School contracts requiring families to limit television, movie and video game exposure to 20 min. per day....?

Question

I had posted a question on here earlier about this issue and recieved some great responses. I wrote my daughters teacher an email concerning the contract and my refusal to sign based on principle. She replied with an email basically stating that it would be fine to black out the rules I disagree with and sign for the ones I do. Then came this whopper....

"Riverside put the #2 statement in the contract. I realize that most of our parents do an excellent job of monitoring these activities, but if we are truly going to reach the scores we need to abide with the No Child Left Behind expectations, Riverside thought it necessary to include #2 in the contract since it adversely affects some children."

Is everything our schools do these days completely related to No Child Left Behind, and attempting to reach a passing score? Thats what that statement sounds like to me, and it makes me so mad! What does it sound like to you? What is your opinion?

I also agree that time spent watching television and movies and playing video games does need to be monitored, I take issue with the school telling me to do and how long my child can watch. If you want to read the original question I asked you can go here....

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AicL9O2wB7dJEBtJ4UHFYLnsy6IX?qid=20061007173751AAuJyLf

Answer 1

No child left behind killed the principle of learning in our schools. Teachers are so busy getting kids to memorize stuff for tests ot increase funding, that the kids aren't actually learning, the forget eveything they memorized as soon as they put the pencil down when they finish! when they get to college, they are screwed. I am the perfect example. for 3 out of 4 yrs in High school, I had the highest average in english in my class, always got in the top 3 on those tests, and when I got to college and had to write papers, I discovered I had no clue how to appropriatly use a comma.

As far as a school telling parents how to raise their kids after they walk off campus in the afternoon, thats the biggest bull I've ever heard. After that bell rings, teachers, principals, whoever get no say, and thats the way it should be. After the bell rings, its up to the parents to be parents!

Answer 2

talk about going to far. wow. I also disagree with many part of the no child left behind act. I have a dyslexic child. This act has some things that make life very hard for her. If anyone was to look at teh way the iowa test are done and where her help is allowed and how the testing is done it is a farce. In order to test her vocabulary she needs to be able to "read" it but they do not give her an help in actually reading the word or the meanings this is an unfair way to trully asses her real vocabulary............my daughter has extremely high verbal IQ scores. If they were to use the Iowa score in her ability to go on to the Next level then she would continuously be held back. while there would be some benifit there would also be a huge deificit to ther rest of her learning.

Good teachers are no longer teaching lessons but teaching to standardised tests. Soem are actually now giving kids practice test to help ease children's fear of theese "tests". Is this truly educating our children. While teh premise of doing something and accountability for our teachers is needed this is just gone wrong.

also any district that trys to tell a parent how much TV or video games their child watches is going to far. that is solely a parental right. what about Holidays or times that family gets togethet. I know when my kids get togher with their older cousins that video games end up being more than 20 minutes. I would hate to be binded into a contract that I know I could not always follow. It goes way beyond a schools rights.
sorry so long.

Answer 3

I agree with seaelen that No Child Left Behind program is all about passing standardized tests. While, I agree that the concept of the program is great to have no child left behind, the delivery or execution of the program leaves our children in no better shape than before.

I feel bad for the teachers and the children who have undue pressures to pass a test for funding reasons, rather than their enrichment in education.

I am shocked that teacher or school can even make you sign a contract like that. It seems unethical and almost makes you think that will your child be left behind by the school if you don't sign-up that your child has to watch less television. I think the eductaion system or a teacher should not mandate personal life of a family.

Answer 4

It sounds like the school is not doing well and is in a budget crunch. They are trying to meet very high standards and are perhaps trying to get more parent support but they are going about it in the wrong way. Stand up for what you believe in for your family and your child. TV is not evil. It can be used as a good tool for learning or as a reward for good behavior. Good God, 20 minutes isn't even an entire show.

Sign the contract but change the 20 minutes to a number that you feel is more reasonable, such as 60 minutes on school days. The teacher is not your enemy. She is just under a lot of pressure to get the students to perform and she has to teach all ability levels to pass a test.

Answer 5

You go girl. I wouldn't sign it either. It is your child and your home. If your kid comes home and has homework done by 4 goes outside to play until 6 eats dinner and watches tv til its time for a bath at 8. Who is the school system to say you can't do that? I mean really? I would tell them where they could shove their contract. If your child is passing school with good grades and is showing no problems in school then the school should have no right to try to tell you how to raise your child. My mom is a teacher. She said her county wouldn't dream of doing that because they know their parents wouldn't sign it. She said she would have never signed it with us. Not because we were allowed to watch much tv just because that means they think they win. Yes, this is all a result of No Child Left Behind. It started out seemingly like a good plan but it has turned into a diaster and has been taken way to far.

Answer 6

The No Child Left Behind started as a great idea but has turned into a nightmare! Schools now risk losing all kinds of funding if there are not passing test scores.
Many teachers feel also that they are no longer teaching but only preparing their students for the standardized tests!
Very sad...
I don't know what the answer is but what we had before wasn't working, and the solution doesn't seem to be much better!

Answer 7

i disaprove of the no child left behid law as it puts more presure on our kids and teachers. most colleges dont even go off S.A.T.'S any more so why this whole thing with the wasl and no child left behind. if class sizes were smaller and teachers were payed better then we wouldnt have this problem of a high school kid who cant read or add. its not about how much tv our kids watch or video games they play as parents we buy there games and usually are watching the same thing. my kids play learning games and watch sesame street or jepordy things they learn from cause obviously the schools cant find the funds or the time to teach or children what they need to know.

Answer 8

How outrageous! No Child Left Behind....My foot! They are requiring these teachers to train our kids to pass these tests while skipping out on other basic learning skills. I have heard from former elem. school teachers that said they were criticized when their lesson plan did not include preparation for the standardized testing. I understand what they are saying about children watching too much television but they need to let us parent. I monitor my child's television; I don't need the school to do that.

Answer 9

Alot of schools have these contracts. They are just guidelines..not laws. I think it's about time the schools get the hint out by using contracts. There are too many irresponsible parents out there. My daughter has pretty much the same contract and I signed it even though I do not adhere to it 100%.

They are not going to enforce it...they can't. The contract is more like tips for parents.

Answer 10

That contract is ridiculous. I would never sign something like that. My son gets on the honor roll every quarter and he has since he started school. He is now in the fifth grade. He plays video games and watches tv just before bedtime. But 20 minutes isn't even long enough to watch one show. That is just outrageous. The schools are also trying to control what our kids eat and put in their bodies. Will they stop at nothing?