[renielarson]

I'm going to try not to make any recommendations, suggestions, or points of view (Well, guess I do, but I really tried hard not to.). As a 3rd grade teacher I just want to give my opinions from teaching children since 1971.

1. Nowadays, there is a definite lack of respect. Children talk back, interrupt, debate, and argue with peers and adults with no second thoughts.

2. There are no fear of consequences. Parents are too afraid to discipline their children for fear of abuse charges and schools cannot legally discipline beyond "talking" and trying to "reason."

3. Television and video games have replaced board games and reading resulting in children not developing creativity and imagination. The fast action kids are used to has negative effects on their concentration. This is due, in part, to parents who need to work in order to provide for the family and not have the energy, patience, nor time to nurture their children for their betterment. Furthermore, with more one parent families, lack of time, energy, and patience is more common nowadays. I'm not saying that one parent families are bad, just that there not as much time to devote to children because of commitments and time restraints..

4. Parents accuse authority and/or schools of being the "bad guys." Children are not held accountable! Parents make excuses for their children's behavior and/or performance...being it legal or academic. This results in children not being held responsible for their actions or their achievement. If a child is not meeting expectations, parents put the blame on the law/school/teacher. There are social/curriculum objectives to be met and yet the child is rarely held accountable. If the child breaks the law, there seems to be always an excuse given by the parent/s. And even when schools or law enforcement agencies provide additional resources, interventions, one on one interactions, it is still "our" fault if the child is not performing as acceptable or on grade level or not meeting expectations. Parents do not accept the fact that perhaps their child is not following the law, putting forth effort, staying on task, or is learning disabled.

Ok...enough for now yet I have more opinions.