My son, who is a self declared 'writing refuser' came home today and told me how he will be receiving a head teachers award for his English writing. The task was to write a letter to someone of importance, MP, Prime Minister and so forth, requesting 'change' and their argument for the change they wanted to see.
Well little mister "I avoid writing / typing at all costs" chose to write one and a half pages to the head teacher of his school, and what he wrote has really got me in the feels.
Sometimes when our kids moan ALOT about the same things such as "I hate school" it's really easy for parents to forget how much our kids really need to be listened to and validated.
Note: not everything in this letter is medically correct but we can see passed that for this.
The letter....
Dear Mr Gregory,
I am writing a letter to you about possibly shortening the school day, from 8am to 5:30pm, to 9am start and 4pm finish, or 9am start and 4:30 finish. If you chose one of these options then you could possibly get rid of art or TPR or chapel or all three.
I am choosing these subjects because they don't really teach us stuff that we would need in the future and chapel is just boring, and to back my statement up in the real world we would need maths, English etc.
I am writing to you about this topic because all these long days can really affect a students ability to learn or do other stuff, because all their energy has been drained, but I think the school holidays should stay the same as this is a private school.
After some research I have concluded that most kids in the uk hate school, and I quote that most kids are comparing school to prison because we are forced to go. But there are other reasons that kids hate school, I hate school because I'm there for most of my day and all I do is sit down, i am expected to learn even though I am stressed and exhausted because the days are so long.
What about the kids who have ADHD or something like ADHD, it's harder for them because they are expected to sit down and pay attention, but it is harder as ADHD is pretty much an attention disorder and I know this because I have ADHD and because of my mum who is a therapist. does something to do with the brain.
After even more research, autism is also harder for students who have it. I know this also because I have it as well and because I did some research. From my research its harder for students with autism than normal students because an autistic student has a bunch of different disabilities inside the autism this may include lack of communication, difficulty learning language, can stop a child from making concrete decisions, learning from their friends and showing their teachers the stuff, they do and don't know.
Autism and ADHD are prime examples of what most teachers around the uk don't know how to handle or can't see that the student is doing stuff that they can't control but get told off because the teachers don't understand such as Tourette's syndrome, but Tourette's is a lot harder for teachers around the world to understand. I know this also because I also have it but mine is not as bad as some people who are diagnosed with Tourette's are. For example, some people diagnosed with Tourette's could have a swearing tic which means they would say a swear word out loud then a few seconds later realise what they said. If you can't see from that sentence that Tourette's would be much harder for a student in school then you need to do some research on it, because students around the world with Tourette's who are or are not diagnosed with would get detentions or suspended and even get expelled for something they physically can't control.
This isn't just for teachers it also for parents who are treated badly because they and their parents do not know what Tourette's is. The worst thing though is that people could be diagnosed with Tourette's, or a thing called PANDAS which is like Tourette's. But PANDAS you get, and it does not stay. Tourette's you are born with, and it stays for your whole life. PANDAS can be caused by a problem with the immune system's response to an infection causing the immune system to attack a part of the brain called the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia affect the thoughts, feelings, movement and other behaviours which causes PANDAS. Tourettes and PANDAS don't just affect the student it affects the students next to them. Tourette's or PANDAS can distract students because they could have someone next to them with a tic where they hit the student next to them.
So, after reading all of that maybe you could consider shortening the day.
Hayden Deller
