Parenting Teens

It’s official. My teenage daughter has completed the Geek Trifecta: Choir Geek, Band Geek, Drama Geek. Now, around here, that’s not a bad thing at all, as it falls in the family tradition - I played piano, was in many renditions of choir, and also a drama geek. Nana was two of the three, though she didn’t play an instrument (unless we count playing Papa like a fiddle! badaDUM!).

Anyway, being in drama runs in the family, that’s all I’m sayin. And this weekend, The Girl officially took her place as the newest in a long line of Drama Queens, as the Cook Sarah, in The Man who came to dinner.

I saw the first and the third (final) shows, and was told I HAD to attend the last one, as in the show I missed, she flubbed one of her lines. The Drama Teacher Mrs. J didn’t even notice though, so I assured her it was fine, while telling her Drama Horror Stories of my own. (Cheaper by the Dozen. Act III. Two eerily similar lines. Said the second one first - thus skipping SIX PAGES of dialog. Calling one of the chars by a wrong name pales in comparison, don’tcha think? *L*)

The kiddos did a fine job showing off their acting chops. There were some shining stars, a couple of misses, but all in all it’s a very fun play that had us giggling and applauding throughout. When I asked one of my boys (Who played the lead, Sheridon Whiteside) how my daughter was as an actress, he said “Surprisingly good.” So I got him back after the first performance, and asked him WHEN he was gonna start acting, as all I saw in that rude ole boy was G. Ha!

As with any high school play - there were some missed cues, a couple of lighting mishaps, and a mishmash cross-section of High School Kids who had come together to create something they could - and should! - be proud of. There were geeks and jocks and cheerleaders/plastics and stoners and norms - and they all worked really hard over 8 weeks to make it all come together. I couldn’t have been prouder, even as I wished more folks had come out to support our kids and see the play.

Those of us who cared enough to go (multiple times in most cases!) however, made up for everyone who didn’t. There were flowers given, applause, and many accolades for our Drama Geeks - but we can always use more help.

Trust me on this one - if your local high school is putting on a show… go. You won’t be disappointed, and these young souls, the rising stars of tomorrow (or the Future Drama Geek Mama who couldn’t be prouder) deserve ALL the support we can give them!

So, remember the other day, when I encouraged other parents to go support their kids at concerts, even band concerts, even when they were in high school? And remember how I preened because I’d been to almost every one of my kids concerts? And you were all like “oh give me a break, no one’s that’s perfect!”? Yeah, remember that?

Yeah. That. Now? I’m having an f’in Monday.

You see, there are SOME concerts I don’t go too - namely those that involve Honor Band/Choir in cities farther then 20 minutes away. I have good excuses, of course - I go to ALL THE OTHER ONES, we have a dog with separation anxiety that can’t be left alone, there’s my other kids to think of, the car isn’t in tiptop condition and some trips I just don’t trust it on, no really I don’t want to chaperon a bunch of kids that aren’t mine, that you won’t let me beat throw off the bus throw things at, you know, like punches help ensure good behavior, in my own way, of course. (Oh stop, I’m kidding. Sort of.) Point is, there are a lot of reasons why I usually skip those long distance concerts. (Though, to be COMPLETELY honest, had someone paid my way? I’d have happily gone to the ones two years ago in Spain/France. Just sayin’.)

Well, it’s time for Honor Choir, and my 14 year old daughter (naturally) made it, and it’s in Homer this year - a two hour drive away. The permission slip came home last week, I signed it, and returned it - forgetting that this time? ALL THE INFO WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PERMISSION SLIP. The permission slip that was just turned in. That had all the info on it. Like time, place, bus info, etc. Yeah. THAT permission slip.

Which brings us to this morning.

In typical Monday fashion, I drug The Girl out of bed, with force and grumbled words and muttered threats, and sent her on her way for breakfast at Papa’s, and a ride to high school. I sent the youngest down after that… and got the phone call at 7:45am, just moments after The Girl had walked into her school.

