As I was perusing through the local store ads online for good deals the "Back to School" sales caught my eye. There were all manner of writing implements, papers, folders with funny looking cartoons on them and then......clorox wipes, kleenex, hand disinfectant????
My mother, who works at the school I attended, says that these things are, in fact, on the required school supplies list? So, the tax dollars, including the ones we pay even though we homeschool, aren't enough to buy hand soap and desk cleaner? Now, parents are required to clean the school and provide basic personal hygiene items, while paying to send their children to school!!!
The question is, do we really need all of this stuff to learn? Even when I was in school I questioned the obligatory 2 boxes of kleenex because at years end low and behold the closets would be stuffed full of such kleenex yet it did not deter the teachers from requiring it yet again the next year. Does this really make sense?
While staring at all of the doo-dads and thing-a-ma-jigs that your children "just have to have to be cool" and trying to avoid the stick-thin teenage models in barely-there clothing I noticed another note : "Many students can't afford even the basic school supplies, see how you can help!"
What do they consider basic? Once upon a time a single slate and chalk were basic. But if you send your child to school with merely paper and a pencil not only will the bullies bring out their claws but your children will actually be disciplined for it.
Aren't we missing the point with all this? Why can't people realize that a Hannah Montana folder will not make their child truly happy? Why can't people realize that teachers, or schools rather, do not have you or your child's best interest at heart? (I speak from experience and by saying this I mean "most" teachers, there are a few good souls out there but far fewer than most people think)
This saddens me. It's another nail in the coffin of Christianity. If we can't stop embracing the world and start separating ourselves from it I believe we are to suffer a worse fate than Sodom and Gomorah.
*Disclaimer: I am by no means insinuating that new school supplies = materialistic self centeredness. I too become giddy over the idea of colorful folders and new notebooks. Oh, and the highlighters with sticky notes in them? LOVE! Please take the message as the overall theme and don't nit-pick. = )
I don't remember being given ANY kind of list when I went to school (not even in high school). We were provided a tablet, a pencil, and an eraser. Those were ours to use and if we needed another one partway through the year, we asked the teacher. Crayons, scissors, glue, etc. were all gotten out and used as needed and then put away in the teacher cabinet. Tissues? If you wanted one you brought them, but the considerate teachers always had a box on their desk.
ReplyDeleteOf course, for me elementary school was th 70's and early 80's & high school was the 80's. Wow. I feel old.