Maggie's Farm

I find this handout to be very subversive. Not as much as to what it says but who it is given to. I happen to think all families are dysfunctional. If we want ourselves or 9 graders to think they are from a dysfunctional family it is easy to do. Poor you, you come from a dysfunctional family. Poor me, I come from a dysfunctional family.
What amazes me is how sucessfull children can be inspite of this, until we give ourseves and them excuses for for failure (living).

Is this what this dysfunctional health teacher is doing?

These dysfunctions might define parents that would most likely be involved with their childrens education. The ones that might know what is going on with their childrens education and perhaps "get involved". We certainly would not want that.

My daughter had hearing problems due to infections. We had a good very good Doctor for her. We took her to some of the best people in the sate of Oregon for hearing problems and learning diabilities in the state of Oregon. We had a game plane which included some things the school should do for her. Sitting with her bad ear toward the wall was one of them. They had all the reports from the experts in her file. 1. She was never sitting in the proper position in a class room. We brought this up to avail. 2. Every time they gave her hearing test we would recieve nasty letters from the school saying they would do something if we didn't. They never read her paperwork.

Due to being premature and someother factors my daughter was on low side of her age group. This concerned us very much. At the end of the second grade I suggested it might be a good time to hold her. With assurances from the school they thought she would do just fine. At then end of the third grade her scores were less than they were at the end of second grade. Two are three times a day they would take her out of her classes for special "education", inspite of her lack of self confidence. By the end of third grade she no longer wanted to go to school. One of the things the school had decided to due was to tearch how to use her finges to count.

When she failed in all her classes, I gues they don't like using such words, they passed her on to the forth grade. I came unglued. I headed the school. The principle called the teacher in and she said she was undermotivated. I didn't say what I thought but I wish I had. What in the hell is your job!!!!!!!!! When I heard label my daughter I knew I had to take action. Some private schools and eventually I home schooled her. I taught her math. She did not need to use her fingers. She passed three out of the ged's on the first round. The fourth not long after. It took some more work and she finally passed the math test. She now works as cashier, loves to read, and she would be my call a friend if it had anything to do with movies.

Who were the dysfunctionals. Her parents or her school?

This has gotten a little longer than I intended, but I would like to make one more observation. When I went to school there were very few who were labled dysfuntional. We took my daughter to a learnign specialist who travels or least did around the US to work with parents and children. He happened to involved in one of the first progrems in public shools to provide education to special children. He was involved in getting the fist sate laws that would require schools to develope programs for individual students.

He told us that it had a very negative consequence. The schools told the legislators that they would need more money to handle the special need. Sounds good. And they got what they requested. The negative consequence? The schools starte labeling more and more students. It has become a revenue path for public schools. And any many cases they putting special ed students in a class room enviroment that will not lead anyone getting an education. They are monitored by teachers aids. Poor pair, probably little advanced education and overworked. My current wife worked as a teachers aid. She refused to go into some of the special ed clases, she was literly and physically scared to death. More revenue. At one time less than 5 percent were labled. I don't know that exact figures now but I have heard number in the 50 to 60+ percentages now. More revenue.

I wonder if the dysfunctional family is just another way to label more children, to gain more revenue.

Thank,
I do get a little upset overit.

Woody