If two trains leave different stations at the same time, how long will it take our children to realize that we’re asking them pointless questions and disrespecting their time?
Recently the 14-year-old daughter of one of our BLUNTmoms sat down to take a district test that would have no discernible impact on her future. From the probing personal questions to featured essay topics better suited for a sleep study, she found the courage to say, “Enough Is Enough!
The end result blew us away. We hope you agree. Here is the story, in the 14-year-old’s unedited words sent in a text to her Mother:
We just had to do a district reading assessment and one of the essay texts was about an island volcano. The instructions said to use the back of the sheet to write. I decided not to do that question and I wrote this instead:
This Island may be a big deal in the science community but I guarantee it is irrelevant to almost all grade 8’s in this district. It is almost exam time and we are all stressed out, trying to cram everything we need to know but then we have to waste an entire class writing a pointless assessment that has no real value.
First of all, why do you need to know what gender I am? Does it really matter? And now that we are at it, you might as well ask me my race and sexual orientation.
If you must do a test like this, don’t have us read a mindless story from a text book. Get us to read something about teenagers. Ask us to make calculated opinions and ask us why we think that and can we prove it? Ask us about teen drug and alcohol abuse instead. Something that really matters!
Sincerely,
A student who wants a good education.
Wondering how her mother responded? Here’s the answer:
I texted her back and said: “I am proud of you.”
Her answer: *bows*
(From our point of view, they’re both pretty damn fabulous.)
5 Comments
“Both pretty fabulous”—-agreed!!!
You can’t see me but I am over here giving you both a standing ovation. Well done!
That’s a pretty awesome kid! Good for her to have the confidence to say what was truly on her mind and still be respectful about it.
Wow. I wish I knew a 14-yr old like that.
Hey waaaaaiiiit a minute, I do!!
xoxo proud of you, girl
I love the layers of awesome empowerment in that response. Testing in general has gotten out of hand. Testing that has no impact is a travesty. Good for her and good for her parents for raising a child who stood up for herself. Not an easy task for most 8th graders.