My daughter. In tears. Honor Choir. Bus gone already. Mom, we forgot. Mom I don’t know what to do! Mom…

Ugh. I’ve been doing this parent thing for over 16 years now, and I’d NEVER EVER NOT ONCE fucked up a field trip. Not even the early morning bus rides. I make sure I have secondary parents to call and make sure we don’t sleep through the alarm, I set more then one alarm, sometimes I even STAY UP ALL NIGHT just to make sure my baby gets on that bus at some god awful hour in the morning, in the dark, to see some wonderful Alaskan thing or another, to sing with other schools, to play instruments with them, whatever. I NEVER FORGET.

I forgot.
And she was crying.
And I was crying.
Oh, the tears!

So, I asked the secretary if I were able to get the girl child to Homer, if they’d let her sing? They called the teacher’s cell phone, and no answer. They were dubious. We were dubious. My decision was already made. I told the girl to wait there, I’d be there in a minute. I called the sister (yes, more tears!) and woke her up, and got her to take the dog for the day. I called the Papa to let him know what was going on, and assured him that the car would make it even if I HAD TO PUSH IT. And if you knew the size of that last hill? You’d realize what a feat that would be! I grabbed the laptop in case I had to stay because they wouldn’t let her on the bus, and I had drive her home too. I grabbed a coat, put on my shoes (sandals, no socks) my bra (impressive, I know) and dashed out the door.

Without even COFFEE first.

The girl and I, we had fun on the way down. We reasoned that even if they don’t let her sing by some EVIL TWIST of ass-biting MONDAY type fate, we would spend the day together in homer, laughing and chatting and giggling as we always do when we’re out and about. We chatted, and giggled, and threatened to “Keel you. keel you ded. like with a rock or sumpin!” (Don’t ask - it’s a teenager thing! It’s on a sticker, apparently. It’s also hysterical when you’ve only had 2 hours of sleep and are on an emergency road trip. And have the mind of a teenage boy. Trust me.)

We had almost gotten to Homer, I was making pretty damn good time. (Going Exactly The Speed Limit. Honest. (ha!) Though we did mysteriously hit a time warp that had us making the 1.5-2hr trip in just 1hr 15 minutes or so…) I called Mom to make sure I knew how to get to the high school, then I called the high school to get notice to our Choir teacher that I was coming, she WOULD be there - just an hour late or so. Everything was looking up! They couldn’t possibly tell her she couldn’t sing once she got there. It was going to be OK!

I am driving slowly through Homer, looking for the right turn off for the school, and hey! what’s that? Oh yes. SIRENS AND SHINY LIGHTS. Behind me. Following me. Pulling. Me. Over.

Crap.

As slowly as I was going - it was 10 miles over the limit (25mph? I the middle of town? SRSLY Homer?!), my taillight was out, AND he caught me trying to slip on my seatbelt without him seeing me. Heh. Heh. Heh. He was a nice guy, and I got ticketed for the lack of seat belt, and warned for everything else, AND he gave me directions to the school.

Right across the street.
I KNOW RIGHT? Almost in the clear. ALMOST.

We got her to the school, I turned off the car, hopped out of said car, and walked real fast (I don’t run. Ever.) inside, and checked in, getting her into the theater with the Choir at 9:20am, not even a full hour late. Whew. They assured me she could ride the bus home, pointed me to the bathrooms, and the nearest coffee shop, and after a hug and exchange of lunch money with the girl, I walked out.

And couldn’t see my car. It wasn’t where I’d left it. Ummmmm… yeah. Shift the gaze over, and hey, there it is, nestled all gently, bumpers sweetly kissing, the Big Ass SUV that was parked across the way from me.

I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Apparently, I had neglected to put the damn thing in park, and it went on a nice slow little roll, until it bumped bumpers with the BASUV about 30 feet behind it. Whoops? So I checked it out - no scratch, no paint, just a rubber to rubber kiss, so I did the natural thing. Jumped into my car and got the hell outa there!

Straight to the coffee shop - driving a very careful 25 mph WITH my seatbelt on, where I settled down with an IV bag of Mocha, a blueberry muffin, and Scooter - my Laptop. I discovered that what once was free wi-fi all over the Homer Area, now cost at least $5 for 4 hours of use. I grumbled, paid my $5, and then? It wouldn’t. even. load. my email. OMG so slow.

