Reply to why do parents NEED to volunteer at recess and lunch

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here -- a fellow parent, not a clueless wonder as someone else noted, thanks.

I think some of you missed my point.  When I asked why we NEED to volunteer, I meant, why are there not enough staff to safely provide for the needs of the children during the entire school day (which includes lunch and recess).  My point is, that it simply isn't/shouldn't be ok to abdicate responsibility for these kids for ONE HOUR out of the school day (30 min. lunch/30 min recess).

A child died recently in VA after an allergy attach during recess.  Plenty of kids fall, get bullied, need help, etc. during these times.  My issue is that there need to be professional staff attending to the children all day in my opinion.  Why in the hell should this be considered some type of luxury item.  Why isn't professional supervision during the entire school day a minimal standard.  Sending your kid to school is mandatory, shouldn't they at least provide enough supervision all day?

And, by the way, I'm at WORK during their recess.  I CAN'T go there to volunteer.  I don't think that my child's safety for one hour per day should be entirely dependent on whether or not other parents have time to volunteer![/quote]

Maybe you have a reading comprehension problem or you didn't bother to read the previous posts.  There are NO staff usually available to supervise recess.  The teachers are eating and their contract says that its not their duty.  The principal is busy.  There are NO OTHER people sitting around.  Its like people criticizing the police department because it took ten minutes for an officer to get to the scene.  There is not an army of police officers at the station just in case it gets busy.  There are also not an army of staff at the school sitting around to supervise recess.  It costs too much to hire all of these staff members that you seem to think are available.

By the way the child who died in Virginia was given a peanut candy bar in the cafeteria and died of a reaction.  How could staff have prevented that?[/quote]

No reading comprehension problem hear, but, again, charming way to engage.  Your analogies are way off base.  The very problem is either that (as you say) 1) there are NO staff people around to supervise or 2) the teacher's/principal's contracts prohibit them from watching the children.  That is the whole point :roll:

What type of kool-aid are you drinking that you think it is ok for the system to decide that kids should just be "on their own" if parents can't show up and do that part of the supervision?  That makes no sense.  Maybe the teacher's union can lobby for these ridiculous benefits for their teachers (including 1/2 hour - in the middle of their workday - to do planning for the next day).  Really, how many of us have that in our jobs.  But let's not pretend that that makes sense if the result is kids without adult supervision during that time.  This seems like an issue for parents to be up in arms about.  I just do not understand the defeatist sentiments of parents on this thread.  Your really think this is ok?  You really don't think this puts kids at risk every day?  Or is it just easier to flame parents who are concerned about the lack of supervision for our kids?  Maybe MCPS should spend the money that we pay in taxes for adequate staff rather than on all of the bloated central office bureaucracy baloney.

BTW - the example of the Va. child is meant to show that very serious things can happen at lunch and recess.  Having trained, professional staff on watch is important and, who knows, in an emergency, might make a difference.

Have we really gotten to the point where we think it is ok to leave kids essentially unsupervised for one hour per day?[/quote]

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