EGADS! He's gone from protesting our church to protesting his school!

[6_Time_Momma]

My kid's gonna have quite a "troublemaking" reputation here, methinks! He has now composed letter and petition against DEAR (drop everything and read) at his school. Apparently, during Achievement Hour (Study hall) at school, the school now requires reading only. No studying, projects, going to library, etc. You are required to read a book. He's starting a petition drive about being forced to read. Aye-yi-yi!! *what WILL the neighbors think!!*


(At least he has no trouble stating his beliefs!!)

 

[Aurora63]

And at least he's protesting things for a legitimate reason! Sounds like he has a strong political career ahead of him!

 

[punkin]

Good for him. He sees something wrong and does something about it. It shows strength of character and initiative.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I am a firm believer in questioning authority. If the authority cannot brook questions it is probably faulty.

WTG, for your son. He is protesting in an intelligent manner and deserves the respect of an answer to his questions.

Slightly Goofy

 

[va32h]

What's wrong with reading? Your son is certainly entitled to be unhappy about this change, and to express his unhappiness, but I must confess I do not see what the big deal is.

Isn't "studying" reading? He could read his textbook. Even if, for some reason, reading textbooks is forbidden, reading in general is not exactly harmful to one's education. Any SAT tutor will tell you the best thing to do to prepare for the language portion of the test is to read, read, read. Being well-read is tremendously helpful in many areas of life.

 

[Nancy]

I see nothing wrong with reading either, but study hall is basically free time for the kids. If they have a project to work on why can't they go to the library to work on it? Some kids don't live close enough to a public library that they can get there to do projects outside of school. AND if you live in my county, they are talking about closing numerous branches of the library because of budget problems.

WTG for your son...I think he has a valid complaint.

 

[Talking Hands]

At our school you cannot do any homework during sustained silent reading. It must be a book, newspaper or magazine. We have a 30 minute reading time included in homeroom. We don't have study hall at all. Block mscheduling with 3 blocks per day alternating.

 

[damo]

Good for your son!!! My son reads every night before he goes to sleep. I would much rather he use his school time to do school work. Basically, the rule is punishing those kids who already do plenty of reading on their own time.

 

[diznygirl]

So he could read Harry Potter, but he can't do his homework? And the school requires this? Doesn't make sense.

 

[va32h]

Basically, the rule is punishing those kids who already do plenty of reading on their own time.

How much reading is "plenty of". IMO, you can never read too much, so kids who read at home and at school are just getting more of a good thing.

Homework is called "home"work because you are supposed to do it at home, right? Why should schools be required to give students time to complete homework during school hours?

Sometimes in life, one will be required to do things one doesn't like or necessarily see the logic in. We can't always get our way. I'm sure the petition would get plenty of signatures, as kids are always looking to get out of assignments, but in this case, I agree with the school.

 

[diznygirl]

Problem is, the rule encourages one to goof off rather than do one's school work.

I know you don't see "reading" as "goofing off" but if it were my kid there would be no Harry Potter until he was caught up with school work. Call it home work if you want - but it is still required by the school. So that comes first.

Personally, when I was a student, I would have loved this rule - I love reading and would do it before anything else. I would love having to tell my parents, "But mom, I HAVE to read my books during study hall! I'll get detention if I don't!"

 

[va32h]

I know you don't see "reading" as "goofing off" but if it were my kid there would be no Harry Potter until he was caught up with school work. Call it home work if you want - but it is still required by the school. So that comes first.

What if the kid reads a book that he has been assigned to read for his English class? That's reading, and school work. I haven't read yet that the kids are not allowed to read books that are part of their schoolwork.

And FWIW, Harry Potter is as challenging a bit of fiction as whatever else is assigned in freshman or sophomore English.

If you want homework to come first before reading for pleasure in your own home, that's one thing. But to tell the school that they should not allow reading unless every bit of schoolwork has already been done (including assignments intended for homework), is another thing entirely.

From the original post, it would seem that "study hall" has now become "reading hour". This does not strike me as a crisis of epic proportions. The kids can study on their own time. And if there are truly no libraries in the community, they can stay after school to use the school one. Or use the energy devoted to fighting DEAR and put it toward improving the availability of libraries.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

It appears they took study hall and turned it into slient reading hall. Kinda defeats the purpose of a study hall. Reading is excellent but to take a whole period that was dedicated to studying and turn it into silent reading is extreme.

Good for your son for questioning to why this was done.

 

[eeyore kelly]

I love when kids ask intelligent questions, and make the adults ask why. It is much better than them just whining about it! Tell your DS WTG!

 

[Nancy]

It appears they took study hall and turned it into slient reading hall. Kinda defeats the purpose of a study hall. Reading is excellent but to take a whole period that was dedicated to studying and turn it into silent reading is extreme.

Good for your son for questioning to why this was done.

