Over the top Back to School coverage?

[detlump]

Is it just me or is the coverage this year overdone? I don't recall much of that when I was a kid, maybe a mention of school bus stop weather and that was it.

This year, it's the full court press, journos on bus ridealongs, helicopters, it seemed like that was all that was on the news for a good couple of days.

Plus, there is all this "welcome back" stuff from the schools - can kids be more coddled than they are already? They are supposed to be there, there should be no recognition for doing what one is supposed to do.

No wonder these kids don't make it in the real world, where there is rejection aplenty. I recall some schools banning red ink for grading for crying out loud!

Why not have school year round, so we can forget this nonsense? It doesn't make sense to have buildings, buses, etc sit empty for a few months a year, it will keep the kids out of trouble, they won't forget everything, and it will prepare them for a lifetime of less than 2 weeks "vacay" on average. The kids are bored by July 4th anyways.

[animatedmartian]

Doesn't seem any more coverage than it usually is, but I haven't been watching TV, so I wouldn't know. Glancing at the local news though, Detroit's schools might need the extra coverage.

http://www.freep.com/article/2011090...tend-first-day

[jackie5275]

Without this coverage we wouldn't have known that only 55% of DPS students actually showed up the first day.

[MidTownMs]

Without this coverage we wouldn't have known that only 55% of DPS students actually showed up the first day.

Is it possible that the no-shows didn't know what school they were supposed to go to???

[rjk]

Is it possible that the no-shows didn't know what school they were supposed to go to???

When they find out hopefully they'll tell their parents so they'll know what school to go to for teacher parent meetings.

[DetroitTeacher]

Kids were all sent letters telling them which school they were suppsed to attend. Many haven't come back yet because: it's a short week, they don't have a uniform [[they had them last year), it was raining, they didn't feel like it, they're switching schools [[but they aren't attending the new school, either). Those are some of the excuses I've heard. While my classes are about 60% right now, my kids are seniors. Those who aren't there are missing valuable info. I will bet they come in and want me to start at the very beginning. That isn't happening. They'll have to get notes and such from the other kids. Those that think they are switching districts or schools are in for a big shock. They'll be back and will be far behind.

Is it possible that the no-shows didn't know what school they were supposed to go to???

[rjk]

^So what's the fallout from this?
Do parents have a way to check if their child has attended school?
When I went to school if you had an unexcused absence you had an F averaged into your grade and a letter sent home notifying your parents.

[Scottathew]

If only 55% of DPS kids truly showed up that's a parenting failure.

Schools can only do so much, and in order to do that the parent, at bare minimum has to get the kid's butt in the door.

[Roq]

Is it just me or is the coverage this year overdone? I don't recall much of that when I was a kid, maybe a mention of school bus stop weather and that was it.

This year, it's the full court press, journos on bus ridealongs, helicopters, it seemed like that was all that was on the news for a good couple of days.

The other morning, I turned on the local news and they were actually at a families home, following them live on their first day of school. Local news with their stellar, hard-hitting coverage strikes again.

[Detroitej72]

My guess is back to school coverage is getting more coverage because we haven't had enough lousy weather to report on.

[rid0617]

Must be a Fox thing. The Fox station down here was just as bad with the non stop back to school including live crews at most of the schools

[Detroitnerd]

I think back-to-school has become an advertising free-for-all. Sort of like the way they can't wait to start advertising for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's. Even if it's just a bump of 4 or 5 percent, they'll still advertise for it. And media outlets know to highlight whatever is going to get them ad revenue.

[Ray1936]

It's the same thing here in Las Vegas. Front page stuff and the lead stories on the local TV stations. It also seems as though "back-to-school" advertising started the day after summer vacation began.

As Detroitnerd noted in his post above, follow the money.