Change America in an Hour and a Half
August 19, 2008 by Tracee Sioux
Filed under Parenting
I figure we could solve a multitude of problems for American families by doing these two things.
* Reduce the in-office workday by 1.5 hrs (assume 3:30).
* Increase the school day by 1.5 hrs (assume 4:00).
This way parents can swing by and pick up their kids on their way home from work.
It’s insane that our school day and our work day aren’t aligned. Its like we’re pretending that our nation’s workers and our nation’s parents are two separate people. They’re not.
In reality, what we’re doing is pretending that our nation’s mothers are still houswives. They’re not.
This leaves the kids home alone for hours – studies show they’re doing drugs and getting knocked up during these hours.
It leaves parents feeling neglectful and guilty though they’re doing the best they can.
Our students would do better on standardized tests and they could get back recess, art, music and PE back in the every curriculum with the extra time.
Most of our nation’s workers can check their email, write reports, and complete busy work at home. This would also reduce the number of hours employees are just dinking around watching the clock and surfing the web for lack of anything better to do.
All in favor say Aye.
Can I get some Dads in the house to say Aye?
A family friendly workday is never going to happen without the men getting on board. Convince your husband to talk to HIS HR department. That’s how change we’ll see real change.
Great points, great plans, “AYE”
I’m totally in. What about the fact that my teenager gets out of school a half hour AFTER my grade schooler. She’s not allowed to wait for him. How stupid is that for scheduling?
Theoretically they did that to allow teens to pick up their younger siblings on their way home, I think. Or to allow parents and buses to make the rounds on their way home. In our rural town our primary school gets out and the bus picks them up and then stops at the high school to get them.
No. He gets out after Tabby Cat. My husband has her in some kind of free after school program that requires her to be there a minimum of three hours every day. This worked and continues to work for various reasons, not the least of which is that if my son did have to get her from school and babysit her every day one of them would be in the hospital, possibly the mental hospital.
hmmm. yes, lots of people don’t allow or expect teens to babysit after school. The previous generation made it a mandatory part of adolescence. But, that’s a whole other topic for a whole other post.
Carol – I’m experimenting with the treating melasma from the vitamin and mineral internal angle at the moment. Your comment on another post struck me and I thought – hey, it’s worth a shot. I’ll let you know how it goes after a month.
Word – my school kicked out at five, and my dad’s office was ten minutes away so we’d wait and he’d pick up me and my sister on the way home – it worked brilliantly.