Homeschooling: Public School Woes -- Part 1

Homeschooling? What has that got to do with travel? And who cares about it, anyway?

Well, I'll tell ya. First of all, I was one of those people who thought that kids who were homeschooled weren't getting an education. Yup, me! I was very much involved with my son in his public school ever since he was in preschool. I'm a true believer that parents need to be involved with their kids in school, and that school should be an extension of the home (not vice versa).

But I also believed that the public schools offer the best education since they have access to just about anything, and there is such an input by many people. Public school also offers the opportunity to make a best friend, too.

So those WERE my beliefs...

Since kindergarten, my son had troubles in school. Not academic, mind you, but trouble with the other kids. No, he doesn't have a social problem. The problem was with bad behavior on the part of some of his other classmates.

My son's kindergarten class had 12 kids and 5 adults in the room almost daily. It was dubbed the "Class From Hell".

Okay, you say, kindergarteners -- 5-year olds. How bad can that be? Especially with that ratio of adults to kids? Well, shouldn't be a big deal, right? Wrong! In my son's class, we had a girl who screamed all day, scratched other kids and the adults in the room -- all because she either didn't get her way or just didn't want to do something. She was the mild one of the worst of the kids.

Then we had another kid who -- when he was told to do something, or also didn't want to do something -- would kick, punch, throw furniture/computers at kids and adults, and take off running (sometimes off of the school campus!). I received a bruise from this kid when I helped a school official physically carry him into the principal's office so the mom could be called.

And then there was David (not his real name). David was supposed really brilliant, but never did even learn his letters. But he was taught he was brilliant, so if another kid knew an answer that he didn't know, he would attack that kid (usually by gouging out eyes or strangle the other kid or ripping hair out). Because he was "special", he was allowed to do what he wanted. But David also had an unpredictable temper -- and I do mean unpredictable! Most of the time no one had a clue as to when he would attack another child! So many times he would calmly walk across the room to some unsuspecting child and just attack! As the year went on, for some reason he singled out my son as his main victim. The teacher and other adults said it was because my son was also smart, but there were other smart kids in this class who didn't become David's victims. So I don't buy that. Nevertheless, my son became his main victim.

I made many trips to the principal's office that year to show wounds to the principal and demanded something be done with David. Other parents also did the same. David also had a tendency to be sexual with some of the girls in the class.

Because of David, I ended up being at my son's school ALL DAY. And because I was doing the supervisory work of a paid employee, I finally just hired on to be paid. So I now had a part-time job at the school and at the same time was watching out for my son.

I have to give credit to our kindergarten teacher. She still managed to teach the kids in the class in spite of the constant disruptions. But she was frustrated, too. There were so many times the kids just couldn't pay attention to what they needed to because of the other kids disrupting the class. Actually, those kids disrupted ALL classes around our class, because so often we would try to get those kids outside to do their ranting. But their screaming and yelling were still the loudest sounds you heard inside the classroom.

First grade -- my son and David were not in the same classroom. The principal made sure of it. But on the first day of school, David happened to go into the boys' bathroom while my son was there, and proceded to kick my son! A male teacher happened to walk in and pulled David off of my son.

The second day of first grade, when David walked into the cafeteria at lunch time, he made a bee-line run toward my son and ripped him by the hair and throat onto the floor!

The next day I filed a police report, as the school obviously wasn't going to do anything about David. Geeze, filing a police report on a 6-year old? How insane is that?

In the meantime, I had been teaching my son to fight. Who ever thought you would need to teach your kid to fight? I kept telling him that fighting was okay if you had to keep yourself from getting hurt. It wasn't until the end of third grade that he finally "got" it.

By about the second week of first grade, my son was sick all the time. Said his stomach hurt, he always had a headache, and he wasn't doing well in school. I took him to the doctor. The doctor wanted to know what was going on in his life. "What do you mean?" I asked. He said there was nothing wrong with my son, that it looked like he was under a lot of stress. Stress?!? He's only 6, for crying out loud! Needless to say, by the time I was alone, I let loose and just sobbed.

And also in the meantime, I found out that the best thing I could have done for David was to file that police report! The public schools really have their hands tied when it comes to discipling or handling behavioral problem kids -- especially if they're in Special Ed. And behavioral problem kids are now included in Special Ed classes. It took my police report to take the problem with David out of the school's -- and the parents' -- hands, and have the State step in. David got a lot of counseling, in spite of what the parents felt about it. He was also put into different classes part time off campus, and more adults were hired to watch him. I don't know what else. But I do know the parents were not very happy.

By third grade, David and his family moved! Hurray!!