It was time to give up. After I finished my coffee, I decided not to bother going around for photo ops - though I did take the one above at the Top Of The Hill, because oh so pretty! - and headed home. Driving the speed limit. (mostly.) With my seatbelt on. Singing at the top of my lungs to stay awake. Jittery from the coffee. Only to get home, get lunch, get my dog, eat and GO TO BED.

The End.

Happy ‘effin Monday, ya’ll. May Karma treat you Kinder than me!
(and you can bet she won’t miss the damn bus TOMORROW. Don’t mind me - I’ll be sitting at home, wrapped in bubblewrap, just in case.)

Ok, first off - how is it the middle of October already?! I mean, I know my parents (in one of their infinite moments of delusion!) used to complain that the years went by faster and faster as you got older, but this is ridiculous! People are talking about Christmas already, for heavens sake! We just HAD Christmas! Harumph. (I hear you laughing, Nana…)

Anyway, a couple of days ago was the my daughter’s first High School Band Concert. Now, I know I’ve bitched about band before, but I’m the first to admit that I’m glad we’ve made it through to the high school years, where they actually sound good almost all of the time! No clarinet squeaks, better music choices, leadership, ensembles and drumline - which we’ll get to in a moment.

Don’t they look nice?!

It was a relatively short concert, as it was only the high school band instead of both jr. high and high school - Mrs. S. teaches both. Along with the music choices, and the talent of the band, something else stood out to me that night - something a lot less pleasurable.

The audience. Or more exactly, the LACK of audience.

All through Grade school and Jr. High, it’s standing room only - friends and family, and random people with nothing better to do then count clarinet squeaks pile into the gyms, the auditoriums, the venues in order to support their children as they struggle to find their musical footing. At this weeks high school concert - their were more kids on the stage than people in the audience. Maybe it’s because high school kids drive themselves, but that’s no excuse. It’s really not.

I get a ton of referrals for people asking what their parental responsibility is for their teenagers. First and foremost, you are responsible to raise them well, to discipline them when called for, and to love and support them in every endeavor they choose to take on - every one of them. If you want your kids to make wise choices, then you have to be willing to put your money where your mouth is - or in this case, your ass in the auditorium seat - and support those choices, 100%.

You think those kids didn’t notices the empty seats? You think they didn’t notice who’s parents are there, and who’s aren’t? One teenager actually said in passing to mine “Oh! you’re mom is here! She’s always here, though, isn’t she? I forget that. Mine never are.” It was said matter of factly, but the look in her eyes betrayed the real thoughts behind it.

I’ve had my considerable behind shoved into many an uncomfortable seat over the years. Concerts and programs and plays and more concerts… I’ve sat through hours upon hours of practice leading up to the events, as well as more hours then I can count watching the performances too. I know we’re busy, we’re trying to support our kids in any number of ways - but don’t you think that being there is much more important than that extra hour of work? Don’t you think that showing up would mean more to them than having an extra gift come the holidays?

Times are rough all over right now, but trust me, the two hours spent in support of your teenager will go far in shaping the person they are to become. So its time to get off our asses, record Heroes like every one else in the audience did (or come to my house and watch it since I DID record it) and support your teenagers. They may act like it’s no big deal, but it is. They’ve just been trained to accept you won’t be there.

Surprise them.
Surprise yourself.
It’ll be worth it, to both of you, I promise.

Oh yeah - drum line. I’m doomed. My 9 year old watched their performance in AWE. “OMG MOM THAT WAS SO AWESOME!” Drums. Somehow, I think in a couple of years? I’ll be missing the squeak of the clarinet…

- First off, the 3rd place winner of the Giveaway hasn’t gotten a hold of me yet, so Amanda Sue in fourth place, check your email. You can give me your choice of the last two books, and I’ll hold on to the remaining one for Pamela when she answers her email. I hope to get them all out by Friday. Thanks again for participating, and to Phenix & Phenix for donating the books to give away! -

Now. Drama. This time, though, I don’t mean of the teenage angsty sort - or at least not yet. It seems my daughter decided to try out for the upcoming play put on by the Drama Club. I cannot TELL you how giddy this makes me! Of all the extra activities that my kids have participated in, the one I was beginning to figure I’d have to wait for my youngest to hit high school to participate in was Drama. Thus, I am thrilled beyond belief that not only did she try out, but she got a part her first try out of the gate! MK, her BFF (and The Boy’s GF) got a part as well, so they’re happily over at the school rehearsing today.

