@diehardbrownsfan said:

My kids all did great. All were born overseas and had strict discipline.

Werent you complaining bitterly about one of em just a few weeks ago?

They didn't want participation trophies. They just wanted the same opportunities in life as you, and you fucked them over. Good job, parents of millennials.

@mld-woody said:

My kids all did great. All were born overseas and had strict discipline.

@diehardbrownsfan said:

No discipline at home or at school anymore. When I was a kid you had both. I knew if I screwed up at school, not only would I get punished at school (swats/detention) but would also get punished at home (grounded/'the belt'). Now, there is nothing. With disrespectful kids knowing that no one can touch them, and often times flaunting that in the face of t he teacher or even parent, it's no wonder they aren't learning anything.

So your generation did a shitty job as parents?

@bob806 said:

No. We moved to Parma Heights when I was in 5th grade. Attended Milford Elementary, would have gone to Thomas Jefferson Jr. High, then West Tech if we had stayed. Ended up going to Greenbriar Jr. High, then Valley Forge. We always went swimming at the Zoo. Big circular pool if I recall with cement in middle.

@diehardbrownsfan said:

Was brought up on W. 47th between Storer and Denison Ave. We used to hang out at Brookside Park and go to Estabrook swimming all the time.

Nice...so Lincoln West for you? Did you also go to swim at the pool at the Cle Zoo?

they aren't used to inventing something.

We used to take cardboard boxes from the appliance store down the street, and

use them by crawling inside, making them tanks.

We fought WWII all over again in that grassy lot. Of course, there used to be

woods we could hike in, catch frogs and garter snakes...

One time I caught a praying mantis, and put it on my head, as I knocked on the neighbors'

back door. When she came to the door....well, I got grounded... LOL LOL

We knew how to have fun. Took pumpkins AFTER halloween, after they were wilty,

and set them in the street. No damage, just goofy stuff.

Kids today get bored easily. Roaring down the rain? Take a paper cup, cut the side out

a few inches, tape it to the opening, and watch it go with the water at the edge

of the street for 50 yds. Just don't miss it before it goes into the culvert...

Used to get all hot and sweaty in the summer hiking in the mountains back then, and plucked

some sassafrass to get a mental lift... a lot of kids don't know what sassafrass is.

I love to show them that. How to make a fishhook from a crabapple thorn...

once, there was this box from a refrigerator outside. Was in grade school, had a babysitter,

so I got bored, she was more interested in watching tv, so I got the box, took it downstairs,

poked holes in the top, put my Dad's oscilliscope in it, poked more holes in the cardboard

around it, put red cellophane tape over em... closed it up...with the light on.....

it was a spaceship. The "dashboard" had all sorts of cool lit buttons..

I actually hid there after the babysitter was calling and calling

for me. Boy, was she mad when I finally called out from the basement and she still

couldn't find me. I made the mistake of laughing. Got grounded again.

Come to think of it, that was another time I heard "I think they gave us the wrong kid at the hospital".... lol

@bob806 said:

Was brought up on W. 47th between Storer and Denison Ave. We used to hang out at Brookside Park and go to Estabrook swimming all the time.

@tiamat63 said:

Thank you.

@diehardbrownsfan said:

Yeah, that worked out well.

WSS

@westside-steve said:

And I would be fine with that. You get your kickback and I get to have more of my tax dollars go to education and infrastructure and less of it to military spending. Meanwhile, your friend who sent their kids to Catholic School can allocate the money they didn't pay on school tax to military spending, compensating the fact that I put less. I think such a system would put everyone's money where there mouths are, and encourages citizens to be more informed about how tax money is spent and in general people would feel less alienated from government.

Showing my age a tad here, but you had little league sports, where kids ride bikes or walked to Estabrook with peers. Went to Dairy Queen afterwards, then met up at Meszar's lanes, hung out and were back home in bed by 8-9 pm, showered and went to bed. Lather rinse repeat until the weekend where they played games vs other teams, and probably went to church on Sunday.

Today, the same scenarios play out except the kids get driven by their parents, possibly with ear buds in or an iPad in hand, go home and watch TV, the 500 channels or so. Not much social interaction verbally...it's text, snapchat, etc.

Maybe that's a little extreme, slightly off topic.But it's close.

What Osiris said selective taxation? Fine.

If I had kids and I live in an area that I didn't like the public school I'd rather the state Kickback my portion of the property tax if I could prove I spend it on a charter school. The bottom line is my kid getting an education not lining the pockets of the teachers union.

Same thing goes for Catholic schools.

I ran into a nice young man a few days ago from West Akron who would have gone to what is now the Copley Fairlawn school district. It's not a horrible School District but his parents spent the money to send him to Hoban, a Catholic School.

I would at least like to see their portion of school tax be credited to them to help pay for the Catholic School. Bottom line is the kids education.

I do agree it begins at home.

WSS

@calfoxwc said:

I would LOVE elective taxation. I've dreamed of that scenario for years. Seriously, I would love to be able to choose where 50% of my state and federal tax dollars go. Not just in terms of education, but everything. Will never happen, though.

**************************************************

Well, then I don't want our taxes to go to your dumb ole bad public schools...

Maybe we should all be allowed to decide if our taxes to to public, or private schools,

and even home schooling.

And baloney, it doesn't take a village. It takes involved parents, and if they want to home

school their kids, you don't need a village for sure.

@bob806 said:

Agree with that. Our kid's principal just had to send out a note to parents saying that it's the teacher's jobs to teach math, science, art, etc... not good manners and respect. Like seriously, we have parents who demanded that their kids be allowed to bring iPads on the school bus. We see kids practically running their household, disrespecting their parents, and we're like WTF.

@westside-steve said:

I don't want my taxes going to a for profit Charter School. Especially since my Governor robbed our municipalities of financial support to "balance the state budget," and then sent that money to said Charter Schools, one of his largest campaign donors (White Hat)....hmmmm, wonder why he dropped out of the Presidential campaign?

For many many years, money has been thrown at schools, hoping test scores would improve. Task force committees formed to re-write the plan of how to educate our youth. We've regulated/mandated the system to death with no positive results in test scores.

Face it folks- education begins at home with a strong family support system. Public school teachers know this, Charter school teachers know this. Betsy DeVos knows this, and everybody reading this forum knows this.

I didn't vote for Hillary, didn't like her. But she was right- it does take a village to raise a kid. The public school district is a huge part of that village and needs to be supported.

Same as it ever was.

WSS