Almost Brothers Podcast
Whats up whats up whats up.. welcome to your new favorite podcast. Join your hosts Michael, Richard, and Tyler as we discuss God, church, life, and the journey through this crazy world. Get away from the stresses of life with this podcast. We will be hitting on various topics from sports, to life with Christ.
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Almost Brothers Podcast
Your Child's Education Shouldn't Come With Weekend Requirements
Remember when after-school activities were actually optional? Those days are long gone. We're diving into the modern reality of "mandatory extracurriculars" - the weekend tournaments, summer practices, and endless commitments that have hijacked family life across America.
As parents, we're feeling the squeeze from all sides. The financial burden is crushing - from the $200 basketball shoes to the multiple uniforms, equipment fees, and travel expenses that have turned youth sports into a luxury many families simply can't afford. Plus, the time commitment has reached absurd levels. Two-a-day summer practices? Sunday games that conflict with church? Late night competitions on school nights? When did this become normal?
The system is breaking families in subtle ways. Parents scramble to accommodate impossible schedules while kids are burned out before they even hit high school. Meanwhile, schools send mixed messages - academics matter, but we'll pull you out of class for a game without hesitation. The "not mandatory" lie particularly infuriates us - sure, practice isn't "required," but miss it and you'll run laps or sit the bench. That's mandatory with extra steps.
We explore how this culture impacts everything from education quality to family dynamics, sharing our own parenting struggles and observations from years in the school system. This isn't just complaining - it's a serious conversation about reclaiming balance and sanity in a system that's spinning out of control.
Share your own experiences with us! Have extracurriculars taken over your family calendar? How do you maintain boundaries while supporting your kids' interests? Rate, review, and let us know you're out there - we'd love to hear your thoughts on this modern parenting challenge.
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the content that wouldn't be good, would it? No, no, no, just power off and then we just talk for 45 minutes for nothing that would just be terrible how y'all doing, doing good yeah, how's your week going? Y'all are in the middle of vbs uh, tonight's the last night tonight's the last night, nice, and we're in the middle of vbs.
Speaker 2:Man, what a time. Somebody told me. Somebody told me they're like yeah, you like it so much because in your head you're eight years old. We're still waiting on our uh new. I was thinking the exact same thing intro music, but you know, listen, I'm going to hire somebody been busy aren't you correct me if I'm wrong? Aren't you a full-time worship pastor?
Speaker 2:leader okay, not so you can. You make music just like you play music, like that's your job. So your job is to do other things. Don't you hate when people do that just like they. They assume they know what your job is, don't you just?
Speaker 3:oh, my boys used to do that all the time. All you do is drive all day right. It's like no idea, right? You have no clue whatsoever. A nap too, you have no idea, I don't drive all day. It's only two hours before the current job I have it's funny.
Speaker 2:What's up, what's up, what's up, what's up, what's up. Everybody, welcome back to a brand new episode of the almost brothers podcast. As always, we got ty, ty, yeah, exactly, and richie, rich, what's up. How's it going, man, it's going fan, I am tired same I could get a good way. I could nap like not sleepy but tired, you know, does that make sense?
Speaker 1:yeah, vbs is uh it's kind of draining yeah like, uh, the first night I didn't do much, and uh, just when they started, you know the whole, you know big opening, for I was like I'm tired just being here already drained, but man, it's been.
Speaker 2:It's been so awesome which we're on. This is night three. We have four nights, so tomorrow night will be our last one, but and I was.
Speaker 3:I was incorrect when I said that I've never been a part of vbs. I worked when we were in frederictown they did a vbs which I worked in the kitchen, so it's kind of different.
Speaker 2:But well, rich. How do you feel about maybe having to smooch a turtle?
Speaker 3:well, and I told somebody last night I don't remember who I was talking to, but we've raised like 150 so far in two nights for missions.
Speaker 2:So yeah, bring it yeah, so that's a good thing right bring the turtle bring the turtle. I told him I got a ninja turtle at the house. That's about it. But I ain't no michael's just gonna paint his face.
Speaker 1:Got a ninja turtle at the house.
Speaker 2:That's about it. Michael's just going to paint his face as the ninja turtle.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely not. No, that's definitely not happening. I don't think so. Why not?
Speaker 2:No, not happening. So on today's episode we are going to be talking about mandatory extracurriculars. That is a mouthful, that's a lot. Mandatory extracurriculars that is a. That is a mouthful, that's a lot. Mandatory extracurriculars want to talk about how the school culture has has completely changed to where now you know, basketball, football, baseball band choir has now come to a point of being mandatory. Mandatory saturday, mandatory sunday, you know, like all these different events on family days, right on days where the kids aren't in school, and how I just don't think that should be a thing, right, like I don't understand how a band teacher can tell a kid you have to be at, you have to be at this band thing on sunday, or you get an f right, well and it's. Maybe we're out of town, maybe we're on vacation and if it's a voluntary thing, that's one thing.
Speaker 2:But if you, if you make it part of their grade, well, we'll get into that also, like the, the imaginary, it's not mandatory thing you know it just kills me. But, as a former band teacher, don't remind me your best days. You know, you, you, you mentioned earlier that you know that's kind of the only day they would give you, you know, so they kind of put you in that. Yeah, you know, in that bad spot on on that being the only day, for some reason, that you could do it, something like that.
Speaker 1:I don't understand man, I don't either, and I wasn't in a position to be like.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna choose another day and you have to deal with it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Right, it's kind of okay because if I came at them like that, it would kind of be okay. You pick this day or no day at all.
