I feel like I need to give a little background on myself for the sake of the reader who does not know who I am. The short story is, I graduated from high school, got married at 20 (because I knew better than EVERYONE around me), divorced at 24 (because it turns out that everyone around me was right), graduated from the University of South Florida at 29 with a Bachelor's in History and for the past two years I was teaching the current generation of middle school students. For the stellar work I put in and the positive reviews I received for two years, I am currently on the outside looking in. I am doing my best not to let this keep me down, but rest assured; it is all not negative for me. The things that I have seen in the past two years would make any sane, intelligent individual's head spin.
I will also disclose that I have no children of my own and that this, like most legitimate arguments, does not apply to everyone but it does apply to the majority.
I realize that it is the job of the older generations to look back to the younger generations and complain and say their music is terrible and that they are being afforded opportunities they are taking for granted that their parents never had. Well, being 31 (and not drastically removed from my youth), I feel that it is safe to say that this current generation of the youth of America are some of the most mindless, sheepish, programmable citizens this country has ever produced and I am placing blame solely on one other group of citizens, their parents.
Parents of today's youth have instilled upon their children a sense of entitlement that would make any member of The Greatest Generation cringe. The youth of America feel that they should not have to work for anything and they do not plan on starting to anytime soon. One of the grossest examples of this occurs every day and every year in the current public school system. It is my hope that not every school district operates this way but given my limited experience, it is all I know, and it goes too far.
Here is the scenario: Johnny goes to school almost every day. There is the occasional time when Johnny's Mom had to sleep one off and she could not get him to the bus on time, nor did she even bother to bring him to school late. Johnny's Dad may or may not be around, he really does not know because he spends most of his time locked in his room playing XBOX360 and downloading shitty YouTube videos or sending pictures of his pre-pubescent crotch to all his friends in hope that someone will return the favor.
When Johnny is able to take a break from sexting and get to school, he sits in class. That is it. He sits in class and does absolutely nothing for 180 days a year. Johnny turns in no work, contributes very little to the conversation except for the random smart ass remark, which the teachers appreciate on a whole new level because they realize Johnny has a pulse, and he is for all intents and purposes failing. He is failing every teacher's class throughout the school with percentages that equal scores I have written on a scorecard for a par 5 at the local golf club.
About three-quarters of the way through the year, after countless attempts at contacting Mom while she is sober and comatose, she schedules a parent-teacher conference to find out why Johnny is not doing well in school. If your head is not spinning just yet, keep reading.
Mom schedules a conference that she subsequently reschedules three more times because she "forgot" or "could not make it" for whatever reason. When the conference does take place, she is one of two people. She is either the deer in headlights, totally caught off guard that Johnny is the student he is, or she is the angry, wild turkey bobbing her head and strutting around placing blame on all of the teachers instead of herself. Because after all, if Johnny is failing EVERY class, the teachers have it in for him. Sitting in on this meeting is an administrative figure of some sort that may or may not back up the teacher's position on Johnny's behavior. They really do not know because they are too busy worrying about the kids that get sent out of class every day for telling the teachers to go fuck themselves. Discipline in the school system is another topic for another day that is equally astounding.
The conclusion of the meeting is simple. It is the conclusion that has been put in place to make sure that "No Child is Left Behind." Johnny will stay after school a couple days a week and be given a packet of work for every class that he is failing in order to make up the credit for all of the work he did not do in the first place. Johnny must successfully complete the packet and earn no less than a 70% in order to be given credit for the course. Johnny shows up sporadically to the after school sessions, goofs around because he has just spent the entire day doing nothing and he has pent up energy, and the due date quickly approaches. Johnny asks for an extension and is given one. He eventually turns in a half-assed effort and imagine to all of the teacher's surprise when Johnny earns above a 70% on every single packet (wink-wink, nudge-nudge...do not ask any questions because your questions do not matter). Johnny's mother is ecstatic because her baby is going to graduate 8TH GRADE!!! She is SO happy because this will likely be the last time her child graduates anything short of being promoted from working the fry-o-lator to assistant manager at McDonald's.
The aforementioned story is in no way embellished and in no way fabricated. It is merely an amalgamation of several occurrences during my time in the public school system that most people are unaware of. These students exist and more importantly; these parents exist. I pushed it to the extreme cases, but the parents of this generation are guilty of, what the late great George Carlin called, "Child Worship" and it is ruining this country right before our very eyes.
At about 3:00 of this video, the most frustrating aspect of today's society rears it's ugly head. "In today's America, no child ever loses. There are no losers anymore. Everyone's a winner. No matter what the game or sport or competition, everyone wins. Everybody wins. Everybody gets a trophy."
What I am thankful for is having parents who instilled in me a sense of individual thought and respect. To know the proper time and place to question authority is lost on this current generation. The amount of disrespect among the youth in this country is growing faster than the national debt. Human decency and kindness are a thing of the past and it is creating angry individuals like me who feel the need to blog about it in the hopes that people read it and say, "you know, the angry asshole has a point." My hope is that this does not create more anger and frustration but merely serves as a wake-up call to the parents and future parents out there. Not a week goes by that people I graduated high school with are posting that they are pregnant. Face it, people having sex and having children is not going anywhere. It is my hope and sincere request that you become more like my parents and hopefully your parents and not like Johnny's parents. Teach your kids to think for themselves and respectfully question things they find askew in the universe. Teach them that not everyone is lucky to have parents like you and not like Johnny's. Teach them to care about something other than what their friends are telling them to care about. And for the sake of future society, please talk to your children and not let this instant gratification of a digital age raise another generation of mindless disrespectful sheep.
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