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Failure Is Devastating to Kids and Their Families

By Bill PagecloseAuthor: Bill Page Name: Bill Page
Site: http://www.teacherteacher.com/
About: About Bill Page ... Bill Page, a farm boy, graduated from a one-room school. He forged a career in the classroom teaching middle school “troublemakers.” For the past 26 years, in addition to his classroom duties, he has taught teachers across the nation to teach the lowest achieving students successfully with his proven premise, “Failure is the choice and fault of schools, not the students.” Bill Page is a classroom teacher. For 46 years, he has patrolled the halls, responded to the bells, and struggled with innovations. He has had his share of lunchroom duty, bus duty, and playground duty. For the past four years, Bill, who is now in his 50th year as a teacher, is also a full time writer. His book, At-Risk Students is available on Abebooks, Amazon, R.D. Dunn Publishing, and on Bill’s web site: http://www.teacherteacher.com/ In At-Risk Students, Page discusses problems facing failing students, “who can’t, don’t and won’t learn or cooperate.” “The solution,” he states, “is for teachers to recognize and accept student misbehavior as defense mechanisms used to hide embarrassment and incompetence, and to deal with causes rather than symptoms. By entering into a democratic, participatory relationship, where students assume responsibility for their own learning.” Through 30 vignettes, the book helps teachers see failing students through his eyes as a fellow teacher, whose classroom success with at-risk students made him a premier teacher-speaker in school districts across America.See Authors Posts (56)

A cruel insidious form of child abuse continues unacknowledged and unabated.

www.BillPageTeacher.Com

Failure is a death sentence lived one day at a time.

Failure is the precursor to dropping out and delinquency.

Failure is the #1 problem in American education.

Failure is the ultimate school rejection of kids.

Failure causes classroom misbehavior.

Failure of students equals child abuse,

Because failure is controlled by “educated professionals.”

Because failure is traditional, expected, and accepted.

Because failure is imposed on innocent and mostly minority kids.

Because failure is the accepted plight of impoverished children.

Because failure is a “blame the victim” phenomenon.

Because failure is a classic bureaucratic “untouchable” occurrence.

Because failure is preordained by circumstances and plan.

Because failure is experienced by only a minority of students.

Because failure is not experienced by educational leaders.

Failure is unrecognized as “cruel and unacceptable punishment

Failure devastates and keeps on ravaging for a lifetime.

Failure reduces opportunity, potential, happiness, and jeopardizes the future.

Failure breeds failure the same as success breeds success.

Failure sucks the victim into the downward spiral of hopelessness.

Failure is known to all who are associated with one who fails.

Failure is the ultimate rejection of the student and his/her worth.

The failing kid is an innocent, helpless, hapless, unaware dupe

        No kid wants to be a failure or to be at-risk.

No kid chooses to fail unless it is better than the viable alternative.

No kid profits from being placed at risk.

No kid given a legitimate choice ever chooses failure.

Kids don’t fail school; schools fail kids

Schools are controlled by autocratic authorities.

Schools determine policies and procedures.

Schools are the way they are by deliberate choice.

Schools can be changed as needed.

Schools can change; kids cannot.

Teachers have a choice; they can teach kids or they can fail them;

Students have a choice; they can be taught or can be failed instead.

                                    And, Strange but true

Your choices are yours, but their choices aren’t theirs; not strange, just true.

With hope to see an end to the abuse,

billpage@bellsouth.net

Bill Page’s book, At-Risk Students; Feeling Their Pain is available through his web site www.billpageteacher.com,  or through Amazon for $24.95.

However…here’s a special offer for Teachers.Net readers:

Bill is making copies of his book available directly from his supply, for only $10 total each (FREE shipping). Send a school or personal check for $10 per book to: Bill Page, 222 Wheeler Ave, Nashville, TN 37211. (Also available for quantity orders for study groups. Hurry because he just filled an order for 100 copies for a NJ teachers’ study group, so the supply is limited!)