Today was parent/teacher interview day at Lachlan's high school. He rang me from his Father's last week and said that his Dad thinks because his test scores etc were so good, he didn't have to go to the interviews. I did not agree with this. Lochie went forward and arranged for the interviews.
For those not familiar with high school - at this school, your child goes to each teacher and fills in a form with a ten minute slot for your interview. He gained four slots for me, one after the other - good boy! This meant the process would be done and dusted in 40 minutes. Fab.
So the time arrives and we head off to school. Get there right on time for Japanese teacher. Now, I wrote last year of Lachlan's eagerness to learn Japanese. And how I was astounded that he "got it". This year - a little different. He told me a few weeks ago that he was finding it boring. And not doing so well. So this was crunch time. Same teacher as last year greeted me with a familiar smile and got straight to the point. "Lachlan's working a little differently to last year". I like a teacher who doesn't pull any punches! Our interview progressed well, I told her Lachlan's thoughts, whilst he sat prostate in his chair, embarrassed that I had told his teacher he thought it was boring. But she was very honest and shared some interesting points.....
"Do I have your permission to confiscate his iPod and laptop in class?" PARDON???? My response to her was one of raised eyebrows, a WTF? look on my face and me sitting forward in my chair. This is when I went all Nanna......
"What is he doing with his iPod in class?" I ask. Mrs Japanese enlightens me. Apparently the school policy on having iPods and phones in class is up to the discretion of the teacher. PARDON???? Mrs Japanese gathers I am rather entertained by this fact. I am actually surprised, shocked and disgusted. She proceeds to fill in the blanks by telling me that whilst she is teaching, children (I will call them children opposed to students, because I want to bang home my Nanna-ness by stating they are bloody CHILDREN!!!) use their laptops to watch movies. They ignore her directions to hand in their iPods and will question her authority to do so.
By this stage I am rather aghast at the fact that this is all going on in my son's learning environment. Whilst I'm peeling my jaw off the ground, Lachlan tells Mrs Japanese that he has stopped listening to his iPod in class after she last requested he do so. He then says "lucky I don't have a bra" and laughs at his little joke. PARDON???? Another pearler. The year 8 girls will put their iPods in their bras so the teachers have no choice and cannot confiscate them........ Oh Dear.
I look at this lovely and charming 50-something woman, who must have the patience of a Saint, and give her these words:
"Can you imagine us doing that when we were at school?"
Just as the words were escaping my mouth, I realised I was now old.
Although I left Mrs Japanese feeling disheartened about THE YOUTH OF TODAY, (Yep, old old old old old) I was happy that she assured me Lochie is a great kid who is still doing well. But clearly his boring thoughts were getting in the way of him excelling.
The other three interviews were fabulous and made me a very proud Nanna Mum!
Tell me - are you shocked by what kids are getting away with these days? And are you a Nanna too?
You can guess my comment can't you. Aren't you glad you had a chook pen, ducks, geese, horses, a dam to swim in and when it rained, the creek was a great source of running through and splashing. Your friends had farm animals too and you learned pease did not come from the freezer, but from the farmer at Beenleigh Markets. Yep, darlin, them were the days, I hope you enjoyed them,
ReplyDeleteyour Mum xx