Sign of the Times –An Observation

Which one is the prison and which is the school?

“Sign of the times mess with your mind; hurry before it’s too late…” Prince

It’s that time of year again when the little crumb crunchers are heading back to school, when Wal-Mart is filled with frenzied moms and dads, elbowing each other for supplies from a list of “necessary” items provided by your friendly neighborhood school district. When the first day of school finally rolls around, parents breathe a sigh of relief as their kids plod back to class in the new clothes that cost an exorbitant amount of money -but hey, they sure look good!

But what are we sending our kids back to? When I was in school, oh about a million years ago, schools looked like friendly enclaves where children gathered to learn and play. Today, most school campuses look like correctional facilities for hardened criminals. “When did schools start looking like prisons, and whose bright idea was this?” It reminds me of that line from "Back to the Future," when Marty McFly travels back to 1955, and sees his uncle as a baby playing in his crib. Marty says, “So you're my Uncle Joey, better get used to these bars, kid.” Just what are we getting our kids used to?

I suppose these makeshift prison schools are a very valid reaction to school shootings, and predators that troll the streets for young victims. But it seems the kids are paying the price for this perceived safety. Are we doing this for their own good, or for our own sense of well-being?  A couple of times a year I visit my family in California, and often times I peruse my old haunts, just to see how much things have changed. The elementary school I attended is only a few short blocks from my mom’s house, and it scarcely resembles the place I spent a good part of my childhood. Instead of the friendly entrance with the giant chain link fence, standing open as if the gates were large welcoming arms, in its place are thick iron rods that resemble, you guessed it -prison bars. 

I hate to play the “It wasn’t like this in my day” card, but I’m going to anyway. Back in my day we used to ride our bikes to this same school on Saturdays, and play on the swings and monkey bars. Today, the kids who are locked in during the week are summarily locked out during the weekends. It makes me sad to see how different it is for kids today. But today as a parent, I keep my kids in their own kind of lockdown. They don’t attend public school (I home school them), but they don’t have the same freedoms I did at their age. I would walk down to the local candy store by myself -no worries. I often rode my bike to a friend’s house, sometimes blocks away, and didn’t come home until dinner later that evening–mom wasn’t worried. Today, I drive my kids to the store, and any play date with a friend has to be sanctioned by me first, and supervised by my ever watchful eye.

What is the purpose of this blog post anyway? It’s just an observation about how things are today; it’s not an attack on schools but a look at how for the sake of safety we lose a bit of freedom. These school/prisons are only a reflection of the fear we constantly live under, whether real or perceived, and our desire to shield our children from the depravity and violence of the day. Is there more violence in school today than when I was a kid? Are there more child perverts today than there were 50 years ago? I don’t really know, but in this day and age of the 24 hour news stations, oh so happy to report horrible events the instant they happen; it sure seems like violence is more prevalent today than it was when I was but a wee lass. 

As I drive past those industrial looking buildings that educate our kids, I wonder if they really are any safer because of them? Maybe, but what are we sacrificing in return?

Just a sign o’ the times.

 Alice from The Block

Editor’s Note: On occasion, I will make these “sign of the times” observations in regards to life today; these observations will be on a range of subjects. So feel free to give me more SOTT observation ideas, things that you’d like tackled here on The Block.