I am working in the most toxic environment and everyone is ok with it. I keep looking around thinking someone will step in and say this is not ok. But after 21 years of waiting no one seems to want to change it! 

It’s making me think that I am the problem, maybe I should just get on with it. So I will lay down the problems here for you my readers and you tell me if my basic human rights are not being honored. 

In my job, there is no respect for individuality and autonomy. Although I do not work in a factory they expect us to work as though it is one. They want everyone to have the same exact outcomes at the same exact time in the same exact way. I have no choice but to conform or be singled out and reprimanded. Every moment of my day is planned out and I have no input in my workflow or schedule.

I have no freedom of movement. Yes, you read that right. I am not allowed to move around freely. I have to get permission to go to the bathroom! I am not even allowed to talk above a certain level and only at certain times. Even turning to my peers is frowned upon. At break times we are allowed a few minutes to stretch our legs and get something to eat then we have to come back to our desks and again sit for hours with very little movement or talking.

They have zero respect for my abilities. I was hired because I was the right age and had the right limited skills that the interviewers checked for. They do not respect my (or anyone else’s for that matter) abilities. I keep thinking that the group around me are all diverse and must have strengths that I don’t and I am sure I have some that they don’t. It makes so much more sense for us all to be working to our strengths. Yes I know we are all working toward the same thing but we’re not being utilized in the proper way to get there faster and more efficiently. Also, when they ignore my strengths I cannot hone them. I just keep trying to be on the same level as everyone else regardless of my abilities. 

I literally have no freedom of thought or expression. When we have any project the outline and steps to be taken are sent to us. We are not expected to add anything. In fact, it is actively discouraged to do so. They would prefer we do exactly what is in the papers and don’t deviate. Although they sometimes run workshops and brainstorming sessions it’s all for show and in the end, their valuations are all from the same set of papers with the same criteria. 

It’s not so much conflict resolution as behaviour punishment. As a human being, I am used to having some agency when it comes to conflict resolution. There is usually mediation and open dialogue between the two parties that have the issue and it’s a group effort to get to a solution. In my current job, management looks at the issue and decides the punishment in a very authoritarian way. No one hears or cares what my side of the story is. 

This job prioritizes efficiency, control, and conformity over the values of respect, individuality, and autonomy. And as a human being don’t I deserve more?

You probably realize by now I am actually talking about the schooling system. And if you didn’t then go black and read all the above replacing the word job with school.

Do you know what the hardest thing for me is as a parent of school children? It’s not getting the kids to respect school. It’s getting me to respect it.

To all mainstream education systems out there, respectfully, what are you doing? And also how long do you plan to continue doing it? Do you feel like it’s working for you? Because as a parent I can tell you it’s not working for me or my kid.

I am fascinated why so much in how we do things has developed and changed but schooling remains the same despite the evidence and research that is abundant in many ways we can improve it.

Personalized education is not just a preference but a scientifically supported necessity for optimal learning. For example, research shows that children learn best when their individual interests and strengths are incorporated into their education. A 2018 study published in Frontiers in Psychology highlighted that personalized learning increases engagement and retention. Yet, schools continue to focus on standardized curricula that disregard these principles.

Also, The American Academy of Pediatrics emphasizes that children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily for their mental and physical well-being. However, mainstream schooling limits movement to brief recesses and gym classes, contributing to rising rates of childhood obesity and anxiety. Adults demand ergonomic workspaces and movement breaks, but children, who are more naturally active, are denied these necessities.

If you haven’t seen Sir Ken Robinson’s famous TED Talk, Do Schools Kill Creativity?, go see it and come back. (Although he says it all but do come back I like having you here and need your feedback!).He argues that traditional education stifles creativity by forcing conformity. Schools prioritize rote learning and standardized testing over critical thinking and innovation, skills that adults deem essential in modern workplaces. Creativity, celebrated in adult environments, is often viewed as a distraction in schools.

And I know our children are in “progressive” learning environments but if the teachers are not progressive the environment will never be. We seem to always regress back to the old rote ways. 

I am writing this today because I know you know and feel like there is something wrong. I also know it seems very overwhelming to do anything about it when it has been this way for ages. Believe me, I go through ups and downs and  its one of the reasons I homeschooled my second and I am fighting the urge to homeschool the rest because I want them to have an active social life and be part of the community. I am writing this today in a hopefully clear and concise (ish) way to help organize my thoughts and maybe give you some clarity on what feels so wrong about this.

Why? So that when we advocate for our kids we can do so with clarity and knowledge. 

There is so much talk about mental health and well-being in the workplace and none about it in schools. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, rigid schooling environments contribute to stress, anxiety, and burnout in children. These are the same mental health issues adults advocate to avoid in workplaces. Children, like adults, thrive in environments where they feel respected and supported.

We can all try and make change by advocating for more flexible curriculums and asking schools to incorporate more movement in the school day. Advocating for them to shift from standardized testing to portfolio assessment for example. I would love to see more life skills and resilience training in schools to actually prepare them for real life. 

On what we can do today in our schools, because I know the above paragraph may make you feel like it’s not doable hereis what is doable. 

Get involved in school boards and committees. A lot of the schools here have the policies in place to be so much better than they are but they do not follow them and do not hire people who fully buy into the values the school has. Being in these places on boards and committees is being a little thorn in their side reminding them of what they promised us in the first place. My biggest heroes have been board members who listened and advocated for us. And of course, they were always mothers or fathers of students in the school. 

Share articles and knowledge. The majority of what I have learned about these things have been from other parents who are passionate about their children’s well-being and education. Send out anything you think is useful and please share it with me! The more this becomes a conversation the more comfortable people are talking about it. 

If you are in a position to then lobby for change. It doesn’t have to be big changes, just better training for teachers, more awareness of other methods of learning and evaluation or just success stories that could be applied. 

Finally and most importantly teach your children to advocate for themselves. If they feel overwhelmed or stifled, help them express these concerns constructively to their teachers or principals.

What’s your biggest frustration with school? If you don’t have one then tell me about the school your kids are in! Also, what are your thoughts on homeschooling?