Speaker 2:Right, well, and it's like and again, I get it as a coach, as an athlete myself, I understand some of it. Former athlete. Former athlete Long time ago Former athlete, former athlete Long time ago, right, really long Jeez man Like 20 years ago, you woke up and chose violence. Today, daggum Makes me so mad. Why are you talking crap, dude? Because I can. Makes me want to lick the inside of a piggy bank. What?
Speaker 1:For some reason I thought you were going to say a shoe, that just makes me so mad.
Speaker 2:No, I don't know where that came from. No, like you know, like our football team, we would have mandatory two-a-days during the summer. That's rough and and I don't understand when that became a thing. Right, well, it wasn't like. How? Like? How can you tell parents you can't do anything this summer with your kids because we have mandatory two-a-days for this entire month, right?
Speaker 3:Not to mention that's not healthy to do two-a-days in the middle of the summer, right.
Speaker 2:Again, that was back, you know, in the 90s, in the late 90s, you know.
Speaker 2:But I just don't understand one, how it's legal. Two, how it's ethical to say that to these kids. You know some kids they go. You know some kids go with their family during the summer, you know. You know, I know janie, when she was little she had family in california. She would go visit them for the summer, right. So now the kid gets punished and doesn't get to play on the team or has to sit the bench next year and that's and that's what happened with tristan, because, I mean, because tristan's a ball player he's gonna be playing for crowley's ridge this year crowley's ridge go whatever what are they?
Speaker 2:team is I was about yeah I think they're pirates.
Speaker 3:Maybe sounds right yeah, sounds right I need to figure that out.
Speaker 2:You just you get in there, go jets, let's go. Like what? So wait what, for years, I've gotten into?
Speaker 3:that with coaches on sundays and wednesday nights, because they would say that it's not mandatory to do these practices on sundays, but then he would come in on monday and he'd have to run towels or run lines right whatever. So I would get into it with the coach, but you say it's not mandatory, but you're punishing him for not being there, so that is mandatory, dude right, it's the fake.
Speaker 2:It's the fake. It's not mandatory because we can't legally do that. But then we're going to punish you anyway, and job places do the same thing, the factory I used to work at. Well, fridays aren't mandatory, but if they come around and ask you and you say no, they're going to treat you differently and they're going to punish you, right or not, falling volunteering with no notice whatsoever again thursday afternoon oh yeah, it'll be you work tomorrow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 455. Yeah, hey, we need. We need you to work tomorrow. I can't, I'm gonna be out of town now. We need you to work tomorrow. I can't, I'm going to be out of town. No, we need you to work, right, what do you mean? You need me to work? It's voluntary. Yeah, not really.
Speaker 1:And that's where, for me as a teacher, that's where I have that kind of leeway, because it was only twice a year and you knew four months in advance, yeah, way ahead of, yeah.
Speaker 2:And that I get yeah, four months in advance, yeah, way ahead of yeah. And that I get yeah. Hey it's once every six months? Yeah, okay, cool, I can deal with that. Yeah.
Speaker 2:But, it seems like some of these sports man and I'd love to get more coaches involved in this conversation but I don't understand. I really don't. When it became, it had to be an everyday thing, Right, Like it had to be an everyday, Well, we got practice and we got camp. And we got another camp and we got practice and we got practice. Like when are these kids supposed to have a relaxed vacation, summer vacation?
Speaker 1:Well, it's like that stuff should be available for the kids that are taking it serious, and they're at an age where this could potentially be something they do beyond school well, and and the coaches will, they'll say, well, it's not mandatory, it's it's, but then get into the regular season where everything is mandatory and go well.
Speaker 2:None of y'all were here over the summer and blah, blah, blah. I'm sorry. My family took me on vacation I'm sorry, I was spending time with my friends Right.
Speaker 3:And getting back to what Tyler was saying, it really does depend on what level of sports you're playing. Yeah, because there are parents that take Little League way too seriously.
Speaker 2:It's nuts man.
Speaker 3:Like there are pro scouts in these Little League stands, it's just nonsense and then you get into elementary school. You're still not playing for college scholarships Like I get it.
Speaker 1:Those are development years Calm down.
Speaker 2:Well, and where we have fell into the part this summer which I love. I love this school, I love our team, I love everything, the coaches, everything about it.
Speaker 3:Right, cougars, cougars.
Speaker 2:I feel bad. I feel bad for the parents that don't have a flexible schedule to be able to get their kids up to the school right like they don't have it, like oh, 5, 30, we're having practice so people get off work and can take their kids.
Speaker 1:It's smack dab in the middle of the day, yeah, so it's like what happens if the parents are working well, even, like, even if they're off by them, it's, it's still stressful, it's still tough because like, okay, you get off at five, you go pick your kid up. Their practice is at 5 30. Price is 5 30 till, let's say, seven. Okay, you come home, you're having a late dinner. They also have homework they got to do on top of whatever else needs to be done.
Speaker 2:By the time everything's done, it's like what 10, 30, 11 o'clock at night and I'm, and I'm talking, even even taking the school and all that out of it, just summertime yeah yeah it's middle of the day yeah like we're like me and jamie are literally having to.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'll go, I'll go drop them off because I'm going here. Can you take a break and go and pick them up, because they don't run a bus, right, it's like y'all and and again they'll go. Well, it's not mandatory, but it it's. It's a wink wink, right, a wink wink. It ain't mandatory. Yeah, you make it that way because you put so much pressure on these kids right to be there. And again, I understand, for I played sports since I was five years old. I get it. I played in college. I understand, I get it. But, good Lord, can we calm down a little bit Again? And it's the same with choir, it's the same with band, it's the same with what? Is it? A beta, holy cow Beta is always doing something.
