy
Labels: Brennan, idiots, school, sports
Monday, May 23, 2011
Star Chamber For Librarians
There have been a number of articles and posts about what's been happening down in Los Angeles with the school board, but this latest one is a real heart breaker. Lawyers, a judge, and I recall even hearing about police officers. It's an offensive theater of the absurd that shows just how little respect employees are getting in today's environment, and of course how little respect school librarians get. And not just in LA.
Labels: ethics, libraries, school, work
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
A Poem By Brennan
He wrote two for his grade 5 class the other day. One is a picture poem that doesn't show up well in this type of blog. Suffice it to say that it is quite lovely. The other? Well, have a look:
Cows
*I see cows in the night sky
*Shiny and bright
*They scream to me with a piercing hate
*They are grazing on the stars
*The horses threaten them to take over the world
*I see cows in the night sky
*Shiny and bright
*They scream to me with a piercing hate
*They are grazing on the stars
*The horses threaten them to take over the world
Labels: Brennan, poetry, school, writing
Sunday, October 04, 2009
The Crap That Parents Put Up With
From Free-Range Kids, one of my favorite blogs, comes this story about a school - no, not just a school, apparently an entire board - that will not allow children to bike to school. Indeed, they had a police office at school for the first day to greet parents to tell them they weren't allowed to even bike with their children. Even better, kids can't walk to school either.
It does look like some changes might be made, but I have to say that this is absolute insanity. Now, Aidan can obviously walk to school, since we only live a block away. Brennan takes the bus in the morning with Jo, and I do pick him up most days, but days I can't he takes the bus home no problem. And lots of kids bike to both schools without any grief.
It does look like some changes might be made, but I have to say that this is absolute insanity. Now, Aidan can obviously walk to school, since we only live a block away. Brennan takes the bus in the morning with Jo, and I do pick him up most days, but days I can't he takes the bus home no problem. And lots of kids bike to both schools without any grief.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Three Baskets, One Helper
That's Aidan with the ball, wearing the Away jersey since they ran out of Home uniforms. His team is not really a team, but rather a collection of grade 6 kids who got impatient with the fact that only the grade 7s get to play, so they whined and fussed and cajoled and wheeled and dealed and convinced their gym teacher to let them form a practice team, and one the dads and one of the moms actually do the coaching.
Then, still not satisfied, they put on the pressure again and got themselves an exhibition game with a school from down the road. So the other school pulls up with 7 boys and sees that Aidan's team has 8 boys and 6 girls, and they all get to play. Lots of subs, and a surprising amount of skill. We won, 42-29, I think, and all the kids had fun. As noted, Aidan got 6 points, and since basketball really isn't his game, that was nice to see. Plus, even though soccer is still in my blood, it was nice to see him play another sport.
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