Things I Wish Adults Would Stop Telling Children About School (And Life)


1. You Don't Need To Learn That - You'll Never Use It When You Grow Up

I remember visiting an 8th grade social studies class at a public school, when I was working on my teaching degree. The students were learning facts about the American Revolution. I was observing. One student asked the teacher, "When will we use this information in life?" The teacher responded with "You won't!" The disappointed kid sighed and went back to his pointless work.

My jaw dropped upon hearing such a cynical, and frankly ignorant, answer to a question that should have provided a teachable moment. Instead of providing a thoughtful and inspirational answer, an annoyed teacher chose the route of "shut the kid up quick so I can go back to finishing my other work at my desk while the class works independently." The biggest problem with the teacher's answer was that it sent a message to the entire class that their learning is pointless and unprofitable. 

Now I understand why there are so many ignorant, uninformed voters. Adults have been telling them since childhood that they won't use their social studies learning when they grow up. No wonder there are so many thousands who go out and cast a vote without knowing what this country is supposed to be about because they were told they didn't have to learn about the American Revolution!

How about the parent who tells is or her child that they will never use quadratic equations when they grow up, or that they will never need to write a poem, or a sonnet, or play a musical instrument. Adults have to wake up and realize that more than 95% of children and teenagers have no idea what they will do for a living when they grow up. So, how on Earth are adults giving them good advice by telling young people which skills they will and will not need? By doing so, we are robbing them of learning what they need in order to discover their passions. Today, two-thirds of Americans who take the entrance test for the armed services fail either the content, the physical, or both parts of the test. What have we been teaching our children when they can't even pass a test to get into the military?


2. I'm Not Worried About Your Behavior - I'm Worried About Their Behavior

Parents, your kids are not the angels you think they are. All children tell lies - every one of them. This does not make them bad, it just means they are human! If you think your son or daughter does not tell a lie, you are in for a rude awakening. You may not realize it until they are seventeen and arrested for drunk-driving, or sixteen and pregnant! The sooner you pull the veil from your own eyes, the sooner you will be able to steer them away from bad life choices.

How about those parents who tell everyone, "My son is a good boy, he just hangs around the wrong crowd." Well, who is the wrong crowd? The wrong crowd must have parents who say, "I'm so proud of my son - he's the wrong crowd! He goes around boozing and de-flowering young, innocent girls, and leaves behind a trail of babies who will need his child support check for years to come!"

I doubt it.

Mom and Dad, you will do well to keep this in mind: We are who we surround ourselves with. If your son or daughter likes hanging out with the wrong crowd, enjoys their company, and they enjoy his or her company, than your child IS the wrong crowd! Just accept it! Let go of your pride! If you do, you are one step closer to being the parent he or she REALLY needs. Stop worrying about the behavior of other people's kids; you have no control over that. Focus on what you do have control over: your own kid! When Bobby or Mary comes home and says, "I need the newest iphone because all my friends have one", you can say: I'm not the parent of your friends, so I'm not responsible for what they have.


3. You Think School Is Tough? Wait Til You Grow Up And Have To Deal With The Real World

Until they grow up, school IS the real world for young people. It dominates their whole lives. Some of the hardest life lessons we learn are in school. We learn for the first time how to do deal with: love, rejection, bullying, success, and failure. Folks, school is the real world, just accept it. Indeed, I happen to think working and earning my paycheck -challenging as it is- is easier than many of the things I went through in school.

4. I Believe You, Honey. It Is The Teacher's Fault

When I was a kid, my Dad never expected me to come home and blame the teacher for my poor grades. Somehow, I knew he wouldn't fall for it. We all have grandparents who tell us, "Back in the day, if you messed up at school, you'd get a paddling there. When you got home, you'd get another paddling." Generations of people who were born and raised before the Baby Boomers (circa 1945 - 1952) had parents who would be behind bars today for the things they did to discipline their kids.

How did those kids turn out? Did all or most of them turn out to be a lazy, whiny, traumatized, worthless, and useless society? No. Those qualities did not begin to affect our culture on a grand scale until the Baby Boomers starting booming out there own babies, and implementing their own, novel ideas about how to raise children, for instance, in ever-increasing divorced homes; very little teaching by example; even less inculcation of moral principles; much more "do what your heart tells you"-type philosophy, which crumbles when the kid starts thinking "What if my heart tells me I need to have a new phone the minute my friend gets one? What if my heart tells me not to do my homework?"

Nowadays, we are the children and grandchildren of the Baby Boomers. What have we learned from them? We've learned that when we screw up, it's not our fault. It is the teacher's fault. It is the wrong crowd's fault. It is everyone else's fault except our own fault. This philosophy makes one feel good, but it destroys, like a spreading cancer, the fabric of a healthy, prosperous society. Some Baby Boomers have been good parents, but it is not because they have embraced Baby Boomer philosophy!

The sixties... All that pot at Woodstock... Where has it led us? I'll tell you where it has led us. It has led us to the point where we are facing an election in 2012, and the country is going to hell in a hand-basket, and some people are saying, "I can't vote for either of the two candidates who stand a chance of winning. Instead, I need to vote for the one who wants to legalize pot." Are you serious? People are out of work, drowning in debt to put food on the table, scraping by on government handouts, our enemies are burning our flag overseas, attacking our embassies, laughing at what pussies we've become, and you are worried about the future of pot-availability! Where the hell are your priorities! Thank you, Baby Boomers! Thus is your legacy! I hope you are happy! Roll-up, smoke-up, and you'll forget everything I just ranted!

5. I Need To Stick Up For You In Every Unpleasant Situation That Comes Your Way

No you don't! You don't! You can teach and advise your children on how to deal with unpleasant situations, and then put the child out there to solve the problem his or herself. Kids need to develop problem-solving skills. Your child may come home crying and saying, "Pete called me a mean name!" This does not mean you need to push your child behind you, and go raise hell at the school and at Pete's parents, while your child is playing a hand-held game system and smirking all the while you are solving the problem. Have your kid put down the game-boy, and go solve the problem his or herself. If he or she does not learn these skills now, how on Earth will your child be able to grow up and hold a job when a mean boss or coworker is raining abuse down the chain!

In Summary, We Have Become A Weak and Frankly Pathetic Society Because For About Fifty Years We Have Failed Our Children And They Have Passed The Failure Down To Their Children

We have to take responsibility for our own behavior before we can teach our children anything useful. The biggest problems we face are not Bush's fault, not Obama's fault, not bin Laden's fault, but our own fault. If we are so disappointed that we don't have great presidential candidates, let's teach our children the right kinds of things, and one day we will have a great president!


Jason A.