Speaker 2:It's crazy dude. It's like can we let these kids be kids for a little bit?
Speaker 1:Not only are they going to be gone for a week, but they need $5,000 too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they need $5,000, and we have to fundraise. And they need to be at these meetings and we need to practice for this thing and they need to be at this.
Speaker 3:It's like good Lord Easton was in FFA and he was an officer like a state officer or whatever, and that became a whole thing. You know they'd go to conventions and it's just. Extracurriculars can become a lot and I understand they look good on college applications. They don't Right.
Speaker 2:Right, unless you're going to.
Speaker 3:Harvard or one of these big, they don't care. You made what you need to make it.
Speaker 1:It really makes no, I was in student council for two years and that was the only thing I was in besides band, as an extra.
Speaker 2:Well, I had a scholarship to go play in Iowa. I went to TRC and I went to SEMO. None of the three asked me other than the scholarship because obviously it was for the sport I was playing. But none of the three said hey, what other extracurriculars are you in? No, they look at your grade, they look at your. What is it in Missouri?
Speaker 1:yeah, sat yeah, yeah, is it in missouri?
Speaker 3:I know they changed yeah act yeah, and it's like that that's it.
Speaker 2:That's what they look at. They look at you know, make sure you weren't, you know, in in a disciplinary problem or nothing like that. And it's just like help me understand how this became and I know what it all comes back to. To money, it all comes back to. The school looks good when they have all these extracurriculars and they do good. That's why beta blew up out of nowhere is because now all these beta conventions are going on and I get it. Those things are awesome and good for the school and it's all the teachers involved, all the leaders. Y'all are doing a great job. Can we calm down a little bit? Coming from the parents, can I get an amen, parents? Can we calm down on the money for all of these? It's like when I was in school, you needed a pair of shoes for basketball.
Speaker 1:Now.
Speaker 2:God forbid you're playing baseball. I'm sorry, I'm going off on a tangent, I know, but I'm just saying God forbid you're playing baseball. You need cleats, you need a glove, you need your own bat, you need baseballs. 're gonna need to buy three different pairs of pants, three different jerseys, four different hats, don't forget.
Speaker 2:Don't forget the belt a belt for no reason. And the socks it's it's like and the bag to carry it all. We're pricing. We're pricing a lot of these kids out, especially in the low-income communities. We're pricing these kids out to where it's no longer available to you.
Speaker 1:Well, uh like when I was in, when I was in high school, played basketball. It wasn't just the shoes yeah we had to have, um, we had to have a travel shirt. That we wore on game days, yeah and then a warm-up shirt, and then we had a, uh, a track suit, yeah, that we had to buy because we needed a match, right and like and like. Just those things alone $300 at least.
Speaker 2:And I had in school. I want to be careful with my words. My coach, pretty much my whole high school career, was one of the best men I've ever known. I still, to this day, love this man, love him, love him. I think he was one of the worst coaches I've ever known. Great man, great teacher. He was just a bad coach. I mean I. I just believe that with all my heart. He's a terrible coach and I hated this. This culture of oh okay, you have to dress up like on game day, like khakis and a dress-up shirt. It's like you know, some kids don't have that right and also, what's the point?
Speaker 1:they're gonna get they're gonna get food on their khakis, well, and then they're gonna waste the game and look ugly well it looks good.
Speaker 2:Well, it looks good on the team, doesn't? Wouldn't we just focus on looking good on the court? What wouldn't that be the focus, not not make sure that you dress up on game days like I don't understand, man you're. You're saying to some kids you can't do this. If're saying to some kids you can't do this, if you can't fit this mold, you can't do this. You've got kids that don't get new shoes for school, but they're supposed to have khakis and a dress-up shirt, right.
Speaker 3:Like it's crazy to me and Tristan every year they would do the school shoes. You know they were all the same color For basketball, for basketball, yeah. For basketball For basketball, yeah, and they were $200. Yeah, like there's no, no.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we can't do that For a three, two and a half three month season.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it was always a big deal, because as a parent, you never want to say no to your child when it's something that they really, really want, you know, if it's something that can benefit them. It's tough, it is. It's so hard to to say we just don't have the money for that kind of stuff. I mean, we do good to buy school shoes right, so one, especially basketball.
Speaker 2:That's pretty close to when you know right after school starts. You know it's a couple months and now you're buying new shoes for the three-month season. Right and it's just. It's, I don't, I don't, and and anybody I've asked in in school leadership, anything like that none of them have a good answer. Right, well, this is because this is, this is what we do. No, you've got plenty of time to do it like practice. On wednesday nights, people have church. You get out of school. Most schools get out 3, 3, 30.
Speaker 1:You've got two hours before any churches start, I'll say that's what we did in in uh. In high school we had a half hour right after school yeah then we started practice yeah and that was it, and, and I made it to church every wednesday.
Speaker 2:Oh now oh no, they'll have it, you'll. You'll miss three quarters of church service because they're having a 330 to 630 practice or games, or games.
Speaker 3:On wednesdays, saying now I don't like.
