lol I have received it   2 days ago , few months earlier I have attended one of there meeting downtown Toronto I was among all of those big shots ,and I have said it clear regarding the systematic discrimination for the special need kids in education boards as well as the silent majority will not be silent as our diverse population growing,blessed are those who learned from history .

Ms. Dare,

There is nothing inconsequential, confusing, or indoctrination in any of those questions.  Let’s take a look, shall we?

A) Plastic Bottles:  you may not care, but this generation is extremely environmentally aware.  Plastic bottles are not necessary and are filling up our dumps. Given the activism among the teenagers in my school, this question doesn’t surprise me one bit.

B) Shorter vacation:. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought SQE was for year round schooling?  Suddenly because the students might be for it, you have to be against it?

C). Citizenship:. Your paragon of education, the US has citizenship classes throughout school.  We have one half grade 10 class in case you are not aware.  Perfectly logical to ask if that is enough.

Seems to me that you are just trying to be contradictory.

Actually Wayne, I’m to blame for today’s posting. 

I see your points,  but I also do realize that this is primarily a student organization-driven survey faciliated by organizations that have a vested interest in the school system.

Regarding B, the survey didn’t ask about a longer school year.  It asked about a shorter vacation with MORE breaks during the year.

Naturally I’m trying to point out the contractions in this sort of survey over one that would be properly designed to accurately to find out what parents, teachers, and the public actually think about the public education system. 

I think some of the questions are pretty interesting and I said so.  I still think that people should fill it out and make lots of honest comments since they provide the space to do so.  The yes/no responses make it a bit of a push-poll and won’t tell the whole story—too many grey areas in some, but not all, of the questions.

Do I think kids are prepared to vote in elections? Maybe—depends on what they’ve learned, how they’ve learned it, and from whom they’ve learned it…and what age they’re at.  The question is too vague.

Sorry Doretta,

I was responding from my IPhone - old eyes.  So, I have you to blame - I mean debate!

Careful of the response on B - shorter vacation and more breaks is the hallmark of year-round schooling.

I haven’t seen the survey, but I applaud the student trustees for trying - they may not be professional, but the survey may yield interesting results.  Those results could be followed by more scientific research later.

The question of knowledge about elections is extremely interesting.  Today’s teenagers are not only more environmentally active than in the last 20 years, but more politically active as well - and for many of the same reasons.  They don’t accept the standard answers/parties.  Something that ought to make both the extreme right and the extreme left nervous.  You may have noted a drop in the voter turnout in the last few elections. The Green Party isn’t eyeing our riding for nothing - if teenagers had been allowed to vote, they would have won.  I would suspect similar results in other ridings.  There may be some interesting shifts in voter patterns in the next decade as this generation reaches age of majority.