May 26, 2008
Meet the Snotskills: On a Mission Against All-Day Kindergarten
Yesterday, the Globe spoke with a woman--let's call her Belinda Snotskill, married to Thurston Snotskill the Fourth--who is upset at the prospect of the state funding all-day kindergarten.
What could possibly be wrong with all-day kindergarten, which would help parents balance work and home and help kids get a jump start on learning? It appears that the unwashed herd has forgotten something, Mrs. Snotskill's little darling. Let's call her Sloan Snotskill.
Mrs. Snotskill can take Sloan out early, but she's not satisfied with being an exception. Snotskills must be the rule. So what if Mrs. Snotskill has the luxury of being a stay-at-home mom? It's the poor people's fault that they weren't born to rich parents.
The little story related above could be brutal satire--but it appears to be true. Sarah Schweitzer did an article on these individuals for the Globe. According to Schweitzer, there are many Snotskills who aren't fans of all-day kindergarten: "They say that those districts [supporting all-day kindergarten] are meddling in the fundamentals of parenting, such as how much structure to build into young children's lives and how much time to leave unfettered." They forget that some parents actually have to put food on their tables. They might like to have a little more time to leave "unfettered" themselves.
Whenever Schweitzer does a Globe piece, such as the one about fearful yuppies at South Bay Center, Bostonist devours it. We hope that, when she writes of posh princes and princesses who quaver at the prospect of standing near a dirty nasty poor person, she is pulling a Tom Wolfe and roasting these people on a spit. But we can't be sure.
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This is getting way ridiculous. Quoting the article, Mrs. Snotskill "fretted that it would force additional, though not necessarily needed, instruction upon her 4-year-old daughter." Wow, forcing additional instructional upon a child is hardly what we want, right?
What's ironic about all this is that Mrs. Snotskill complains about schools intruding upon the learning process, but forces her daughter to participate in dance lessons and music lessons. Mrs. Snotskill? WAKE UP! She's four years old. She's got time.
What really made my blood boil, though, was the comment from the Concord Snotskill, Wanda Gleason, who implied that full-day K was only good for "at-risk communities." Ack. I followed the link to the South Bay Center article, and I guess all-day Kindergarten is only good for "Riff-Raff."
Furthermore, the idea of parents pulling their children from class halfway through is ludicrous. If I had been pulled every day from middle/high school by my parents, I wouldn't have had enough credits to graduate. If I skipped half of my classes in college because it interfered with my schedule, I would have flunked out.
I say the solution is to refuse passage to first grade if a Kindergartener doesn't attend full days. It pains me to say this, because a four-year old has no way to make their own decision, but maybe once the kid is 18 years old and still in Kindergarten, their parents will wise up and just let them have half-days.
Shame on the parents who are against all day kindergarten, and the weak public officials who acquiesce to their demands. Do I smell $$$$??!
I guess I wouldn't know; I only had half a day of Kindergarten when I was a kid, so obviously I'm stupid, and "at risk."
This is the same Globe reporter who did this lovely article on South End yuppie scum and their brats.