Are Our Schools Turning Into Prisons?

Our children don’t go to school anymore. They go to prison. When I went to school I don’t remember being controlled the way my children are controlled in school. When we had recess, we were allowed to play anywhere on the playground we wanted, there were several classes at a time outside and we could find our friends and have fun. Today, there may be two or three classes outside at one time, but each class is in it’s own area and only under special circumstances are the children from one class allowed to play with the children from another class. Oh and we had two recesses a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Our children have one, and it may come at the end of the day.

At lunchtime we were allowed to sit where we wanted in the lunchroom and we had 30 minutes to eat, talk with friends, or even go outside to play, weather and time permitting. Today, there is only twenty minutes to eat. Each class sits at it’s own table and depending on the recent behavior of the class, they may have assigned seats at the table. They have a period of time when there is no talking allowed and demerits are given if the rules are broken. Once that time is up, the children are allowed to talk, but if the volume gets too loud, the silence rule is reinstated.

After school, the teacher escorts the class to the hallway where the children sit down and wait for their bus number to be called. And again, no talking, no playing.

Where is the social aspect of school? Where is the fun? I know. I know. School isn’t the most fun place in the world, but there were aspects of school when I attended that were fun. If I had a friend that lived on the other end of the school district, I could still interact with him at school. We could talk, play and be friends. Today there is just no time. Our children are expected to act more like grownups than grownups do. And many people wonder why children are so stressed about school.

Why are there so many reports of children having problems coping at school? Why do we hear of bomb threats in so many schools? Why are children bringing weapons to school to threaten teachers, administration, and other students? Could it be that we don’t send our children to school? Instead we send them to prison.

There are people who argue that children today need the structure to help them learn the skills they need to cope in today’s fast paced world. They need the discipline because they don’t know how to discipline themselves. I will agree that children need to learn discipline. But they need to learn SELF discipline. They also need to learn that in the middle of something serious and needed (which is not always the most fun) there is time for a little socializing, time for a little relaxation, time for a little fun.

I go to work for eight to nine hours a day. I enjoy what I do, but I would go crazy if I didn’t take a little time to relax and visit with my co-workers. No one makes me spend that time with only those on my team either. I can go to a completely different department to talk to a friend and visit about things we have in common that have nothing to do with work. This makes me a more productive employee. My boss or supervisor doesn’t make sure that I don’t leave my section to visit with those not in my group. If he did, I would probably be looking for another job soon and where would productive behavior be then? Nonexistent.

If our children were given a little more freedom during their free time, I believe there would be less of a need to enforce the rules. There would be fewer incidents of rebellion and defiance in our schools. And there would be much fewer serious incidents of stress, anger and violence than there are today.

Get our children out of the prisons and back into schools. Where they can learn to enjoy learning.