YAY!

In case it’s not abundantly clear - I was a drama geek in high school. I only attended public school for my last two years of high school, the same school that my two oldest are attending now. The idea of clubs and such was pretty foriegn to me, as in the tiny private schools I attended, we were more apt to have “Learn 50 Bible Verses in 50 Days” instead of “put on costumes and pretend to be someone else for a while” activities. Unless of course, we were putting on costumes to pretend to be Moses. or Jesus. You know how it goes.

One of the best high school memories I have, though, is the year the Drama Club went to New York City for a week. We raised money, we held events, we pooled our pennies, and something like 18 of us were wisked away from small town Alaska to the Big Apple. NYC will never be the same! We saw 4 Broadway plays - one of which resulted in the eventual firing of our Drama Club Teacher, because the parents didn’t approve of our just up and going to see Le Cage Aux Folles, when we got the chance. We loved it, of course, but the parents? not so much. I think my mom is STILL upset at Ms. W for that one! We also saw Cats - on Broadway. It was, quite simply, AMAZING. We also saw I’m Not Rappaport, and Big River. We did a TON of sight seeing, walking, and general ooohing and ahhing at buildings bigger then we ever dreamed. We went to the top of the Twin Towers, we hit the top of the Eiffle Tower, we hit the Crown in the Statue of Liberty. For a group of kids from a tiny town where the biggest building was 2 stories tall, a town that had just gotten it’s very first traffic light - it was a VERY. BIG. DEAL.

Now, I don’t know if my kid will be able to take a trip like that, if they even still do trips like that for the Drama club, but I do know that when the curtain rises on her very first play and every play therafter, I’ll be there, Video Camera in hand, cheering loudly for my kid(s).

After all, it beats the hell outa Band concerts!

Break a leg, kiddos! Break a leg!

…join em! And let them laugh at you while they win.

Yes, I’m talking about video games, as well as MMO gaming on the internet. When’s the last time you played with your teenagers? A while back, Nik Yee over at Incredible Internet surveyed 300+ parents who do exactly that, play onlin games with their kids so that they have a better idea about what’s going on, and how to parent their children in regards to online activities. He has talked with teens and parents over the past year about the experiences and created a podcast to talk about his findings.

Basically - those who play with their kids, have a much better idea of what is really going on. As Parents, we often tend to automatically veto any activity we aren’t sure about. We tend to say no before we even know all the details - and how better to get the details then to jump in and play? Sure, your kids might think your spying on them, but give them the joy of beating you a couple times as you flounder around trying to figure out HOW DO I JUMP OMG QUIT HITTING ME and laugh along with them, and soon they’ll a- be teaching you the ropes, b - be telling your friends that your hopelessly dorky, but in a kinda cool way and c - know that you care enough to be involved, and to help them make the right choices along the way. He’s even got a contract to sign between parents and children that can help all sides feel better about internet use and gaming.

So check out the podcast below, the website as well and get involved with your kids! Who knows, maybe you’ll get good enough to beat THEM!

(Homecoming Bonfire, 9-19-08)

So. Homecoming is this weekend, and you know what THAT means… Exactly. SHOPPING. (what were YOU thinking?!)

Now, sometimes I quite enjoy shopping. When it’s Christmas time and I’m searching for just the right thing to make my family smile, when it’s a special birthday, or just a quick ‘i love you’ moment to help make someone’s day… those are times I don’t mind the press of the crowds and the multitude of faces, or even the fat lady that walks around on my knees all day making them ache. (I really should have a talk with her, you know!)

But then.. then there was last Friday night, and The Homecoming Shopping Excursion! Since The Girl’s BFF (no, not Jill! MK!) is going with my son, it was decided that a joint shopping trip was needed, so that they could make sure they looked fabulous, and also because I told them they could help pick out The Boy’s outfit too. Color the teenagers happy! I should have known better.

