Lorena Bobitt Anyone

So my sister tells me story after story about her terrible class of first graders this year. They just don't listen. They talk all the time. They're about as smart as the light pole outside the house except they probably wouldn't think to turn on when the sun goes down... These children put full cups of water in their backpacks in order to bring them home for later, and you know what happened?? Thats right folks, the water poured out of the cup onto everything in each of their backpacks. I agree with her, somethings lacking. But what is it that allows a seven year old to completely ignore the fact that there is no lid on a cup and OBVIOUSLY whats in the cup will come out without a lid?? I'll get to that.

The next rediculously outrageous story I'm told, is about a boy who apparently just realized he had a weener, and for some reason thought it was a great idea to keep pulling it out of his never zipped zipper. Even after he was repremanded multiple times, the idea to just leave it in his pants didn't occur to him. Eventually, as I figure most ignorant, inexperienced seven year olds would do if presented with a Vienna Sausage, another child bit the flashers never covered weener. Not hard enough to draw blood, mind you, but this is still happening in the middle of a school day in a public school classroom. What do you do at this point if you are in charge of these children?? The child was sent to the nurse and directly to the principal's office after that. My sister, hoping for some type of repremandation for this child who refused to listen to authority and successfully reaped the consequences, came to find both the hungry first grader and the flasher back in class the next morning at 8am, without the slightest memory of what happened yesterday since there was not even a slap on the hand.

Then, there's the daily update of the serial theif and her deskful of five finger discounts. This child not only steals things that look fun or shiny or interesting to some level from other students, she also steals chewed off erasers and random things from the teachers desk. She wouldn't be in my gang, that's for sure. But this girl steals so often, she is on a daily contract. That is, the teacher fills out a contract everyday, and she is to bring this to her parents to sign every afternoon and return the following school day. Therefore, her parents are informed on a daily basis of the haps going on with Smooth Fingers. She has been sent to the principal's office more than a handful of times, and is at the point where, if she does it again, it seems inevitable that she be suspended, or maybe even expelled.

But that straw that should have put more weight than that camel could bear, apparently didn't weigh enough. She stole again, and once again, admitted to it. She was sent to the principal's office, and Godwilling, would probably not be in class the next couple of days. Why would a seven year old be a thief anyways?? When my sister confronted the principal about the exceedingly lax moral code, she was informed that Smooth Finger's parents said she was being picked on (because I'm sure their child's SO important that ANYONE would spend an extra 30 minutes after work hours to write up a contract) and they wondered what the other parents would think if the weener story were to leak out to, I don't know, the papers. And this principal gave in to this!! Amazing the ability parents these days have to prepare their children for complete and utter failure when they hit middle school age!! I mean, seriously, bribery??

So what if everyone knew about a little boy being curious and mischevious in one breath. So what if another little boy acted on impulse rather than thinking about the proper thing. As if this type of thing doesn't happen every single day. But, in reality, what leads to so many kids lacking the mental capability to tell them whats right and wrong??

Could it be the lack of quality time the parents spend with these young ones, and therefore they will make excuses not to repremand their children as if making up for their obvious failures as parents?? Is it the complete selfishness these adults show in not practising proper moral code at home?? Maybe these parents have no morals?? I shiver at the thought of how many children really are being set up for failure if you compare the proportions. 5-8 first graders, at the same school, in the same class with such extreme behavior and common sense hinderances...Times that by however many 7 year olds there are in this nation. When are we as parents and role models going to realize we aren't doing our duty if we continuously excuse improper behavior and don't teach basic common sense and morals?? What is it going to have to come to??