Let's jump on this roller coaster..... Child enters school. They are praised and rewarded to the delight of their parents. They join a ball team and get a trophy for every game because no one ever loses. Child advances through the school system, at times not earning grades for effort, but rather marks showing improvement on assignments they have completed. All is good. Child graduates. Attends college. Finds that not all professors accept their work ethic. Some of them actually require them to complete all assignments and turn them in by a due date. We just hit a curve. After college another kink in the ride occurs when the young adult finds that their boss expects them to be at work on time and complete assignments in a timely manner. Aww.. the roller coaster is slowing down. Ready to pick up more passengers and start another ride.
The group that exits is comprised of an assortment of people. Some are achievers and some that can best be described as self-entitled. These are the ones that fell into a system that rewarded them for doing the right thing robbing them of integrity. They joined teams that made everyone feel like a winner, but taught no one how to lose graciously. They were the victim of men in suits that thought letter grades stole their self worth when in actuality earning a grade was teaching them the value of hard work. Their college experience left them bewildered. Wondering what happened to the "everyone-wins-I-get-mastered-for turning-in-what-I-want-when-I-want" plan. They join a society that calls their behavior immature, lacking in responsibility and unaccountable.
And they blame.... us.. their teachers. It doesn't matter that we did everything in our power to fight the system. The voices of money drowned out our screams. We knew that rewards, trophies, and new systems of teaching and grading were not good for teaching our kids life skills. Life skills like honesty, integrity, responsibility, accountability, good sportsmanship, manners, courtesy, and the list goes on and on. We knew that some kids would fall into the trap of entitlement. We knew that the real world would be an unforgiving place. But the very ones that we were fighting for, we were fighting against.
That's right. The kids. The ones that we were trying to teach and protect and guide raised up as empowered adolescents and took away our years of experience with their demands. And, what makes it far worse is that district by district across our nation is falling at the hands of students and their parents. Teachers have lost their voice and, in many cases, their respect. Schools have turned into political financial institutions catering to those who pay the taxes and vote on issues. Students are calling the shots and enjoying their power trip while we can only shake our heads at the mess.
And, we will continue seeing the results of this ride as long as our voices are suppressed. We will continuing witnessing adults that don't know how to accept "No" as an answer. Adults that throw tantrums because they don't get their way. Adults that expect society to hand them 'life' on a silver platter. I just hope the ride gets shut down before too many fall into its' enticing trap.
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