My Annual First Day Of School Open Letter

During these days, I think that they are opening the schools way too fast because there is going to be a second wave that makes the first wave look like a stuffed nose. I also have worries about how much learning kids can really do online when the curriculum is nowhere near organized or tested as much as it should be. 

It's all one great experiment that I hope doesn't have horrible consequences. We might not be ready for what's coming and with everything else that is going on, I feel like we are moving towards a crisis point unlike anything we can imagine. I hope I am wrong.

However, even in these troubled times, my advice is always true.

Okay. This is a long rant which I hope everyone with kids going back to school reads. 

If you are a teacher, thank you for your blood and sweat and youth and sanity. I can't imagine teaching in an age of cell phones and social media and now pandemic. I was not the kind of teacher who would 'negotiate' with students so they could use their phones when they should be learning. 

If you are a parent - parent your kids. Get into their live and their faces and when you get a chance, visit their teacher before the school year begins or give them a quick call letting them know that you are supportive of them. You got an opportunity to really give your child a gift that will last a lifetime and serve them well - a good education where you team up with the teacher to create the best education situation possible. 

Or you could abandon your little wolves to the snake pit that can be Junior and Senior High School and see how that works out. Not a judgment, just an observation. But most of those kids are the ones you will eventually see on the news doing something criminal while living in your house without dreams, goals or a future. That comes from not carrying enough after your child's education. 

And to the students. No excuses. Quit your bitchin' Do the work. Just try to do the work no matter how stupid or pointless you feel it is. Treat it like a game that you can ace. You can ace it because you have had a lot of practice at this school thing. Good grades will give you more freedom with your parents and more chances to mess up with other things. Good grades you can shove in someone's face if they doubt your effort or intelligence Do more work in class so you have less to do on your free time. Don't waste your time with pointless shit. Join a sports team or join Drama or many of the other clubs in school. Stay busy so you have no time to get into trouble. Now is a time you can re-invent yourself. Try not to be bitter though I know how good it feels to suffer when you are young. Be the smartest kid in the room. How? Figure it out yourself how to do that, Braniac - But it starts with teaching yourself HOW to learn. You do that and you can truly be anything you want to be. 

Don't be a dick to someone else just because you can be. Protect the weak from the strong. Be a good example to your friends. 

Have fun. 

Wear your mask. 

Wash your hands. 

We love you.