After hearing of President Obama’s support for lengthening the school day and perhaps the school year as well, I felt compelled to write. I agree that education definitely needs to be a priority in this country, but I feel it is extremely naive to believe that longer school days will solve the problem.
Currently, schools are stressed by rampant behavior problems, lack of discipline, substance abuse and domestic dysfunction in the students’ homes. How is a longer day going to solve those problems? This seems another step toward becoming a nanny state in which our children are raised by the government.
I suspect many parents will rebel at this heavy-handed attempt to force children into a mold of achievement modeled after South Korea, whose adolescent suicide rate is more than double the U.S. rate. Is that what Obama wants for our children?
Parents who are concerned about the impact this longer day will have on their children and family life may now consider homeschooling as an alternative. Children with no alternative may drop out of school in even greater numbers. Children already suffer from juggling school, hours of homework, sports and after-school jobs.
What children need in this country is teachers who truly want to teach, discipline and personal accountability in the classroom and parents who care enough to expect the best from their children. Until we demand this from our schools and our children, no amount of extra hours will bring about the change Obama hopes for.
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