Speaker 2:You have the other four days of the week to do stuff on, can we not? And what has happened is we want to schedule 600 games in the season. Right, because a lot of these coaches they get in there and that's their whole life. They have nothing outside of that, so that's all they want to do. So it's practice every day. It's when, when the season starts, it's four games a week, and it's just crazy dude, it's, it's.
Speaker 3:And. And at that point you put parents into a situation where now we have to decide are we going to go to church or are we going to go to support our child?
Speaker 2:well, and that's where we got with baseball this this past year the games they would leave at two o'clock in the afternoon from school and not get home until 10 30 at night, because they would schedule five games that night. Help me somebody, one of y'all, two, one of our listeners, help me understand how that makes any sense. You just don't get it okay, thank you thank you.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you played. You played basketball. You played basketball. You don't understand baseball like I?
Speaker 2:I really don't, and I went to a few games. I'm like I can't do this right. I cannot sit out here for six, seven hours for my kid to play for 30 minutes.
Speaker 3:Well, and then you got tournaments on saturdays that are literally the entire day.
Speaker 2:It is some of the entire weekend right, right, I don't, and I know some parents they that, like they're all about it. Their whole family is surrounded around this softball season, or baseball season, or basketball season.
Speaker 1:Well, like you know, patty, from our church, their son, trey plays travel baseball. The kid is good. Yeah, like, the kid can legit go to college and pitch um, so and they, they lean into that quite a bit, but they also lean into that um, um, the we need to be at church. Yeah, like, yeah, there'll be some sundays because they're traveling to kansas city and they can't make it to a sunday. But when, when? If, if, all possible, if they, if they're done at you know 10 pm that saturday night, they'll drive back that morning and go to church and it's just.
Speaker 2:It's so much, man. And and you start to get guilt tripped as a parent when you say, no, my kid's not going to play summer travel ball because we're not going to be going four hours every weekend to go to some tournament. I'm sorry, we're not. We've got other things, we've got family time that we're doing. Me and my wife both have full-time jobs. Like no, we can't do that. Like I'm sorry, we can't, on top of I'm not paying 300, plus a jersey, plus shoes, plus all this stuff.
Speaker 1:I love seeing the uh, the tiktok parody videos of, like the au team meetings with the parents, like all right, we're gonna. The jerseys alone are 500, but we also need an additional uh registration fee of 250 and our first game is gonna be in canc, is going to be in Cancun. If we win in Cancun, we go all the way to Belarus and it's going to be a long weekend.
Speaker 2:Same night we're going up to Canada, and that's literally how it is. Okay, we're going to play in St Louis and then we're going to be in Little Rock, and it's like eight hours away from each other. We got time to drive, you want us to fly, and it's like and then again you get guilt trip because your kid has been talked into wanting to play and you have to go.
Speaker 3:No, we can't do that, and that happened with Tristan every summer. Every summer he would be invited to play travel ball and there was just absolutely no way, because you got to pay for hotels and food and yeah, I mean, it's just no. We can't.
Speaker 2:And on top of the money, like I want time with my kids, right, right, it's already a shrunken down during the school year where I get three hours with him at night because he's got practice after school. Now you're wanting to take him all summer too, and again they go. Oh, it's not mandatory now, it's just something that's available for the kid, but then you punish them when they get back to school, right, so it's not like it, it's you. You reward the kid that had the money to go, right, but then you punish the kid that had family stuff or didn't get to go well, I tristan.
Speaker 3:he's going to college to be a coach and he's going to be an amazing coach. He has a mindset of how to work with kids and I really hope that that is a shifting of what's expected of coaches.
Speaker 2:And it is Lane is the same way he will get us out. He's like, I know, or he just won't schedule practice on Wednesdays and do stuff on Sundays because he's like, hey, look, I know, and he'll tell the kids, go to church somewhere, wherever it is, just go to church, get connected, get plugged in. You know he'll say that after practice hey, go, you know, this church has this event going on. Go be a part of that, you know. So I think that there are a lot of coaches coming up that see it, that see the problem. But man, I just think it's such a huge, widespread thing that parents are also a huge part of it. Oh yeah, you know also. So it's like the parents that go. No, I'd like to spend quality time with my kids, not just be running around watching them through a fence. Right, I want, I want to. I want to interact, I want to have a good time with them. I want to, you know, and and also I think we're burning a lot of these kids out.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah I had that when I coached softball. I had one girl and she was just burnt out. She's like I don't know if I even like it anymore because it's right. It's literally all year long. Yeah, you know, because you got especially baseball, softball. Those are all year they could. You could play every day if you want to throughout the year.
Speaker 2:They have stuff going on and it's just like man, I feel like by the time, and we wonder why these young athletes, you know, you get into the pros and after three years you blow out your arm Right, you know or you tear your ACL. It's like, well, yeah, they've been pushed for 15 years of their life.
Speaker 1:Well then also on top of that, you got pro athletes that are blowing through every dime because they've been so consumed with sports that no one's taught them how to budget money. They didn't get a proper education because the whole goal was basketball. Okay, yeah, they're also a law-abiding citizen, an adult that has to fend for themselves.
Speaker 2:Or they retire and then they don't know what to do're. They're chomping at the bit to stay connected to the sport and it's like you've got a lot of life left, like, and they don't know how to do, you have these athletes that can't retire yeah right their entire identity is the sport that they're playing, and they're doing it well, past their prime.
