Summer School Choices

In Quebec June 23, heralds the end of an academic school year for public schools, as well as the start of summer vacation.
For many people, the word “summer” evokes easier days, a time when life slows down. So does the term “summer break,” a time parents, teachers, and students value as a well-deserved respite from the labor of the school year.
Because summer break is a widespread and beloved tradition, the suggestion for some children that they must attend school during the summer is not taken very well.
Strange as it may seem, this has emerged as one of the most problematic behaviors within the context of education in the Black community, as such a crucial decision whether or not to attend is left entirely to the child.
Yes, “the child”. Far too many parents want to be seen and regarded as their child’s friend. However, the major problem with this approach is that a friend is non-judgmental, and a friend is a peer. In my opinion, the child’s role is simply not equal to that of yours.
To be as pellucid as possible about what I mean by the “boss”. When talking to parents I often define this as the limit-setter role. I am a firm old school believer that parents need to set limits on their kids and maintain the rules of their household using consequences and accountability. Notwithstanding, while the limit-setter role is essential, it should not be the only one that is utilized.
The other critical roles I have identified are the teacher role, where parents help the child learn how to behave more appropriately, and the coach role, where parents challenge the child to behave better, something like the coach of a team would do. In order to be a highly effective parent, all three roles—limit-setter, teacher, and coach—are needed particularly with adolescents.
In my teaching career I have heard parents say: “I let him make his own decision.”
Why are parents allowing the kids who have not done well academically, who are struggling, who have demonstrated that they have not grasped the course material, still have privileges, still have their cell phone, still socialize and still do what they want, rather than being the parental authoritarian, laying down the law, and defining the boundaries and expectations— that the child’s job is to go to school, and pay attention to what is being taught and learn.
We can strip away all the history classes, the missing pages, the indoctrination and all the problematic aspects, but if our kids do not know do not know the basics of calculation, or the basics of drama and the written word then our kids are in serious trouble.
READING, (W) RITING AND (A) RITHMETIC are the basics.
Reading is taking in new information. Writing is communication. Math is the basis of calculation, whether we are talking about chemistry, finance or architecture.
Allowing a child to make a decision regarding his/ her education when clearly they are in need of educational buttressing is a clear example of parental abdication and neglect. The adults in the children’s lives need to embrace this choice for them as summers spent away from the classroom, especially when the child is in need, can prove educationally detrimental.
This seeming abdication of power/ duty is just the tip of a multifaceted problem. In some cases, where to the onlooker it appears as if the child is the decision maker, this is exactly so. The child has become a victim of the circumstances in which he finds himself and is at school trying to figure things out for himself.
During my teaching career, I have had students who came to school literally to sleep, because they have been holding down overnight jobs. During class time they are far too tired and sleepy, and cannot afford to even fix their gaze on the chalkboard. By virtue of being a financial contributor of sort, the child becomes a de facto decision maker especially in matters that concern him.
Studies have found that summer schools have contributed to an increase in the achievement gap. Additional research showed us that summer learning loss involved more than math and reading. When students do not attend engaging and enriching summer school programs, the summer months can result in losses in health and well-being, college and career opportunity, and the support needed to break cycles of intergenerational poverty and move young people forward.
Parents the clarion is being sounded. The message is loud and clear: it is not cool for the child to decide whether or not he goes to summer school.
Education remains the key to success and an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.
If God wanted children to make choices, he would not have put parents in charge.
Good readers make good leaders.
Happy Summer School Learning and Ultimate Success in Life to all Students.