I am sure many of the youth of today will agree with this statement (heck I feel like that some days), but the truth of the matter is... we DO need education to better ourselves and to build a better future.  

                                     

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So cowboy up honey, some things in life we just have to do, even if we do not always enjoy it.

Imagine you were never taught to read.  At first you would think That will not be that bad, I hate reading in any case, but now think a little further. You will not be able to find information about anything, you will have a problem to do everyday things like go to the shop and read certain brands or specials, you will not know which bus or aeroplane to take, you will always have to ask for help, you will not be able to read your Bible.

                                              

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I am a strong believer in education, I believe that the children are our future, but I also believe that we have a responsibility to look after ourselves to get education and better ourselves.

This is the point that I want to make - We do need education, but we also have a responsibility for our own education.  

I am not saying that your children must teach themselves, we have teachers for that, but I am saying that your child cannot sit back and just hope the teacher or the parent will sort it all out.

I am going to make a statement that will maybe ruffle some feathers...

I do not believe we have problem children, but I do believe we have problem parents.

                                           

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I am obviously not talking about all parent, but there are parents that believe Johnny can do nothing wrong.  So when Johnny comes home and says the teacher moaned at him, it is automatically accepted that the teacher is doing something wrong.  If Johnny says he has no homework, then that is it and he can just watch TV the rest of the day.  If Johnny is rude to his mom, it is just ignored or written off as being a teenager.

Don't get me wrong, I believe that it is very important that children have time to be children - we cannot just do school work the whole day, but it is also important that children take responsibility for themselves and their actions, and this is where some parents tend to fail - everything is done for Johnny.

Teachers are NOT babysitters - we are there to assist your child.  It does not mean if we say read one page, they may not read more, or do some research on their own or build something for fun, even if they will not get a mark for it.

When they start working one day, nobody is going to look over their shoulder the whole time, or spoon feed them every second of the day or give them a mark because they have filled in a form.

It is our responsibility as parents to encourage our children to think for themselves, create opportunities where they can better themselves.  Give them chores to do in the house, let them make mistakes and learn from it.

We all want to make life easy for our kids (I know, I am a parent myself),  but what do we teach them?  Life is easy? (which is a lie), money can solve everything (money can dissapear in a flash), you can do what ever you want and never face any consequences? (that includes misbehaving at home or in class)

Unfortunately there are teachers that do not belong in teaching.  Teachers who do not have patience, teachers who degrade children.  In that situation I say you have the fullest right to do something about it, but most teachers are in teaching for the love of kids and to help them develop into decent adults. So no, we are not out to get Johnny and it would be nice if you hear our side of the story before attacking us or bad mouthing us with your kids.

                                  

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We are also human, we make mistakes and we do not have all the answers and we surely can use the parents in our corner.  So do not just leave it all up to the teachers, your child also needs to take responsibility.

So yes, our kids do need education, but not only from teachers, also from parents and life itself...