Speaker 3:Uh, randy couture, he's an amazing fighter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, kept going past his prime and became a laughingstock well, you know he's he uh, actually he's not, but he, he got injured before his professional race car debut. I'm pretty sure that's what I read. I feel some kind of racing, yeah I don't know, but it's just nonsense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's like, and us parents out here shout out to the parents that are just trying to make it by Just trying to be there for their kids. You know you have parents that want to be at every game. Like we want to be there to support the kids, but good Lord, the coaches and the school system make it so hard.
Speaker 1:yeah well there's a, there's a. I see it all the time with posts like that and says something like there's a point zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, zero. Twenty three percent chance your child will be a professional athlete, but there's a hundred percent chance, your child will stand before god right, yeah, and it.
Speaker 2:We had a game last year during the basketball season and the the place we were playing at was an hour and a half away on a school night. No, I'd say no. So the game started at six. We had to leave at four o'clock from our house to get to the game. Then you have two games, so that's an hour, another hour, then an hour and a half drive. We got home at almost midnight on a school night from a school basketball game. Like now who, who, who sat down and did the scheduling and goes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is a good idea this will work.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we'll do this. Yeah, no, well, and it you talked about earlier about kids leaving school at like two o'clock to go to a game. But if you take them to the doctor, you got to have right tons of documentation yeah, yeah, that's different yeah and, but they're only allowed so many of those. Yeah, but games you can miss yeah, games are unlimited however much school you need to god forbid. You have a church event that you need to take them out early, for that's not excused. No, no it's not.
Speaker 2:No, we can't do that. And again, some schools they have rules around that to where it's okay. They understand they actually use common sense with some stuff.
Speaker 1:And all that is just a precursor to how much of an importance society has put on athletes. Society has put on athletes like. I remember I was in college and I I it was for my degree and we had something where I I uh had to schedule something I can't remember what was going on something with one of my general education classes. That meant nothing's my degree and I was like, hey, I'm not going to be able to uh be here on this day for a class when this assignment's due, you know that's. You know gotta turn it early. Are you cool if I turn it in the the class after? He's like, oh, you need to turn it in early, okay, not a problem. Well, these basketball players I remember like the same week we're like, oh, we got games. I used turning in whatever he wants.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yeah, you get that special treatment Absolutely. I've been passed on tests where I know I did not pass because I had a good game. Here's a guy that I know.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to say if he went to the same school as me or went to another school. There's no way he graduated high school.
Speaker 2:Right, right it's a thing.
Speaker 1:There is no way that he was eligible to play every game. Yep, yep. And here is the thing. What makes me so mad about this Is he playing sports now?
Speaker 2:No, probably not. No, oh yeah. What? What makes me so mad about this? Is he playing sports now? No, probably not. No, oh yeah at. At certain high schools that I've been to, their players will get arrested and play the next week. Oh yes, oh yes, absolutely, and not only play they'll start.
Speaker 3:That's crazy and that's just putting the wrong emphasis on the wrong thing you'll have.
Speaker 2:I know, I know of a coach that had players that would reek of weed coming in for the game and they would play yep, I saw that with tristan's team 100.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yep, and that's.
Speaker 1:He had a teammate that he played with, just an amazing athlete, just one of those natural athletes you know that can do it all, and he is now a drug dealer right, yeah, I mean he just he did nothing, because all that's teaching them is that they are above the rules and the law there's no consequences and then yeah, they don't have to answer for nothing. There's yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, they're incorrect, Like legit.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's, so, it's, and like I get, I get there's a time and place where you know, say you got your star athlete and you've got a college scout coming to the game and something happens he might have failed a test. Okay, that's. If high school athlete, senior college scout, those things kind of add up to, hey, this is an opportunity for him. Yeah, let's not. Yeah, and shouldn't have failed a test. I, I get it. Let him make that up another time, give him this opportunity and we'll take care of that another time. Yeah, but and that's where, kind of, where I see that leeway, but when it's just, oh, he failed a test and oh, he's just good, so he's gonna act like it.
Speaker 3:Never happened right, and maybe it's because I'm not an athlete, but I have a different perspective. The rule has to be the rule that's fair. I mean if, if you failed the test, you don't get to play it doesn't matter who's in the stands?
Speaker 2:and that's fair, well, and, and, and. The hard thing with that is now you have to hold everyone to that Exactly. So, somebody gets sick. Now you've set that rule. Well, I'm sorry If somebody say they had appendicitis and they were gone all last week, but they knew about this test a month ahead of time. Now they come in. It's time to take the test. Well, I was out last week.
Speaker 3:I didn't get to sit and clap, sorry Well well, that's a teacher problem, that's not a, that's not a game problem no, but I'm.
Speaker 2:I'm just saying if you have an athlete that's got a grueling schedule going on and they just need a little extra time because that week again, good or bad, they've been scheduled to do all this stuff that now they've been asked to do, so there has to be a different moving the goalposts depending on what is going on. You have one kid that needs a little extra time. You create a little extra time for them, right?
Speaker 3:if somebody just isn't understanding, so you move for them, as long as it's not because you're an athlete, you know right?
Speaker 2:no, it's because of what. What is expected of you as an athlete?
Speaker 3:right, but because there are people that aren't athletes that have the same schedules. I mean.
Speaker 2:But there's not, though that's the thing they don't. That's just not accurate, because when you're an athlete and you're three-hour practice every day after school, which is part of the problem.
Speaker 3:You're right, right.
