I get the alleged logistics of it. What I am saying is that it’s weird authoritarianism from a young age. Our teachers just trusted us and there was rarely a problem.
Once in a while a kid would bring a knife to school. What did our schools do? Talk to the kid and his parents, make sure he understood that it wasn’t okay. What does America do? Install metal detectors in all the schools. America has an “authoritarian first” approach to solving every problem it seems- even little kids who need to go to the bathroom.
Apologies- I’m not trying to lecture you personally. I know this isn’t your personal doing. I’m just observing generally how twisted it all is.
Slightly off-topic, but many kids here in Tijuana attend schools that are open 24/7 because their parents are being exploited in factories for the US and working night shifts.
Just for the record, in Germany it is mandatory for kids to go to school until at least grade 9. No homeschooling here! If you can’t go you need to (eventually) bring a note from your parents explaining why.
What you probably noticed is that in the higher grades the note-from-your-parents thing becomes increasingly moot because students eventually turn 18 and are legally adults and responsible for their own actions. In addition, when I was in our equivalent of senior high school (grades 11-13) the rule was that if you missed more than 25% of the sessions of a class without a plausible excuse, your grade for that class would be reduced to zero, and that might or might not be a problem depending on whether the class was mandatory to take (zero being equivalent to not having been there at all), or whether you planned to include that class in your graduation transcript. That gave you a certain amount of leeway as far as attendance was concerned, even without cooperation from your parents. (School rules are a state thing in Germany but I suppose that sort of thing is roughly similar in all states.)
This also leads some teachers and administrators to act like guards or the warden. As a kid, I remember learning at a young age not to drink too much of anything (water or milk) during the school day. When we started school, my parents told my brothers and me that if we had to use the restroom and the teacher wouldn’t give permission, we should just walk out and call them to deal with any disciplinary actions or consequences.
We had hall monitors, and being caught in the hall without a pass meant being written up. So most students would go before gym and during lunch (when there was less monitoring), or just wait until they got home. Forcing children into scenarios like that can cause health problems, but too many in positions of authority care more about control and order than they do about the kids.
She’s already making great points on this subject, with the usual performative outrage from conservatives unwilling to admit their actions led us to where we are now:
The strict control and short gaps between class times leads a lot of students transitioning into high school to pack a hell of a lot of weight into their school bag. To minimize the time spent picking books and supplies up from their locker.
Around when I was in middle school this lead to a rash of physical injuries and ergonomic problems that made national news.
I remember a couple kids in my tiny school ending up needing surgery. I distinctly remember serious back pain and dragging around a bag over flowing with books.
The solution was rolling cases, and eventually backpacks inspired by frame style hiking backpacks.
Children physically injured and we didn’t loosen things up. We required specialized equipment instead.
Older kids tended to come up with better solutions. Rigging a locker to remove the latch. Or just not bringing what you’re supposed to. In my case this included just not doing homework. Don’t need to carry that binder and text book if you didn’t do the shit that needs review. We’d also stash books in trash cans outside classrooms or in odd corners.