You see, not only was it a Friday night in our small town where there’s only one real clothing store to speak of until our Walmart is built and finished… it was also Dividend Day. Dividend Day is quite simply the day where all Alaskan’s who signed up for direct deposit of their Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, suddenly had money in their pockets and a determination to spend it all RIGHT NOW.

I know. I’m an idiot. But, it was the one night that both girls could shop together, so I braved the wilds Of the Myer de Fred, with two giggly teenage girls in tow.

It was packed, but there were also racks upon racks of things that were 60% off, which made Mama happy, as we began our search. First, neither girl was certain what size they wore, in ANYTHING, or what they were looking for other then “Something… (gestures vaguely) …pretty.” It took four trips to the dressing room with multiple items each, where they shared the room and whispered to me to come check and discarded outfit after outfit. I also was the one in charge of making things work. (Hello, Tim Gunn!) I went back and forth between the racks, remembering where in the Sea of Sale that we found each item, in order to find the next size up, or the next size down, or no remember this one came in PURPLE too, can we try THAT one? Because changing the color would make it fit, rather then changing the size. Srsly.

There was a lot of laughter, giggling, grumbling, muttering, and even an excited squeal or two - one from me, as they declared something PERFECT at LAST! - and an infinite amount of patience so as not to beat down those who were just as eager to find that Perfect Something To Spend Their Money On. Also me.

Then after the dresses, there was 5 minutes spent picking out the boys outfit (because I am that good! And also, boys are easy.), on to the jewelry counter for accessories, hosiery for tights, and then… shoes.

OMG the shoes. These were too girly, they make me walk like a girl and I hate walking like a girl (this would be the one wearing PINK head to toe..) those are too sporty, these too big, those PERFECT but too small, those too tight, those OMG my feet would DIE, those perfect, but not in black (which I insisted on so that they could be use for concerts this year, too. Mama ain’t no dummy!), these ones are… you get the drift.

It also took three and a half HOURS, people. 3.5 HOURS! The last hour and a half? The Shoes. Finally, we were able to get out of there, with two very happy hungry freshman girls, and one exhausted and hungry mama. We made a pit stop at Taco Hell, and then it was home at last, where they naturally had to try everything on, AGAIN. Fortunately, they were still happy, though I came to one, very important conclusion through this experience:

I shoulda had all boys. It would have been SO much easier!

Don’t forget our Giveaway! Click here for your chance to win!

As a parent, do you do everything possible to assist in your teen’s education? Do you participate in school activities and parent organizations? Do you attend parent/teacher conferences and accept suggestions about what you can do to help in seeing that your teen gets the best education possible?

Teachers (and many parents) have long been concerned that parents are not involved enough when it comes to their children’s education-particularly in high school. The National PTA has a list of ten things that teachers most wish parents would do to become involved.

* Be involved. Parent involvement helps students learn, improves schools, and helps teachers work with you to help your children succeed.

* Provide resources at home for learning. Utilize your local library, and have books and magazines available in your home. Read with your children each day.

* Set a good example. Show your children by your own actions that you believe reading is both enjoyable and useful. Monitor television viewing and the use of videos and game systems.

* Encourage students to do their best in school. Show your children that you believe education is important and that you want them to do their best.

* Value education and seek a balance between schoolwork and outside activities. Emphasize your children’s progress in developing the knowledge and skills they need to be successful both in school and in life.

* Recognize factors that take a toll on students’ classroom performance:
1. Consider the possible negative effects of long hours at after-school jobs or in extracurricular activities. Work with your children to help them maintain a balance between school responsibilities and outside commitments.
2. View drinking and excessive partying as serious matters. While most parents are concerned about drug abuse, many fail to recognize that alcohol, over-the-counter drugs, and common substances used as inhalants are more frequently abused than illegal drugs.

* Support school rules and goals. Take care not to undermine school rules, discipline, or goals.

* Use pressure positively. Encourage children to do their best, but don’t pressure them by setting goals too high or by scheduling too many activities.

* Call teachers early if you think there’s a problem while there is still time to solve it. Don’t wait for teachers to call you.