Speaker 2:But it's just expected of you. You're having team meetings that you have to go to. You're having to be up early doing before school practice.
Speaker 3:Nobody nobody outside of athletes, has that kind of schedule well, that's, that's the problem we're talking about on this right right but it's like so you, you have to give one way or the other.
Speaker 2:You either don't expect so much of them or you have to give them some leeway, because what happens a lot of times is you have this grueling schedule and then you expect them to be on top of the rest of their stuff, and it's like so hard for student athletes to do. And again, if you've got one student that just needs a little bit of extra time, we accommodate for that. So then you need to be accommodating for all of it.
Speaker 3:So there has to be kind of moving parts for different people as a whole. The school needs to be more understanding about what these kids have going on all around Preach.
Speaker 2:yes.
Speaker 3:Because if you have a death in the family, you don't know how close that person was to the student.
Speaker 1:But we're expected to just get right back out there and do what we're supposed to do. I mean, school for kids is the equivalent of a 9-to-5 job, basically. So think of yourself as an adult when you're working all day. Do you want to not go home and just go and do more stuff, or would you rather go home because it's been a long day and you're tired? Same thing with kids. It's been a long day and you're tired. Same thing with kids. It's been a long day.
Speaker 3:They're tired, and I get that way with my kids because we have chores that we expect them to do as soon as they come in the door. Certain people in our household that rhymes with Bennifer she'll be like as soon as they come in the door. It's like get your chores done.
Speaker 2:They just can they get a minute to decompress, because switch, switch roles right now. That was her coming in after her day of work and say, hey, do this, is it? Ah, I just walked in. I just exactly. It's like, exactly, they need the same thing. And and there are bad they're really bad teachers that don't understand that from each student it's different. You can't say, okay, here's the expectation, it's for everybody. And there are really bad teachers that don't understand that From each student it's different. You can't say, okay, here's the expectation, it's for everybody, no matter what, no moving, no leniency, no matter what. Because student A that has mom and dad at home that are there for them, that are helping them with their homework. And student B here that lives with their grandma, that lives in a bad neighborhood where there's noise all night. They didn't get any sleep the night before because their neighborhood is crazy. They had to ride the bus this morning. They didn't eat breakfast. That is a complete different learning experience than kid A.
Speaker 3:Well, and it's the same thing as when they started having homework that required Internet. Yes, not every child has Internet access. So now you've got kids trying to find libraries and things to go to. That should not be a requirement for them.
Speaker 2:Yep, it should be a time set aside. Here's an idea let's get rid of some of these nonsense classes that we have and bring back the study hall. Right, right, crazy concept here to where hey, any kid that doesn't have time have resources at home. Here's a whole hour of your day right to come in and get that stuff done I've never.
Speaker 3:I'd have not noticed that until you mentioned that. But that is not a thing anymore no, I've never.
Speaker 1:I never had study hall, really when did that stop?
Speaker 2:it. We, we had it. I remember me and jamie had it when we were in school. Now I don't know how long after we we graduated that that happened, but it was literally an hour. You come in you can ask the teacher questions, but you could get a hall pass and go to you know your math teacher and get help. And it was just get in here, get your homework done. That way you don't have to worry about it afterwards.
Speaker 2:I remember, yeah, kids, there were some kids that I went to school with that literally they got picked up by their sister, they got dropped off at their aunt's house, they went from their aunt's house to their grandma's house and then their mom, when she got off work, came and picked them up. That's a lot of movies. You don't have time to sit down and do your homework. So you can't expect the same out of that kid as the kid that goes home and gets a snack and gets to sit down in a nice quiet desk and has a computer and is ready to go. So it's like let's, let's start accommodating a little bit for these kids and move and also parents. Like it's hard out here for parents when you have a kid that comes home that needs help with your homework, and the teacher didn't equip the kid to even ask their parents the questions to to help them.
Speaker 2:It's like, well, here's our assignment that they gave us. Well, what did they tell you about it? That it was on page 101 and it's due tomorrow, and it's like okay, so what are you supposed to do? We're supposed to write something about it, but they didn't really tell us. They just said write. You know 400 work, and it's like, and I get it, some kids will just not listen and not do this. But yeah, well, yeah, here's again crazy idea send instructions home on a piece of paper.
Speaker 3:Well, that requires work. But I will say this we also, as a society, cannot expect our teachers to be amazing when we pay them less than preach people that burgers at Burger King.
Speaker 2:As two teachers.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You still consider yourself a teacher. No, okay, well, I do. One teacher, one former teacher.
Speaker 3:One and a half One and 1.5.
Speaker 2:That is something also that they expect teachers to do, all this extra stuff that has nothing to do with actually teaching the kids.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, well, and kind of going along with the pay, like why this is the irritating thing I see on Facebook. And it's not irritating because I'm seeing it, it's irritating because of why I'm seeing it. All the teachers. Hey, here's my amazon shopping list for my classroom right yeah, why ain't that being sent to the school?
Speaker 1:yeah, that's, I get it if there's. If it's like extra stuff, like like obviously that stuff probably won't fit in the budget because, but I mean, if it's like stuff to make your classroom, your classroom, to make it a welcoming environment and a safe and helpful learning environment, that's pretty. I'd say that's important.
Speaker 2:Tyler, you don't understand.
Speaker 1:No, I don't. You don't get it. Let me break it down for you, Tyler. That's why I'm not a teacher, because I don't get it.
