Parenting Starts at Home
Seems simple, doesn’t it? Good parents know that it all starts on day one and continues for a lifetime. What an awesome, sometimes overwhelming, task. Leaving your legacy to your kids, hoping somehow they get it… and make a positive difference in their part of the universe.
Parents, Kids and Grades
Is your child having trouble in school?
Maybe not lots of problems, but you know in your heart their performance is way below their ability.
Don’t feel like a failure, nor should you think your child is a flunkie.
In today’s society it’s really easy to quietly forget about academics. Just look at what kids have to deal with… or to enjoy.
- cell phones
- iPods
- video games
- both parents working or a single parent household
- almost unlimited (and uncensored) TV
- dumbing-down school to almost total multiple choice questions
We could list more, but you probably get the idea that it’s very easy to live a comfortable and enjoyable life that ultimately leads to mediocrity.
After working with over four thousand kids as a teacher, both in high school and college, there are several ominous trends that have become obvious.
Many students today are
- technologically savvy
- addicted to the interactive use of that technology
- almost unable to focus with intensity on written material
- unwilling (or unable?) to memorize significant information
- severely lacking in critical thinking skills
It’s important to understand that these kids aren’t unintelligent. They are bright, gregarious, talented and busy.
The biggest problem is that their skills and abilities are focused on selfish consumption of very enjoyable activities. That chosen focus has eliminated the learning of many of the necessary events that will help them be successful once they enter the non-school world.
Most importantly, this comfortable mediocrity has prevented students from learning the fundamental characteristics that lead to genuine success in almost any endeavor.
Characteristics such as responsibility, perseverance and the ability to finish non-entertaining tasks are becoming less and less apparent.
Parents and teachers need to confront this problem head on. We don’t need to revert to the “good-ole-days,” but should wisely use some old-fashioned techniques coupled with current technology to bring these kids into a proper focus.
We need to become quietly firm in parenting and teaching. Our word needs to be clearly understood and consistently applied. Consequences need to be natural and inevitable.
