School Violence--Withdraw the Kids or Keep Them In?

Keeping Your Kids Safe  --What are Your Options?

A 14-year-old student was shot in the head at Price Middle School in Atlanta, GA.  Twenty-six people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT.  A 5-year-old girl was abducted from Cullens Bryant Elementary School in West Philadelphia  PA.  Teachers are being arrested and charged with sexual assault of their students.  Children are being consistently bullied to the point where they commit suicide.  Laquanda Pittman, mother of a six-grade boy at Price Middle School, said “As a parent, you just think you can send your child to school and you hope they come home OK."  The father of the girl abducted from school said that the family is making arrangements to homeschool the girl because she is still too traumatized to return to school.

What do you do? How do you protect your children?  Are public schools safe for children?  Should you try to homeschool your children, send them to private school, or let them remain where they are?  So many questions and not many answers.

Many parents are torn right now as they consider their options for educating their children.  They continue to compare their public school years to that of today and some stand by their belief that despite the recent challenges public school systems have faced, public schools are great!  Some are completely frightened and terrified of sending their children to school for fear of them being killed or injured, bullied, abducted, assaulted, molested, etc.  Still others are neutral.  These parents are more than likely in schools where academic achievement is high and they feel that they do not have to worry about the safety of their children.

To make the best decisions for your children, you must decide what is important to you.  Figure out your values and ideals about safety, academics, sports, and other extra-curricular activities.  Think about college and career readiness when doing your research.  Additionally, decide about your ideals for the social aspect of education.  Consider the time involved and your availability to help your children.  Lastly, you have to consider funds and funding. Rate the level of importance for each of the decisions mentioned. Research your options and compare them to the rated levels of importance for each deciding factor.  

These are your options:

1. Public School
• Convenient, cost is free, diverse
• educational design is standard with little to no flexibility
• quality of education may be lower than other options
• parental involvement may be low
• limited individual attention
• safety concerns
• peer problems
2. Private School
• higher quality of education
• possibly leads to more future opportunities
• close community
• more individual attention
• less safety concerns
• more parental involvement
• less diversity and limited experiences
• cost range from low to expensive
3. Homeschool
• control what your child learns
• flexible and more freedom
• no safety concerns
• limited social interactions
• may have problems separating school and home
• some costs for materials
• high parental involvement
4. Charter School
• smaller school
• similar education to public school
• cost is free
• more parent involvement
• more individual attention
• may need transportation due to location
• may have less safety concerns
5. Magnet School
• higher quality of education
• considered a public school with specialized areas of study
• considered safer
• cost is free
• more individual attention

Which option(s) are you leaning more towards? Please comment below and share this information with others.

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About the author:

Aquarius Cain is the CEO of Accelerated Learning Educational Services. She is a full-time tutor with more than ten years of combined teaching and tutoring experience.  As an educator, Mrs. Cain is a lover of learning and any opportunity she gets to spread knowledge through training the mind, she does, in her own unique way!

Connect with Aquarius Cain on LinkedIn

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About Accelerated Learning Educational Services (ALES):

ALES is a tutoring company that provides comprehensive tutoring services. Students in grades K-12, college students, and adult learners can get quality tutoring through an online course, live virtual one-on-one tutoring, or in-home tutoring.  For more information on the world-class services and service areas provided by ALES, visit the website: www.acceleratedlearningservices.com. 

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