Speaker 2:it they have to do that, tyler, um, because if, if the school provided stuff for learning, you know, like they probably should, um, then the football team couldn't get new jerseys again this year yep, yep sorry for being irrational then the the baseball team couldn't have their six different jerseys for their one baseball season yep so you know their pink uniforms for the three games that they play, with pink uniforms that the school pays for.
Speaker 2:So, so no, we can't do that. We can't have educational stuff you know these crazy educational things and also build the new football stadium.
Speaker 1:I mean, come on now it's it's, it's so dumb, okay, it's, and it's with. It's with every like organization, corporation, whatever it's people making decisions on things that they have no idea what's going on. Correct, because I I know a school, not gonna say what the school is, but when covet hit and all the schools got no money for it's supposed to be for remote learning, yeah, guess what?
Speaker 2:guess what the kids got for homework paper packets oh yeah, well, yeah, and take it home, because they looked at remote, remote work whenever, whenever we saw whenever, whenever I saw schools, I got the same thing and they sent their, their students, home with chromebooks yeah yeah correct because and there was no oversight, because it was all just hey, here's your check for however many students.
Speaker 2:You got here, you go and it's like and then we wonder oh, I don't understand why these kids didn't learn anything during covid. I don't understand why, when we came back, everybody's grades were so low why do they sound like?
Speaker 2:that of disease daggum students because I sat home on their eighth bus all day. Well, teacher, instead of just recycling and regurgitating the same thing that you've done for the past 15 years as an educator, and just changing the date on it and sending it to them through an email, how about you actually do some teaching?
Speaker 3:Well, I firmly believe that our education system got set back 10 years because of COVID. Oh, absolutely I mean, it was so bad.
Speaker 2:Well, and I was there, I was teaching during all that, during and after COVID, and I saw the dip and decline in learning. They had me in a class just to help kids catch up on their COVID work. That they didn't do that, the teachers just emailed them. Here's the batch of homework, so it's just one email. And then here, get this all done during the rest of homework. So it's just one email. And then here, get this all done during the rest of the year and there's, there were.
Speaker 3:There were other options than just sending them.
Speaker 2:Yes, there are zoom meetings and well no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Richard, richard, richard I don't understand come on now listen, I'm gonna have to educate both of y'all apparently I'm gonna learn you something we can't do zoom meetings and actually teach these kids? Yeah, because that would require the teacher's time in which they're getting paid for right, we can't do that.
Speaker 3:That is completely and totally now unacceptable now I get it.
Speaker 2:We can't say, well, some kids don't have access to internet and then say, well, you should have done zoom, absolutely. So you can't say both. So there are there, but there are a lot of kids that got sent home with it that you could do zoom for all the other kids. Here's what you do with this. Let's do. Let's get with your parents and do a quick phone call. Let's hey, I can go over to your house and and we could sit down and I can teach you one-on-one like. Like, that is a thing. Again, you got paid. You got paid for your eight-hour days. Use some of that, actually teaching. But what happened?
Speaker 3:No, teachers got that time off to go sit at home.
Speaker 2:Send out your email, Check on it every now and then. I remember when we got back there were still teachers that still didn't have their grades from COVID put into the system.
Speaker 3:Oh wow, yeah, teachers that still didn't have their grades from covid put into the system. Oh wow, yeah, gotta love it?
Speaker 2:yeah, because I had kids trying to make up all their work and they're like oh, I've done that already. I'm like it's not showing up on on your class on on line? Oh, I did, they just haven't graded yet. It's like that was three months ago yeah, and no accountability like yeah.
Speaker 1:So I don't know, but let's shout out the teachers that are trying to make that difference yes and that and that thing and the crappy part is they're far and few between yes, well, and and they're getting.
Speaker 2:It's getting that way. It's getting thinner and thinner because all the good teachers that are trying are are being met with that brick wall of I'm not being able to get anywhere because the system is so broken. So they go.
Speaker 1:I don't want to teach anymore yeah, or then right and then you have those teachers that you know they try so hard, they get so exhausted, but they still like teaching, so they stay and they just go with it. Yeah, they just coast right through.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, if, if they're gonna do the the minimum, I'm gonna do the minimum, and then it turns good teachers into bad right, and that's what I was gonna say.
Speaker 3:I think after 10 years in that system it wears down good teachers, oh yeah, like I just I was worn down after my first year, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, and? And the reason why I don't teach is because it's not for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I, I am not a parent for everyone's kids, and and that's that's kind of where I started drawing the line.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Cause I cause. It's a whole new generation of parents and there are some parents that have the mentality okay, my kid got in trouble at school so why do I have to punish him at home?
Speaker 2:Well, you have a generation of bad teenagers with bad attitudes that are now having bad teenagers with bad attitudes, and it's gotten worse.
Speaker 1:And then also like pushover parents. Yeah, oh my gosh, I had a kid that he showed up to school late. Yeah, Used his friend's phone to call his mom and he didn't ask. He told his mom to leave her job to go home. Grab his phone and bring it to the school.
Speaker 2:And she did oh yeah, wow, her job to go home, grab his phone and bring it to the school. And she did oh yeah, wow, oh yeah, oh yeah, I've had kids that. No, I don't feel like being here. I'm gonna go call my mom and they're just coming check them out of school and just not, not a care in the world. And how do you? How do you?
Speaker 3:like as a manager in a job. How do you manage somebody like that as an adult like fire them. Well, and not only that, cause you run out of people, right, you run out of employees.
