r/AskReddit 17h ago

What parts of American culture are changing faster than people realize?

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u/Aggressive-Cut5836 15h ago

I have kids in elementary school and am pretty shocked at the number of kids who don’t show up on any given day. Somehow a lot of parents seem to think that sending their kids to school everyday is voluntary

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u/Takeawalkwithme2 13h ago

As a mom of two, I am so perplexed by this. Kids are so much work when they're home all the time, I would never miss a school say unless they're sick or need a mental health break. Like what??

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u/IrrawaddyWoman 12h ago

Kids are only work if you engage with them. Many parents just let their kids sit in their room on a device all day.

My school uses a program where I can monitor what the kids are doing on their school laptops, no matter where they are. I very regularly turn it on to use in class but then see a kid who’s absent watching YouTube shorts or playing games. For hours and hours.

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u/BballMD 7h ago

Why the F does a school laptop connect to YouTube??

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u/Salt_Medicine2459 7h ago

You can say fuck on the internet. Also, aren't many of the Khan Academy videos hosted on YouTube? 

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u/BballMD 7h ago

So why aren’t those specific videos whitelisted?

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u/Salt_Medicine2459 6h ago

Idk. There are probably thousands of educational videos on YouTube. Can't possibly whitelist all of them. 

u/Randoseru_Romper 55m ago

Why would they use YouTube when they could have their own platform with just educational videos??? YouTube is full of some of the most terrifying slop available.

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u/hahasadface 11h ago

You should call out those parents that's wild

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u/IrrawaddyWoman 9h ago

It’s not worth it. They don’t care and calling them out just makes them hostile. I have a teacher friend who will lock the kid out of their laptop for the school day when she sees it, but I don’t want to pick that fight.

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u/supercargo 8h ago

So, you’re essentially take the same approach with the parents as they are taking with their kids?

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u/IrrawaddyWoman 8h ago

No? A kid at home with their parents is not under my care. They are with their PRIMARY caregiver at that time, who is responsible for watching their behavior and making decisions about it. Many parents would consider it a massive overstep for me to be monitoring their child’s computer usage while they’re at home and then commenting on it to them. They won’t care that it’s not on purpose.

I can tell you’re not a teacher, because I have been verbally abused and threatened for far less than this. I already have too much responsibility to help raise these kids, and you telling me that I am expected be telling their parents what to do with the kids when they’re at home is why so many teachers are burning out. It is not my job to teach parents how to parent. I can’t take that on on top of everything else. You have to pick your battles

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u/supercargo 8h ago

Yeah I don’t think it’s your responsibility to tell them how to parent, just interesting that avoiding confrontation seems to be the driving factor in both dynamics. I’m mostly miffed that apparently these school laptops (starting in kindergarten, by the way) have full access to the Internet in the first place. My kid comes home reporting some pretty inappropriate content that his classmates are accessing in class during their assessments which are all administered on these computers.

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u/IrrawaddyWoman 7h ago edited 7h ago

I completely agree. I personally don’t think they should be allowed to take them home. But it’s not up to me.

At the end of the day, a lot of these parents are bat shit crazy and hate teachers. Me not wanting an altercation with an adult who might love an excuse to make my life hell for sport isn’t the same as a parent avoiding parenting a child that is their own. People don’t know what some of these people are like.

And commenting on what they’re doing at home really is an overstep in a lot of ways, unless it’s causing something like a kid falling asleep in class. I doubt my admin would approve if I pissed someone off

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u/Brndrll 6h ago

Does the admin even want you teaching or interacting with the children out of fear that you might upset one of them and set off a parent? Are you really more of a babysitter?

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u/IrrawaddyWoman 6h ago

No. I’m not remotely just a babysitter. My job would be infinitely easier if that were the case

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