Last week's snow day and today's non-snow day make me think with a sociological imagination. It is tempting to want to criticize the school and say "our school sucks because it didn't give us a snow day, or parents might say I can't believe I have to drive students to school." But this is much larger than just our school's decision. We live in a society that does not yield to nature. We want to carry on despite nature to drive the economy. This affects how schools close or don't close. The school has to consider the parents in the district who have to go to work. The school also has a contract with the bus company. Many people are paid based on whether or not we have school. Finally, school is designed to prepare students to fit into the market economy that we live in and there are no corporate snow days. This is all not to mention the number of students and parents who have access to a car to drive themselves to school. If we lived in a different district or a different era when many more students were walking themselves to school, we might see a different response. So this is how our everyday life, our private life is controlled by much larger forces - public forces. That is understanding it with a sociological imagination.
I never thought to look at it that way. I always knew that snow days relied heavily on whether or not the buses could operate, but something I learned these past two weeks is that after two snow days, instead of adding extra days onto the year, the school begins to lose money. I'm not sure if this is true, but even though many Stevenson students and their parents have cars, I don't think that is a reason to have less snow days than a lower class school with people that don't have access to a car. I think the only qualification for a snow day is how the weather is from about 6:30-8. If people are able to easily drive without a large risk of getting in an accident and it doesn't increase the commute time too much, than there is no reason for a snow day. Snow days have always been one of my favorite things, and now I see it in a whole new way because of these past two weeks and all of the discussions!
ReplyDeleteOur school is a business far more than it is a school.
ReplyDeleteSure, I learn some things there, but the administration is incredibly uptight about its nationwide reputation.
so, is that to say public forces are stronger/more important than natural forces? shouldn't public forces have to yield to nature? even though a lot of people are affected financially by a snow day, don't they also put themselves at risk driving in the snowy conditions, or by shoveling snow. there are so many accidents on the road from the snow that the benefits of canceling school to prevent issues should outweigh the costs of missing it. i mean, look, even sal suffered because he thought there was no snow day, with his diced finger in the snow blower.
ReplyDeleteWe are older though and can take care of ourselves, so why does it matter if our parents have to work or not? All the younger schools around here got off, but not us when we can stay at home by ourselves. Our school is worried about the way it looks all the time when I think they should be concerned about the students more.
ReplyDeleteOuch Chicken Hat! I just relived the experience. I agree with you guys though. But I know it is a cultural thing - not just our school, but nationwide.
ReplyDelete