* Accept your responsibility as parents. Don’t expect the school and teachers to take over your obligations as parents. Teach children self-discipline and respect for others at home — don’t rely on teachers and schools to teach these basic behaviors and attitudes.

Do you do these things, or at least some of them? Do you feel you’re involved enough in your teen’s schooling and eduction? Read over these suggestions carefully and start doing at least one that you’re not doing now. Your child will benefit, and so will you!

teens, teenagers, education, parent involvement in education, parent involvement in school, parenting teens, parenting teenagers, parenting

Is your teen one of those who likes to participate in every activity coming and going? My daughter doesn’t really participate in that many extracurricular activities, but the ones she does like are very time-consuming. With school back in session, all those activities make our schedules a lot more hectic!

To handle all those activities, and mesh them with your own schedule, you’ll need a good calendar-probably more than one! Keep And Share offers a wide variety of calendars-many of which you can print out. But the best part is that they offer free online calendars, which you can share with others and keep private via the use of passwords. These online sharing calendars are great!

If your teen finds an activity in which he/she would like to participate, they can first check your schedule on the calendar to find out if you have any conflicts. Likewise, you can easily check your schedule from work or home-or anywhere else, if you carry a PDA-to check your child’s schedule if you need to do so.

These calendars are great for keeping up with your whole family’s schedule at once, since they can be changed easily on your computer, without doing a lot of erasing or marking out, and they let anyone in the family see what’s going on, helping prevent scheduling conflicts. Great, especially, for moms, dads and busy teens! Try one!

teens, teenagers, calendars, online calendars, family calendars, planning calendars, schedules, scheduling, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

Recently, I ran across an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwhich brought a controversial issue up again for me. Should high school athletes by randomly tested for drugs? In my opinion, yes.

The story focused on the recent death of a high school quarterback in Georgia, who died in a car accident. The 17-year-old student was legally drunk and had cocaine in his system the night of his accident.

For many parents of teenagers, this brings up the issue of who is truly responsible for their children. I understand that issue. Being the parent of a 16-year-old myself, I feel that it is, ultimately, my responsibility to regulate my daughter’s behavior. That being said, however, when a child is representing the school by taking part in school-sponsored activities, I feel they have the responsibility to make sure the students representing them are doing so in a dignified and legal manner.

My daughter is not an athlete, but she does represent the school in marching band, as well as on the math and academic teams. If the school system decided to require drug testing for these activities, I would have no problem with it. No, I’m not in favor of taking away freedoms from our teenagers or anyone else. But I am in favor of teaching kids responsibility and, in my mind, showing them the consequences of participating in an illegal activity falls directly into that category.

The consequences for positive drug tests by schools mentioned in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article were as follows:

First offense: mandatory follow-up testing and drug counseling with the student’s parents

Second offense: suspension from activity or sports for 30-45 days

Third offense: suspension from activity or sports for a year

I can promise you that, as a parent, the consequences I would hand out would be more severe. What about the rest of you out there? Do your teens participate in sports or activities where drug testing is required? Do you feel drug testing for school sports or other activities should be mandatory? Let me know how you feel.

teens, teenagers, teen athletics, high school athletics, drug testing, mandatory drug testing, high school sports, high school drug testing

I’m getting on my soapbox today, about an issue that I’ve seen discussed a lot of places, but I don’t see any results from all the discussion!

Last night, I attended the annual Awards Night at my daughter’s high school (she brought home awards in Math and Band, her two favorite subjects!). The program we were handed at the door was very nicely done. You could tell that a lot of hard and thoughtful work had gone into it. The school auditorium and it’s lobby were nicely decorated. The refreshments served were delicious. The principal, teachers, administrators and invited guest speakers were articulate, friendly, and obviously enthusiastic and enjoying this program. The one thing that threw a monkey wrench into the evening was that only about half of the approximately two hundred students who were being honored with awards bothered to show up!

Now, I realize that there are emergencies and, sometimes, scheduling conflicts that people simply can’t work around. It’s impossible to attend every school event. However, I believe I lay this particular problem right where it belongs: at the feet of parents who are so apathetic and unimpressed with academic achievement that they do not encourage their kids to show up at such an important event!

