Control: to direct the behavior of (a person or animal); to cause (a person or animal) to do what you want; to have power over (something); to direct the actions or function of (something); to cause (something) to act or function in a certain way.

Chaos: Complete confusion and disorder : a state in which behavior and events are not controlled by anything.

Only fifteen days into the school year and elementary and secondary schools throughout the Rochester City School District are suffering from widespread violence.

Parents, teachers, and families of both had “Coffee with the Superintendent” last night to discuss the violence and bullying their loved ones are experiencing in schools.

At the same time members of the Policy Committee were meeting in the next room to discuss issues of violence, the number of incidents of arrests last year and the demographics of those arrests.

The reality is, when an undue amount of external control is placed on individuals those individuals will respond negatively and chaos will ensue.

This is what is happening in the district.

As district controls encroach upon the freedoms that should exist within the learning environment, children are beginning to revolt.

One parent reported that the structured schedule every school must follow does not allow time for students to come together and have their morning discussion, trading interpersonal communication with district control.

Another parent reported that their child’s school suspended their field trip to a farm because it was not directly related to the Common Core curriculum.

Here, district control takes the place of experiential learning.

We are seeing the negative effects of district efforts to control and standardize our children.

Understanding the developmental learning process of children to discover, develop, and direct their gifts and talents will drastically decrease the need for the external controls the district has adopted.

A child centered education teaches the child to respect themselves and others by controlling their own behavior.

Providing an engaging, developmentally appropriate learning environment for children all but eliminates the violence and chaos an externally controlled environment insures.

Join the Movement to Save Our Children!