（日本語は後半にあります）
【English】
At the elementary school where my elder son attends, it is a rule that the children go to school in groups in the morning. The children are divided into groups within the school district, and children from the same group who live in the neighborhood go to school together. One of the parents in the group must accompany the children on their way to school, and I will be on duty for three days from yesterday to tomorrow.
In fact, the abolition of this group school has been under discussion since the end of last year. I don't know the details of how it came about, as I only heard about the vote (to abolish it or not) in the chat room of our group, but I think it was probably due to the heavy burden on the parents (especially the mothers).
I tend to get very frustrated in relation to my son's elementary school... Let me complain here.
I honestly believe that group school attendance should be abolished, and when I was informed of the vote, I did not hesitate to vote “abolish”. My oldest son is graduating this school year, but my second son will be a freshman in April, so this is relevant to our family. I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about my 6 year old walking to school alone for 15 minutes, but I can accompany him for the necessary period of time, etc., and it doesn't necessarily have to be a group school.
The reason I would like to see the elimination of group school attendance is the burden it places on parents ( accompanying, watching over, creating schedules and communicating with them) and, above all, the fact that the burden is not evenly distributed.
The time when children need to be chaperoned and watched is around 8:00 AM, which coincides with the time when many parents leave home for work. Many have to stay late at work to be on duty (a system that no longer seems sustainable in an age when both fathers and mothers in many families are working). However, some people are exempt from duty because they are less likely to be late, and I have some doubts about this. The burden of those people is instead assumed by another family in the group.
Some families are graduating without having taken on the role of “group leader,” which organizes the school attendance group. In some districts, there are no new leaders for the next year, and the same person has no choice but to take on the role over and over again. The call for the abolition of the school attendance squads may have been born from such distortions. Surprisingly, there are many people who allow their children to participate in the school attendance group but refuse to take on the role.
These trends are the same with regard to PTA board members. I myself, as a result, have accepted the role of a board member for three consecutive years until last year, while there are others who have never accepted the role. At first I took it on thinking “ it's in order” or “it's mutually beneficial,” but along the way I realized that it was neither “in order” nor “mutually beneficial”.
The example of a local children's association is the most obvious. The children's association to which my elder son belonged was adjourned because no one was willing to take over when it was time for a change of officers. The last board members were five, including myself, and we served for two years. At the end of the school year, the president asked the families who had not yet taken on a board member to take their place, and to our surprise, they offered to leave the association.... I was surprised to hear that they had allowed their children to participate in so many events up to that point, but when it came time for me to take over as a board member, they decided to leave the association. Since there was no one else willing to take on the job, the children's association was adjourned.
The COVID-19 infection explosion may have spurred individualism, but if many people consume mutual support as if it were a free service, the burden on those who do not is too heavy. So I voted to “abolish” the school attendance group as well, but when I looked at the results of the vote count in the group, it was almost 50/50 for “abolish” and “continue”. I don't know what will happen...I guess the final decision will be made a little later.
Thank you for listening to my complaints!
LEO POWER UP DAY🦁
It has been a while since I powered up LEO.
I have been posting mainly in Japanese on Snaps lately, and have not been able to look at InLeo or Threads much. With my elder son preparing to take the junior high school entrance exam, it has been difficult to find time to devote to blogging, but I will continue to keep an eye on LEO!
【Japanese】
長男が通う小学校では、朝の登校時は集団登校をする決まりになっています。学区内で班分けをし、近隣に住む同じ班の子どもたちがグループで登校するというものです。集団登校の際は必ず班内の保護者が一人付き添うことになっており、私は昨日から明日までの3日間、その当番です。
実はこの集団登校に関して、昨年末から廃止が議論されています。班のグループLINEで（廃止するか否かの）投票の連絡が流れてきただけなので詳しいいきさつは分からないのですが、おそらく保護者の（特に母親の）負担が大きかったからじゃないかと思っています。
息子の小学校に関連して、私はどうもイライラしてしまうことが多くて…😅 こちらで愚痴らせてください。
正直、私は集団登校は廃止で良いと思っており、投票の案内があった際には迷わず「廃止」に一票入れました。長男は今年度で卒業ですが、次男が4月から一年生なので、我が家にも関係のある話です。6歳の子どもが徒歩15分ほどの道のりを一人で歩いていくことに不安がないと言ったら嘘になりますが、必要な期間は途中まで付き添うなどすればよく、必ずしも集団登校である必要はありません。
私が集団登校の廃止を希望する理由は、それに伴って保護者の負担（付き添い、見守り、スケジュールの作成やそれに関する諸連絡）が生じることと、何よりその負担が均等ではないことです。
児童登校時の保護者の付き添い、見守りが必要な時間帯は朝8時前後で、多くの親が出勤のために家を出る時間帯と重なります。当番のために会社を遅刻しなければならない人も少なくありません（多くの家庭が共働きとなった今、もはや持続可能とは思えないシステムです）。ただ、遅刻がしにくいからという理由で当番をほぼ免除されている人もいて、これには少し疑問を抱きます。その人たちの負担は、代わりに班内の別の家庭が引き受けることになります。
登校班をとりまとめる「班長」の役割も、引き受けることなく卒業を迎える人もいます。地区によっては、次年度の班長を新規で務めてくれる人が誰もいない、同じ人が繰り返し引き受けるしかなくなる、といった話もききました。登校班の廃止を求める声も、そうした歪みから生まれたのでしょう。自分の子どもは登校班に参加させるが、役割は断る、という人が意外といるのです。
こうした傾向はPTA役員に関しても同じです。私自身は、結果的に去年まで3年連続で役員を引き受けることになったのですが、6年間一度も、やらない人はやらない。当初は「順番だから」「お互い様」と考えて受けていたのが、途中でまるで「順番」でもなければ「お互い様」でもないことに気づきました。
子ども会が最も分かりやすい例で・・・長男が属していた子ども会は、役員交代の際に引き受けてくれる人が誰もおらず、休会になったのです。最後の役員は私を含む5人で、2年間務めました。年度末に会長が、まだ役員を引き受けていない家庭に交代の打診をしたところ、なんと退会の申し出が・・・。それまで散々子どもを行事に参加させておきながら、自分に役員が回ってきそうになったら退会とは。他に引き受けてくれる人もいなかったため、子ども会は休会になりました。
コロナ禍が個人主義に拍車をかけたのかもしれませんが、相互支援を無料のサービスのように考えて消費する人々が多いのなら、もうやめにしませんか、と思うのです。というわけで私は登校班も「廃止」に投票しましたが、班内の開票結果を見てみると「廃止」「継続」はほぼ半々でした。どうなることやら…最終決定はもう少し先になりそうです。
モヤモヤを聞いてくださってありがとうございました！
LEO POWER UP DAY🦁
久しぶりにLEOをパワーアップしました。
最近は主にSnapsに日本語で投稿しており、InLeoやThreadsをあまり見ることができていませんでした。長男の中学受験も控えているため、ブログに割く時間がなかなか取れない状態ですが、引き続きLEOには注目しています！