Really sad after buying Girl Scout cookies.

[Sancho]

186. Then you know it's not always simple...

My first year teaching I had a 5th grader who was so advanced that he was able to complete HS algebra and geometry on is his own. In the same class another gifted student was always in school, but never got homework done. I was suspicious about some report card signatures, so we sent a social worker to the home. There was cocaine lying around in the house. Turns out that "mom" was working all night as a call girl and "dad" was a long distance trucker who usually wasn't there and was transporting drugs. The family had plenty of income! The 5th grader was feeding and taking care of two younger kids and running the house! His sister was pregnant by the "stepdad". It was quite difficult to sort out that mess, and homework was far down the list. Even though several teachers knew the kids, there was little hint of the problems except for lack of homework.

After 35 years of teaching, and my wife and I have seen it all. I'm much more careful now to figure out exactly what's really happening when kids (or college students) are behaving strangely. We all see some who are lazy, some who cheat, some who are emotional, and some who simply don't have much ability. Mixed in are others who have crazy family lives, economic challenges, and various disabilities. Sometimes it's really tough to tell the difference. Even if you identify an issue, finding a fix with limited resources is often impossible.

It would not surprise me at all to see parents doing homework. Haha...I've had a meeting with a college student who turned in homework done by a parent who was a professor! In Florida we have online public school classes, and you can imagine how often no one knows who actually did the assignment.