Aug. 8, 2011 - PPM - Johnny Needs 36 Pencils

This week's PET PEEVE MONDAY (PPM) is School Supplies.

I'm on my 4th child. When I started this adventure it was easy: pencils, paper, ruler, and a bag to carry it all.

This year the list contains 17 items for one of my elementary offspring.

Why does a student need 36, #2 pencils? I remember 2 pencils getting me through the whole year. Additionally, a lot of work previously performed with paper/pencil is now done on school computers. With 36 pencils, one could write a lengthly manifesto.

Why does every student need to bring a box of facial tissues? If my kid is sick, he stays home. We are now taught to sneeze and cough into our bent elbow anyway.

Why does every student need to bring Clorox Wipes? If I wanted my child to prepare for a janitorial career, I would not send them to school.

It's not a stretch that we will be asked to supply toilet paper and floor wax in the near future.

Parents must now dole out hundreds of dollars for school supplies, participation fees, field trips, etc. These fees are beginning to feel like the "user fees" that airlines and hotels now charge us for bottled water, carry on bags, a blanket, and local phone calls.

I thought that our property tax money was supposed to cover public education.

I don't even want to discuss why 2 students that sit side by side in the same class could pay $25K or $0 in "tuition" at a public school.

In the end, I love my school system and the teachers. Just stop the incidental fees.

Bill me once for everything and be done with it. I don't care about the amount. I want an all-inclusive school system: supplies, field trips, pictures, etc.

The airlines have PEEVED me to a point that I no longer fly. Heaven help my children, if I get PEEVED enough to home school them.



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