Are Schools Safe?

We’ve all heard the horror stories about what goes on in schools, schools where we send our children expecting them to be safe, those stories have kept me (and I’m sure many other parents) up at night wondering and worrying.  While I consider the school my children attend relatively safe compared to some, I do notice more and more incidents of violence and troubling behavior and I am not alone! 
Yesterday my 8 year old daughter came home from school, I asked her how her day was as usual and then she begins to tell me about an incident that happened on the playground, by the time her story was over I was fuming mad and on the phone with the principal.  My daughter was playing on the jungle gym at school during recess yesterday, she was following her friends across the bridge when one of the boys (not one of her friends) on the bridge looked at her and said, “No girls only boys!” and then proceeded to kick her in the stomach knocking her backwards.  Not being one to be victimized Savanna proceeded across the bridge only to be slapped in the face and on the arm by the same boy.  The boy then went on to smack, kick, and slap several other children for no reason.  Savanna did go tell one of the teachers on the playground, but the only thing the teacher did was tell the boy to stop…really?  Let me get this straight, several children in your care were just attacked by some little bully and instead of doing the right thing and taking him directly to the principals office you told him to stop and went back to your conversation…wow I am at a loss for words!  Thankfully the principal at my daughter’s school was quick to get on the issue.  I know that things like this happen all of the time, but my point is how safe are our children when they are at school and it is situations like this that make parents really wonder.  Or situations like the one below which is even more disturbing!
Last week I was on Facebook when I noticed a status update from my husbands ex-wife about my step-son, as I read it I could not believe what I was reading.  My step-son (who is 12) was approached by a 13 year old who handed him marijuana.  Apparently the boy went on to brag to his friends that he smokes pot at home WITH his parents.  Thankfully my step-son had the good sense to tell his mom and  the situation was handled by the school, but it scared me to death!  I could not even imagine my children being faced with that kind of situation. 
Both of the situations I mentioned above inspired a long talk with my girls about drugs, bullies, and the importance of talking to your parents and not being afraid to tell an adult when you are faced with a situation that you are unsure of.  I hope that if nothing else this post will inspire you to talk to your kids about the very real dangers that are ever present around them.  I know that we cannot protect our children all of the time, but if we can supply them with the knowledge they need to handle these kinds of situations properly then we are doing our jobs correctly. 

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Suspended for dancing?

Now if you know me in real life what I'm about to type will come as no surprise to you because I'm just that way, but for those of you who do not have the pleasure of knowing me "for real" this may surprise you and I will be completely fine with you clicking the little red x at the top of this web page and leaving my blog (though I wish you wouldn't).

I have said over and over that I have a problem with organized religion (this must sound like a broken record at this point). I do not have a problem with people being religious (I would even consider myself religious)...I believe in and love God, I pray every single day, and I used to attend church regularly. The problem is that when I was married to my ex-husband I was introduced (and not in a good way) to religion, as a child I didn't go to church because my mom didn't and that was just how it was. My ex set a bad example for what a Christian should be and as quickly as I was excited about discovering religion I was just as quickly turned off from the idea by the things he did and said. I'll leave it at that and you can judge if you wish but if you don't know the whole story I wish you would not.

I read on Yahoo a few minutes ago about a fundamentalist Baptist school in Ohio threatening to suspend one of its students for taking his girlfriend to her public high school prom (you can read the whole story here). This suspension would mean an incomplete in his classes and affect his ability to graduate with his class. The reason behind the strict punishment is simply that they (the school and church) forbid rock music, dancing, hand-holding and kissing. The school's handbook (which contains school rules and was signed by the student upon entering that school) states that rock music, "is part of the counterculture which seeks to implant seeds of rebellion in young people's hearts and minds." The Duggar Family came quickly to mind when I read this!

As I was reading this my head was spinning and I was in complete disbelief that this school would believe that they could have any control over what that student chooses to do outside of school and on his own time. How could a child listening to music and dancing be bad, yes I understand that they are both given bad reputations thanks to the obscene lyrics and suggestive videos that litter some artists songs and videos but does that mean that my son singing and dancing along with Diego and Dora has implanted seeds of rebellion in his heart and mind? I think not! I think that some people need to wake up and realize that it is things like this that make people who are not religious wonder wth is going on with those who are that strictly religious. I just can not imagine not having music and dancing in my life as they both bring me such joy and I just think that this whole thing is such a shame!

What do you think?

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