I know a lot of the parents who have children at my daughter’s school. I talk with them when they do attend school events and during morning and afternoon dropoff and pickup times. I did not see quite a few parents and teens at the awards ceremony, who show up for every ball game! Even though they don’t have teens who are players, cheerleaders, or otherwise have to show up!

I have, at long last, reached some sort of breaking point when it comes to parties and sports being put before academic achievement! I have tolerated this for many years, even while fighting against it. My daughter has never been into athletics. From the start, her achievements have come in the classroom and in more academic extracurricular activities-the academic team and math team, for example.

It’s a wildly celebrated (though very rare) event when the football or basketball team makes it into the playoffs. In the past year alone, the varsity and junior varsity math teams brought home more trophies for the school than all the football and basketball teams combined have brought home in the last ten years! The school’s academic team is going to the national championship this year. Neither of these teams have been mentioned at all in our local newspaper, yet football and basketball scores are there the day after every game!

The sports teams have buses which transport them to every game all year. This year, the math teams and academic teams had bus transportation to only about half of their competitions. The rest of the time, parents provided the transportation and paid entrance fees for their kids to compete. The sports teams have their uniforms provided. The math team members and parents did two fundraisers, just to be able to buy t-shirts for the team.

It’s not like I don’t know this inequality hasn’t existed for a long time. As I said, I’ve lived with it. And I enjoy a good ball game as much as anyone. But something about people not showing up to celebrate their children’s academic achievements when they show up for sporting events finally made me snap!

I’m sure there are some out there who share my viewpoint, and some who do not. Please let me hear from you about this! If I haven’t put you off with my ravings, that is!

public schools, academic achievements, academic awards, math, science, education, public education, education funding, parent apathy, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

This is one of those fun times when I get to use my blog as a parent to brag about my daughter! On May 25-27, the National Academic Quiz Tournaments, LLC will host the 2007 High School National Championship in Chicago, IL. My daughter, who is a sophomore (and the youngest person on her team) will be attending with her high school academic team, who will be competing in their first national event ever!

If you’d like to know how difficult this tournament is, check out the above website. They have a section titled You Gotta Know…, which is really extensive. Any of the subjects in their lists might show up in the questions. It might also be handy to study this site if you’re thinking of trying out for Jeopardy!

There’s also a packet of sample questions from a previous national tournament available in pdf format. Try reading through some of them. If you can answer more than a few, you’re doing much better than I did!

I’m really proud of my daughter for this, and all parents whose teens will be competing in this tournament, or who compete on their academic teams or quiz bowl teams, should be proud of their kids, too. So often, sports teams are given priority over academics in our public schools. This is a chance for the academic competitors to shine!

If your teen is interested in trivia (be it pop culture, history, or any other subject), suggest that they give their academic team or quiz bowl team a try. The competitions are fun and interesting. Both kids and parents learn a lot!

quiz bowl, academic team, academic tournaments, National Academic Quiz Tournament, High School National Championship, academic competition, parenting teens, parenting teenagers

Yahoo News recently posted a story regarding a club in a Miami, Florida high school which promoted tolerance of gays: Judge: School’s gay rights club can meet. A U.S. District judge ruled that the school must grant the same priveleges to the Gay Straight Alliance that it grants to other school clubs, per federal law. Following is a quote from the article.

The
American Civil Liberties Union sued the Okeechobee school board in November on behalf of the high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance after school officials said the group was a “sex-based” organization that would violate its abstinence-only education policy.

Why is it that these people would see the word “gay” in the name of a club and automatically assume that this club violates an abstinence-only policy? We see this a lot. Apparently, people have the idea that “all the sex you can get” is an integral part of the definition of the word “gay”! Apparently, the club should have begun its message of promoting tolerance of gays with the school board!

By automatically making such assumptions and by attempting to deny such clubs the right to meet, we are expressing our ignorance and intolerance in a big way. As adults and parents, we are supposed to be setting a good example for our teenagers. This is not the way to do it.

Have any of you dealt with this issue in the schools your children attend? Please let me know about it!

gay, gay teens, gay teenagers, school clubs, parenting teens, parenting teenagers, Gay-Straight Alliance, ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union