No Child Left Behind

Most parents have a problem with the "no child left behind" act. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, the act itself is prejudice. I can tell you about this act because I have two children, one is disabled and one is gifted. I cannot tell you what happened in the gene pool, except we were blessed with two wonderful kids. Both very special in their own ways and both are extremely funny.

The main idea behind "no child left behind" has to be some perverse reasoning that every child will be on the same academic level at a certain age. Let me tell you that even with two intelligent children under normal circumstances that this is impossible. No two children are going to be on the exact same level at all times in their educational life. Educators are lucky if they are close.

If stupidity was the cause of this act or just plain ignorance, there is no way to tell. I do wish that the government would stop trying to control situations that should be left up to parents and teachers. The children are the ones paying for the government's mistake.

Let me tell you how "no child left behind" has impacted my little guy's life. He was diagnosed with classic autism and cannot speak. I was warned he may become violent due to his lack of communication. I can thankfully say that has not happened. It is important to know about the different type of disabilities in order to help children. It is also important to know that even the doctors do not know how intelligent these children are. This act has hurt him because there are very few specialized schools or even public schools with specialized classes.

Most parents know that the "no child left behind" act actually hurts those children who are ahead of the others because they do not get the push from the teacher that they need. The children in the middle are the most neglected because the teacher has to work with the one or ones far behind. This would be okay if we were talking about children that had the potential to "catch up". Unfortunately, the act put disabled children into the regular classrooms that need special help.

My son needs one on one attention. There is no way of knowing if he understands all the details to his life. If he does understand, my pain will be greater than his. How do you think someone would feel knowing that they are different and cannot do what everyone else is doing, but yet they have to suffer through the class because that is what the government has told them they have to do? Private schools specializing in autism are nearly impossible to find. Luckily we have a school that has an enclosed classroom, but he and some other "disabled" children go into regular classrooms when the teachers think they can handle it.

Even if my child does not understand his surroundings, the other kids in his special class might understand that they are different. This thought will impede them educationally, emotionally, and maybe even physically through their entire life. If they were allowed to be with kids that are like them, they would be less likely to stress about their surroundings. Every child should be entitled to the best possible education, but it has to be the education that is on their level. How do a bunch of pencil pushers in Washington know what my child is capable of, or should be doing when the psychologists and educators are unclear on the matter? Why should my daughter's education suffer while her teacher tries to promote the slow learners?