Raising Losers

I have been teaching for 20 years and sadly (and now terrifyingly) what I have recognized is that each year the students are more ill-mannered, illiterate and ill-equipped. We baby boomers are trusting our futures to young people who will not be prepared to handle their own adulthood much less make wise and well-informed decisions for us when we're in the retirement home.

Now, there are exceptions and I have the privilege to teach a good number of them, but they are becoming the minority. The group of teens who are respectful, motivated to do well, and highly responsible is shrinking in size, and we are losing entirely the middle-class group--the strong B-C students who are hardworkers but not necessarily destined for college and much better suited for skilled work in the various trades. Today, we have a much smaller group of great kids and all the rest, who are out of control, driven by a sense of entitlement rather than earned success, and out of touch with any sort of moral compass.

The sad fact though is that it is not just the losers who cheat. Even "top" students are involved in taking the easy way out. They rationalize their behavior with suggesting the competition is better and the pressure is greater.  I have had many students tell me (and most with pride or levity) that they have cheated their way through school from as early as elementary school. They have convinced themselves that it is so critical to be on top (or even just to pass) that playing fair and following rules is just not important, in fact, has no value. The legacy of that, of course, is even the "good" kids believe the ends justify any means.

Character drives us all. Good character results in moral choices, and corrupted character ends in lying, cheating and stealing, and yet we see those very behaviors lauded on the TV, in the movies and in songs, and they played out in our society where the hard work of the melting pot generation who built America is not the respected goal. The goal is how much can I fleece from others--government, tax payers and investors. How much can I get without working? How much can I take before getting caught?

What has happened to the Americans who felt an obligation to this great country for its opportunities and a debt for the freedoms we enjoy; the Americans who knew that working hard created great modeling for their children; that working hard resulted in pride in a job well done, and that working hard created a great neighborhood, community and nation. 

Instead of raising great Americans, who are the thinkers and doers who will propel us upward, we are raising lazy losers--brats, thugs and prima donnas.