Do you think that schools are okay?

[applejane11]

When I was in school, I remember absolutely hating school. I like learning. What I hated was the constant feeling of being in a prison, having no freedom. Having to sit for 7 hours a day and not speak. Having no say at all in most things. Constantly being controlled. I remember every morning, feeling dread when I woke up to go in.

I now actually work in a school in an admin position. Ive worked in lots of different companies. Now im in a school. I hear the teenagers say the same things all the time. They hate it, they feel like they are in prison, that it is awful, that they feel depressed every day, that all their young life is wasted. I also have to say, I definitely see school teachers abuse their power over the students. Not in a way that you could say is definitely abuse, but just in a way where you can see that they are really loving having power and control over the teenagers.

Do you think that schools are okay the way that they are? Teenagers don't have a lot of say in things or a lot of human rights, so it's adults that need to have the conversation about it.

30 kids in a classroom all speaking "just" asking for a pen/rubber is too noisy for comfort. There has to be quiet times when no one is speaking, or drumming their fingers or tapping their ruler. It's not like being at home, you have to treat them differently when they are en masse. You can't have them all getting up and moving around when they feel like it, it's too disruptive.
It's better when you're working in smaller groups, the children can have a bit more leeway, but in a whole form classroom the rules have to be applied to everyone just to keep the noise levels acceptable.
Some children do find it difficult, others find it hard to focus when there is noise around them. Decent teachers will try not to raise their voices, and to keep the atmosphere calm, but some children can be very challenging. Keeping children in is about the only sanction there is, other than a discussion about why their behaviour isn't working, and obviously keeping children inside can be counter-productive.
Toilets are more of an issue in secondary school, and I think it has already been explained what the issues are. In primary, they would normally be encouraged to go at a time which meant they would not be missing the instructive part of the lesson, but they are normally allowed to go on request, possibly one at a time depending on the likelihood of mucking around when unsupervised.
School is full of rules, and that doesn't work for some kids. Personally, I hated school after about Y4 because things moved so slowly and I was very bored a lot of the time, waiting for other kids to do what they were asked so that the lesson could move on. One of my DC hated school because he didn't like being told what to do ( at all, ever, ) which was something we could work around at home, but not in school, and tbh it is very wearing having a full discussion about every instruction. You couldn't do it in a classroom situation.
If funding was better with more staff, more space, more choice, some children might enjoy school more, but with government diktats on attendance, curriculum content etc the lessons have to proceed apace in order to get through everything, with very extra little time for independent work or following the children's interests.
As for uniform, I think it is a total waste of effort and energy. I don't understand why children can't wear what they want in all schools. I've worked in some schools with uniform and some without, and it makes no difference to cohesion or school identity or behaviour, and I have never seen a child bullied for their clothes. I guess in secondary school labels could be more of an issue, but in the non-uniforms schools near me they all wear a uniform of baggy jeans or joggers anyway. As for having to ask for permission to take of jackets, or to dress appropriately for the weather, that should be unnecessary. I think children learn better when they are comfortable. I suspect most teachers would prefer not to have enforce petty rules.

To be fair you have been spikey about your role and are very condescending in your vernacular

No, you have been.

If you and the other one are the state of teachers in schools, it's not looking good...

All you do in insult over and over. Let me go back and find a post where someone is not insulting me

Really? How?

Show me where I wrote that 'I don't know anyone under 18 is legally a child'.

What I DID actually write pet was the above post that you quoted. I wrote that I have never once heard the teenagers in my school being referred to as children. Which is true. They are always referred to as students or teenagers.

Careful, you are abusing them. ;)

Great. Yet another rude, abusive person on the thread. This thread is surely attracting them. It's saying a lot about teachers

oh look here's the other bully back to get another dig in. You are a shame to your profession

Bless you.

Keep attacking, it's your only defence.

Like how you do it, you mean?

Your responses are immature, petulant and disingenuous

..pet

That’s not quite true. You did say somewhere along the way, that teenagers are not children.

Go back and read your posts, as you’ve suggested others should do before joining the ‘pointless’ discussion.

Aren't you the one what wrote 'there should be a dummy throwing competition on mumsnet'

That was really mature!

"A wild animal, when cornered, may suddenly and desperately defend itself"

Think Northerners say this?

suddenly?

You've a short memory. I've been defending myself from your insults since the start.

Only those from the north east

No. Fundamentally, they are not okay. They are underfunded, overly bureaucratic, massively bad for mental health, too focussed on exams and not enough on actual education for its own sake. They are too big, too complex, too impersonal. Most kids survive, a few really thrive, and a handful don’t make it at all. But they aren’t okay.