Speaker 2:Well, that's why now we have so many terrible people that work at, you know, service industry jobs, right, you know you go to McDonald's and they're just yeah. Walmart employees won't even speak to you anymore, Right.
Speaker 1:I'm not okay with that, though. I'm not a talker, I'm not, I'm fine Because that's part of your job.
Speaker 2:Right, I am not okay with that Part of your job is to, and you don't have to have a full-on conversation. Hey, how are you doing today, right, oh, I'm doing well, okay, cool, did you find everything?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's it, like it's, don't just walk up there and stare at me, it's in the training video.
Speaker 2:Right, it's crazy and it does. It frustrates and makes good teachers, good workers, not want to do that anymore. Right, because you know, talking about employment, if you're a good worker and you look at the person that's not a good worker and they're just doing the bare minimum, they're getting paid the same as I am, so why would I try to go? But I'm going to meet where they're just doing the bare minimum. They're getting paid the same, exactly as I am, so why would I try to go? But I'm gonna. I'm gonna meet where they're at. Right, and it takes all morale down and it's just terrible.
Speaker 1:It is terrible so basically it's tire up so kind of capital. It's that all these things that happen with your children at a young age start to spiral when they get into adulthood.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that's it now, and that's what.
Speaker 1:That's what, every time we are, you know, disciplining in men or anything, we always tell them hey, this is how it's affecting now, if we don't do something about it, here's how it's going to affect you as an adult and it's going to be way worse than what it is right now.
Speaker 2:If you have an attitude with authority as a teenager, you're going to go into the job market with an attitude for authority.
Speaker 3:Yep, and that's where Easton's at right now. He doesn't want to take leadership from any employer Everybody, they just want me to do this.
Speaker 2:They're out to get him. They're out to get him it. Did you ever hear that from him in school?
Speaker 3:oh, he ran away from home when he was 17 and quit school.
Speaker 2:So yes, did you ever hear a teacher's just out to get him when he's in trouble? Yes, yes isn't that crazy how it goes from that to it is a it is a pattern.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sure I don't get it man I don't either, to be fair, that I'm not. I'm not making excuses for him. I'm saying there are teachers that all they had that one, not all teachers.
Speaker 2:Miss Reeves, miss Reeves, miss Reeves, worst teacher ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. I will die on that hill. She is terrible, terrible human being Calling her out. Sorry, I don't care, she's terrible, she is the worst teacher. And that's what. If you were certain kids, you're good to go. Yeah, I mean blatantly.
Speaker 1:What's your last name?
Speaker 2:again. Oh my gosh, she had us. I never understood this. She had us write down who she may have ever had in school. That is your family.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, this is weird. Why is she having a?
Speaker 1:vengeance upon relatives.
Speaker 2:That's it.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:There's no other reason. There is no other reason.
Speaker 1:Who's worth putting effort into and who am I going to brush off at?
Speaker 2:It was so bad. We got yelled at Me and Jamie got yelled at the day we found out we're pregnant because we got checked out and we left her class early when we found out we were pregnant. We had to go and kind of get things together and figure things out the next day we came in. You don't ever just get up and leave my class not, hey, how can I help?
Speaker 3:no, oh, of course not.
Speaker 2:No terrible, terrible human being. Yeah sounds like it yeah, well it's.
Speaker 1:You know, there comes a certain point where especially with you know, kids in high school and they're getting older they're dealing with real life situations they don't need. They don't need an elementary life lesson. Oh, you don't, you, don't, you, don't leave my like. Sorry, I got real crap going on right like it just I know I'm only 17, but dad gum I got stuff that's crazy man, yeah crazy.
Speaker 2:What else y'all got going on in your life that it we got. We leave tomorrow morning, we're going to summit, that's gonna be fun, and then we got a trip coming up. You're man, two weeks. How quick did they get you in and out? Any of our listeners have you dealt with this real id situation? Oh my gosh, it's another thing that me and tyler were complaining about the other day, just nothing different we complain like legit for about half an hour like it's just so dumb well, they need more money.
Speaker 3:So you don't understand help me educate you.
Speaker 1:The, the little star, is a huge that was a really aggressive huge edge.
Speaker 2:Well, and I asked the lady. I was like okay, what information? You know what? What documents do I need when I get up there, you know, to get to go for my regular license to the new id? And she goes, oh yeah, you need this, this and this. And I'm like so, the same things, you need to get your id in the first place. Yeah, so it's no new information that they're getting right. So it's like so why do we need this one? Oh, it's a, it's a more accurate, blah, blah, blah and it's like, but it's the same information that you need to verify. Yes, so how is it more accurate?
Speaker 1:I read it's it's like a, like a half level higher of security clearance, which again makes no difference, because that comes across to me as oh, we need real id so we don't have to deal with, like, fake ids you're telling, you're telling me that they're not gonna be able to fake that right, fake a real id. Come on now yeah let's be, let's, let's be, let's be real but that's another episode.
Speaker 2:We're at a point where people can fake being me in person we're gonna talk about that nickel and diming, all the stuff that they just nickel and dime. You just trying to get any little bit extra out of you. The license plate stickers that you have to up up do every year just to put a new year on your license plate that's another episode it really is, man. I'm telling you what, dude, we got a lot to complain about, but, man, we love y'all.
Speaker 3:Hey listeners, we just want to thank you for your continued support for the Almost Brothers podcast. Do us a favor and go to your favorite platform and rate us and like us and share with everyone that you know. Thank you so much, love you.