I am in total agreement with this. I know when I was in high school I loved having that extra 45 minutes to study beofre a big test...I probably would not have done as well on exams if I didn't get the time to look over final notes just before test time. And yes, I did study at home too. I also read at home and read in study hall too...it was my choice, not forced upon me.

 

[momof2inPA]

The kids can study on their own time.

This reminds me of Fast Times at Ridgemont High when Mr. Hand complains about Spicoli ordering a pizza on his (Mr. Hand's) time, and Spicoli says, "Technically, isn't it 'our' time?"

Geez, let the kids decide what they want to do with that time- study for a test, read, finish homework. Plus, they'll probably be reading and discussing books in Lit class, and they'll be doing a Trig or Calculus class. So, why require extra reading and not extra Math? I thought the schools were supposed to be focusing more on Math and Science to compete with the Asians and Germans, anyway.

And why stop at telling them they have to read, why not tell them "what" they have to read? That's the logical next step. You don't want the girls reading trash like Daniel Steel and the boys reading Sports Illustrated. They should all be reading classics from the top hundred recommended novel list for enrichment.

I think the OP's son has a point.

 

[barkley]

our kid's school does tell them what to read. begining in 2nd grade there are a dozen required reading books assigned for completion over the school year (granted in the 2nd it's stuff like "if you give a mouse a cookie" , but now dd is in 5th and it's "anne of green gables", "island of the blue dolphins"...

gosh i would have killed for study hall in high school. we only got to choose one elective class out of the seven periods each day so if you wanted study time during the day you did not take a non academic class that semester.

i can see both sides of the argument though-if a study hall had been offered i probably would have taken the time to scour the library for stuff i needed instead of using my lunch period to do so (and we had no library time available before or after school-we were bussed 45 minutes each way and arrived/departed right as the school bells rang, the only public libraries were a good hour's drive to and from home).

the flip side is that after elementary school i don't recall any classes that assigned reading beyond the text books (maybe 3 semesters in 6 years for english lit?), and reading novels, literature and the like will be required in college so it is a skill that does need to be developed (i went to college with many "jokesters" who when they learned they would have to read a novel/make a formal presentation on their findings for a particular class would fall out of their seat whining "but the last time i did this it was for "the cat in the hat in 3rd grade-can't i just read it again and offer insights into how my now MATURE brain perceives it's hidden mysteries ?". "sorry" intoned the professor, "1984 is the assgned text and you will read it-do let me know if you experience any difficulties with the words, i can show you how to sound them
out"

my highschool had it fair share (myself incuded ) of students who would protest a perceived injustice. our junior year it was announced that soda would longer be sold on campus-only hawaiian punch would be offered as an alternative to milk products. well we managed to gain acess to the kitchen and read one of the kegs of hawaiian punch, learning how much sugar and other in no way heathy items were in it. so we set up a stand in the quad during lunch and "shared our lunches from home"-funny thing, we all brought the same lunch:a six pack of soda. we also shared the information regarding the punch and encouraged the students to share this information with their parents as well. it took a few weeks for the letters from the parents ("what is this c*** your telling my lactose intolerant child that she has to drinK?") to reach the administration and the school board, but ultimatly we got back the machines. some were no longer soda and they sold bottled waters and juices) but at least there were more options.

 

[Planogirl]

I think that requiring 'only' reading in a study hall is strange. I would think that such a period would be a great time to practice math and work on projects and so on. I think that questioning this rule is a great idea and I'm surprised that some of the teachers aren't doing so themselves.

 

[Karel]

My kid's gonna have quite a "troublemaking" reputation here, methinks! He has now composed letter and petition against DEAR (drop everything and read) at his school. Apparently, during Achievement Hour (Study hall) at school, the school now requires reading only. No studying, projects, going to library, etc. You are required to read a book. He's starting a petition drive about being forced to read. Aye-yi-yi!! *what WILL the neighbors think!!*
QUOTE]


Does he like to read? My son would do anything he could to get out of reading, he hates it so much. Homework is preferable.

Maybe they discovered the kids were not really doing studying and projects. That is was more of a social hour. Isn't that what kids think study hall is for anyway?

ALso, it sounds like they had to fit DEAR in somewhere and that was the logical place.

I dislike Study hall. Luckily, my boys only have one a week. I think it makes the kids lazy about working at home and gives them an excuse to push off their homework till the next day.

 

[swilphil]

Is the DEAR program every day? Is it for the entire period or just for 20 to 30 minutes? Can they read anything they want?

I've had experience with DEAR at 3 different schools. Two schools had it once a week and another had it for 5 days in a row once a quarter. It was only 20 to 30 minutes long. The students could read anything they wanted, including newspapers, magazines and textbooks. I'm not sure if all the schools technically allowed textbooks, but I always did. What are your son's interests? Could you help him find a book that he likes?

I do think it's cool though that he has started a petition.