School Carnival Fail

[MrsEclipse]

In all seriousness, I wish more people would realize that equal does not equal fair. Equal is only fair in some board games, but not everyone is dealt the same cards IRL.

One of my favorite quotes is, "Fairness is not everyone getting the same thing. Fairness is everyone getting what they need when they need it." I'm so tired of everybody trying to make things "equal" and, in the process, making them unfair.

Also about "life isn't fair." Well, yeah no duh. But people shouldn't use that as an excuse to actively make things unfair. Or to keep other people from stepping out and making things fair. Or to justifty bad behavior in general. Or to question why anyone would bother trying to make things better. And on, and on...

You can't make life fair. They say "Deal with it." I say "Challenge accepted."

[mathnerd]

To this day I cannot eat those chocolate bars that are sold as fundraisers. My experience as a kid being forced to sell them was so bad that they make me literally nauseated.

[Andara Bledin]

On the matter of the OP: fuck that classist asshole of a principal. That's precisely the sort of shit you don't pull with kids.

When I was in elementary and junior high school, the fundraisers usually had the students selling chocolate bars. We were all given boxes of them and expected to sell them door-to-door, or maybe in shopping centers ... I think my family might have actually tried doing that two or three times before we gave up and just bought all of the chocolate bars ourselves.

In the last few years, we didn't even bother to try selling them. As soon as we brought the boxes of candy home, our mother just wrote a check to the school for them.

These stories always amuse the shit out of me, because I'd sell a shit-ton of whatever all the time. Chocolate, candy, random gew-gaws, pizzas. What most kids never seem to figure out is that their biggest customers for the candy is other kids. Unless the entire school is participating, you can just have the candy in your bag and be selling it before and after classes.

Band was usually the World's Finest chocolate bars. German Club did advent calendars near Christmas. The school stuff was the shitty costume jewelry, most of the time. That stuff was the hardest to sell 'cause it was so much overpriced crap.

[Tama]

The last time my brother and I sold chocolate bars my grandparents just bought two boxes--the two we had. And that was it. We had chocolate for ages! (40 bars/box)

[jedimaster91]

The band class at a school here sold dutch pastries. I bought one not because I really wanted one (though it was delicious), but because I will always do what I can to support the arts. Though I wonder when schools will figure out how terrible these stupid fundraisers are. Do they really make that much money from them?

In regards to the OP, what a terrible thing to do to a bunch of kids. Even if my child had gotten to go, I'd be furious on behalf of those who couldn't. Even when I was in school there was a provision for kids whose families couldn't pay the (small) fee for field trips. As long as you had a signed permission slip from a parent, no behavior issues, and turned in all your homework, you got to go. And for the latter two, most teachers would give you a three-strikes and your out thing.

[DGoddess]

In regards to the OP, what a terrible thing to do to a bunch of kids. Even if my child had gotten to go, I'd be furious on behalf of those who couldn't. Even when I was in school there was a provision for kids whose families couldn't pay the (small) fee for field trips. As long as you had a signed permission slip from a parent, no behavior issues, and turned in all your homework, you got to go. And for the latter two, most teachers would give you a three-strikes and your out thing.

Back when I was in school (mid/late 70's and through most of the 80's) the middle school I went to had a program to help pay for students whose parents couldn't afford some of the steeper priced field trips (for example, we had an overnight trip to Williamsburg, VA during the spring of my 7th grade year) or some of the extra cirricular classes (like foreign languages.)

I recall my Mom putting in for help from the school so I could go on the Williamsburg trip (I'd been okay if I couldn't go but she didn't want me left out, as I was being constantly harrassed by other kids anyways) and, as a single parent she couldn't afford to pay the entire cost of the trip.

Same with the French classes I took 3 days/week during the 8th grade. I think it was somewhere around 40 or 45 dollars per semester but if your family qualified, you could get that waived. So, Mom applied for the waiver for that so I could take French in 8th grade (even though I told her I could wait until HS to take that, it would give me a head start if I had an extra year of it then but it really wasn't necessary.)

Back then some of the schools did try to help those whose parents weren't middle or upper income to be able to participate in some of the same stuff that everyone else did.

Carnivals I don't recall having when I was in school. We did do book fairs every year and my Mom would try to set aside a little bit of money for me to buy at least 1 or 2 books (and back then they weren't over 5 bucks apiece for paperback) b/c I'd already read all the ones I had nearly to death.

But the way the school principal handled that in my book was absolutely shitty. No, life isn't fair at all (and I should know about hard knocks.) But to not make provisions for everyone to have a chance despite their socioeconomic status reeks of discrimination and makes a lasting impression on these kids for years to come.

Myself, I knew back then I couldn't do everything the other kids did and it was okay for the most part. I didn't think I was any less than they were (even though some of them liked to think they were and would try to flaunt it) but I did get to do some of the things I wanted to do and that was good enough for me.

[mathnerd]

The school my kids went to when they were little did have a huge fair with rides and everything, and not all students went, but it also wasn't held during the school day. Actually, the school shut down for a couple days for the set up and the first day of the fair (which continued through the weekend.) It was a huge fair, and it was the major yearly fundraiser for the school and the church it was attached to. It was a community event, not just a school event. Not all kids went, some kids who went couldn't afford ride tickets, some couldn't afford as many of the games and food booths as they wanted. But they didn't have to be there listening to all their friends have fun either.

But all that is vastly different from the carnival in the article. I would be upset about the way this was handled if I was a parent at that school, regardless of if my kids had gone or not.

[Rageaholic]

The school my kids went to when they were little did have a huge fair with rides and everything, and not all students went, but it also wasn't held during the school day. Actually, the school shut down for a couple days for the set up and the first day of the fair (which continued through the weekend.) It was a huge fair, and it was the major yearly fundraiser for the school and the church it was attached to. It was a community event, not just a school event. Not all kids went, some kids who went couldn't afford ride tickets, some couldn't afford as many of the games and food booths as they wanted. But they didn't have to be there listening to all their friends have fun either.

But all that is vastly different from the carnival in the article. I would be upset about the way this was handled if I was a parent at that school, regardless of if my kids had gone or not.

In comparison, the school carnival in the OP sounded small scale. No ferris wheels or anything that goes up in the air; Just a few bouncy castles and a teacup ride.

[HYHYBT]

There was a school carnival when I was in elementary school. No ferris wheel or anything like that; the things I remember were a dunking tank, face painting, a cake walk, and an Atari Pacman game they charged a quarter to play as if it were a real one. As I remember it, no admission fee, but most of the activities cost something. Which, to me at least, makes all the difference. That kind of structure leaves room to spend more or less without calling attention to anyone or leaving them out entirely, that it was on a weekend meant it wouldn't be all that strange if someone didn't come, whatever the reason, and that people came and left as they liked over the course of the day meant it wasn't even obvious who did and didn't show up.

[Valinor]

when the news broke, a couple of days later, everything that got stolen was returned- with a note from the burglar apologizing. ( according to the note, he hadn't realized it was a charity he was breaking into)

. . . Well, it's nice to see that they have some standards, at least.