You Might Be An Idiot If...

In a recent opinion piece Maureen Downey was pondering the impact of screens, specifically phones, and student achievement and overall wellbeing. The general consensus is these things are about as good for your kids as crack cocaine. Laced with fentanyl. And it does make you wonder if A.D.H.D really stands for "Another Damn Handheld Device." It seems most everyone agrees these things take tender young minds and turn them into complete mush. 

Well, everyone except some parents. This is where the idiots arrive on the scene. Apparently there exist parents who thought having a baby was a good idea but keeping the resulting child save from harm, well, not so much. They actually justify ensuring that their walking STDs have these devices at all times. So...

If you think your kid should have a smartphone for emergency communications, then you might be an idiot. Only an idiot would think it reasonable for a child in an active shooter situation to think "well, I better text mom right away--it turns out I won't be taking Sally to the prom because she just got shot." 

Or, if you think your little darling needs a phone so you can reach out regarding their requests for tonight's dinner menu, pasta or pizza, it doesn't matter, then you probably are an idiot. Wrong. On so many levels. About time you started adulting, maybe even parenting. She's gonna eat what you fix and if she doesn't like it, well, then don't eat anything. We have a youth obesity crisis partly because they're eating too much, most of it crap, but mostly because they're flopped on the sofa with their eyes glued to a smartphone screen. 

Or, if you think a smartphone is some kind of educational asset in a child's hands, then you really are an idiot. Do you really think keeping up on the latest Taylor Swift dating drama or breakup lyrics is not what they are really doing when they are supposed to working? They do call it "school work" for a reason. 

Finally, if you think anyone in High Tech that makes this technology lets their children anywhere near it, then you are not just an idiot, you're a clueless idiot, who probably spends way too much time making eye-love to your smartphone even when the real person you bred with is in the same room. 

They Didn't Ask You

Teachers are an odd species. At least the megaphone mouths who simply will not drop the mic. They're out there proclaiming their limitations: not a licensed therapist; not a baby sitter; notta, notta, notta. But. They're licensed teachers, quick to proclaim their extensive education, preparation, training, oh, and workload. They're demanding respect, hopeful for admiration, for those efforts and accomplishments.

Fair enough.

But it cuts both ways, does it not? Why not then offer up to experts in other domains the same respect demanded for theirs? Why not show that same respect for the experts charged with managing an entire school system and not just a single classroom? Why not acknowledge their specialized education and skills and even the value of their experience? Perhaps even entertain the notion, no matter how briefly, that these experts must recognize and address issues far beyond and more important than what bounces around in teachers' echo chambers. Maybe then you'd understand that experts with these responsibilities should not, and will not, abandon their commitments for the greater good to sate your whims and insecurities, especially given these commitments are outside your area of expertise-you're no more an administrator than you are a licensed therapist. So, by your own logic, why should they ask you?

Maybe if you showed others the respect they have earned you might garner the respect you crave. 

You Got To Be Good Lookin'

'Cuz It's So Hard To See

Or maybe not. 

We've heard a lot lately about mis/dis/information on the interweb especially since that was elevated to the realm of "hacking." No. Really. Nowadays spreading incorrect information on the interweb is actual factual hacking. Who knew? 

But there is still a great wealth of high-value information available and searches are your friend. Not only do we have Giggle at our disposal almost every portal and website offers search within the contents therein. Seriously easy to suss things out. So let's suggest an exploration and get to sussing.

What is the accreditation status of the best public school system in the known universe, DeKalb County School District? Pulling this thread raises a lot of questions.

First of many is who would be accrediting this train wreck as anything but a dumpster fire? Well, back in the days of Gubernatorial interventions that was SACS, which later morphed into AdvancEd and has since joined forces with others in the education industry to become cognia. So do cognia accredit DCSD? Cruising over to cognia.org and selecting the accreditation search link we find some interesting things. First the search is hosted at advanc-ed.org, but one can indeed do a search:

And right there on page two of the results you'll find DCSD staring up at you:

So...DCSD is indeed accredited. In fact in 2017 DCSD celebrated having accreditation extended through 2022 which basically means DCSD will do nothing to support further accreditation until 2023. 

The next question concerns pandemic inspired/required "distance learning" though it is worth noting that DCSD will never use that term preferring instead to call it "virtual learning." The likely reason for this is the fact that accrediting agencies have a precise meaning for "distance learning" because they provide accreditation for Distance Learning programs. Shall we search?

And what do we find? 

Notice anything missing? That's right! DCSD is NOT ACCREDITED FOR DISTANCE LEARNING. Lots of other schools are but not a single one in DeKalb including the Flex Academy which may well be largely about "Credit Recovery" to boost graduation rates.

Does that change anything? Not really. DCSD will continue with "virtual learning" which is certainly virtual and probably no more or less learning that anything else they've ever done. 

But now we know that it may not be so hard to see.