Her mother had medicated her last night at 8 because she was "overwhelmed"

You're joking, right? Is she ADHD/BID? Because otherwise? Wow that's a different take on parenting than I have.

I'm afraid she'll never get pushed and prodded by her teachers and peers

Both of my kids are in public schools and both have been and are challenged. We are lucky in that we have a pretty small school district. But all of the teachers that the kids have had have pushed them to do their best. There's been a healthy bit of competition from their peers too, not cut throat but it's there. My daughter and her best friend are equally matched and there's always the back and forth of who did better on a test (usually only by a point or so).

Whoa. Mommy's little helper is supposed to be for Mommy, not the kid!

Not joking. No, not ADHD or BID. They just tranq'd her.

Don't get me wrong--there are MANY parents who are fantastic. But I have experienced enough of the syndrome she's describing to not dismiss it as sensationalism.

Not joking

Huh. That's... really sad actually. My niece has BID, and sometimes when she was little she'd get overwhelmed and the meds were the only thing that helped her focus and be able to sit still so I can see if it was necessary but still.... wow

But I have experienced enough of the syndrome she's describing to not dismiss it as sensationalism.

The sensationalism part comes from the way it lumps in a number of issues (probably the ones where she looked at various stats, and not the things she looked at in her own research) under one roof. Like I said, there was interesting stuff in there, but on the whole, it seemed to be over-reaching.

I'd have to ask Dad if he saw an increase in that sort of parent, but as he taught high school level, they might not have yet hit when he retired a couple of years ago.

But I have experienced enough of the syndrome she's describing to not dismiss it as sensationalism.

There was a mom in Ben's second grade class last year who argued abotu everything. The initial spelling tests were unfair to poor little HerChild because the expectations weren't clear, the day of the test wasn't clear (um, Friday is usual, dingbat), the bonus write-a-sentence option on the test wasn't properly explained. And this is second grade.

It's not even simply grades, in my experience. It's a culture of expectation, of things being done for the child, of every experience being Positive! and Beneficial! It may be nice, I guess, but it's not a lot like life, if you ask me. We had a Mother/Son Sports Night where two hours of the planning meeting (I kid you not) were spent trying to determine what would best serve the kids as a "take home gift". I suggested that the evening of playing dodgeball with Mom was enough to go away with, and got a resoundig veto.

It goes with the "everyone gets a trophy so noone feels bad" crap. If children have a bad experience with something, it'll make them SAD! And they won't want to do it again!

Being told that no teacher in the school can give a cumulative final exam because it's "too difficult" for the students to remember the beginning of the year...while simultaneously also decreeing that teachers are not allowed to give midterm exams because they are "too stressful", for example.

Yes, this is the situation I am currently facing. The school used to have midterms, but parental pressure changed all that.

Annabel is one gorgeous kid. Wow.

I'm pissy and tired and defensive. I've been here since 7:30 this morning and still have hours of grading to do tonight. I also haven't eaten all day and went to three meetings between teaching and planning and writing six billion parent emails and answering voicemails. I may not be in the best state of mind right now to be having this discussion. I'm sorry. I'll try to come back when I'm not so frazzled.