Fun with teenagers

I really do love being a parent of teenagers.

Last night ds (age 16) and a bunch of his friends, and ds (age13) and a bunch of his friends, came over for our annual tradition of blowing up the Christmas tree. We take our dead dry tree and pack it with a few thousand firecrackers, plant it in the back yard, and light a match. I made hot cocoa and popcorn. In all we had 16 kids and 2 adults.

There's nothing like the energy and inventiveness of teens. And it is so nice (although rarer than I'd like) for them to just hang around with the adults and talk. The highlight of the evening, besides the pyrotechnics, was when three of the younger teens decided they wanted haircuts, done by dad and the older teens. Merritt ended up with a cross between Dumb and Dumber and Joe Dirt. Spencer and my son ended up with Mohawks, sort of. Keep in mind that we had no razor, and that the cutting implements were kitchen shears, sewing shears, and fingernail scissors. There were no combs. We laughed till we cried. And then, I remembered that my son has his interview to get into parochial school next week. Which made us laugh even more.

I wonder if they will admit a skinhead?

What got me rolling today

I'm not normally a "letter to the editor" person. But I awoke to several pages in the local paper dedicated to SAT-prep programs. This was on my front burner, since I learned only last night about the abysmal score my 11th grader got on his SAT. So I sat down and wrote one of my only letters to the editor, ever. I'm posting my opinions here to the greater world, in order to extend the scope of my 15 minutes of fame.

Incidentally, the same said 11th grader had a really stellar day yesterday. In addition to learning of the SAT scores, we received a call last night around 11:30 in which he asked us to come get him. He had trespassed at a local riverbank shoals with friends (they had gone camping) and the police had come. Then came the kicker, "You and dad need to both come, otherwise they'll tow my car." Hmmmm. Sounds like more than trespassing going on. And yes, when we got there we learned that there was alcohol involved. To my dear son's credit, the policeman did say he was the only one who unhesitatingly owned up to having had a beer. So kudos for integrity. But it troubled me that he put so much on the line ($1,200 fine and loss of license for six months minimum or up to maximum age 25, if convicted; the police did not write them up because they were so cooperative) for a few beers. It speaks to me of a total picture: low achievement, no goals, nothing better to do on Christmas break than sit around drinking beer. That is what is more disappointing than the underage beer-drinking and the presence of teenage girls who were "just about to leave". He can do and be so much more.

Today, he and his dad had already planned to go hiking. So maybe they will communicate well and there will be some real dialog with ds about what's underlying this. I hope also they have a nice hike together. :-) DH has taken the week off to do stuff such as this with the kids.

OK, here's the letter to the editor:

My understanding is that the Scholastic Aptitude Test is primarily useful as a predictor of college success. Presumably, if one scores low on this test it means simply that that student likely will not do well in college. This may be due to inadequate instruction, lack of effort in schoolwork, innate intelligence, instability at home, or other factors.

It seems misguided to direct such energy and resources into boosting SAT scores. It would prove more advantageous to the students' long-term interests to educate them, to expect a higher level of excellence from them, to teach them to think critically, to require subject matter proficiency, to set before them examples worthy of emulation. The myopic emphasis upon test scores fails to address WHY students are ill prepared for college success. Grade inflation, mediocre expectations, inefficient distribution of resources, a culture that exaggerates the importance of fame over achievement, chaotic learning environments, a dearth of inspirational teachers (and the excellent ones find they must "teach to the middle"), lack of parental support, and a "study for the test" mentality pervades public education. Attention should be directed to these issues.

I’m not opposed to SAT test preparation programs; however, I believe if education were improved in South Carolina, SAT scores would rise to reflect that, even if no programs were put in place, because more students would be ready for the rigors of university. What are educators doing in educationally successful states to produce academically prepared students that we are not doing here?

Getting my feet wet

Spaghetti sauce is bubbling on the stove, but I'm here on the keyboard, trying out the blogosphere. Testing, one, two, three.

Thinking of Christmas

This is one of my favorite pieces of Christmas art, by Henry Ossawa Tanner.