Betsy Hart column: " A Bit Recession Might Be Good for a Little Self-Esteem"

 It's about all the young people you hear about who think they should
get paid just for showing up - and students who think hard work should
automatically mean an A.

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/betsyhart/1449291,CST-FTR-hart26.article

Also, under the link for the same column at betsysblog.com, one
commenter told of a young man who said that if he couldn't find a job
that paid $82K, he'd just stay at home with his parents. What happened
to parents who would just say no to that?

Lenona.

 

On Wed, 4 Mar 2009, lenona321@yahoo.com wrote:


these parents get what they deserve.  I'll never understand where the idea
that allowing a kid to feel the least bit of discomfort was suddenly
deemed cruel and unusual punishment, bordering on child abuse.  Where did
these parents come from?

 lenona321@yahoo.com wrote:


They got a clue and noticed who would be picking the nursing home.

 lenona321@yahoo.com wrote:

And unfortunately some of those parents become Congressmen. I would love
to ask my Congressman face to face if he put his children on his knee
and said "don't worry about anything, if ever you do the wrong thing
such as buying a house you can't afford or maybe decide to buy many you
can't afford at an attempt to make quick money or get involved in a job
where you are knowingly stealing money from others dad will help you by
talking money from other people and giving it to you..."

 On Mar 4, 8:53 pm, lenona...@yahoo.com wrote:

To be honest, though, I ran out of time yesterday and didn't mention
one commenter I agreed with just as much as I did with Betsy Hart:

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/betsyhart/1449291,CST-FTR-hart26.article

I think you have to click on "Comments" at the top to see it. Anyway,
here it is:

isnadmin wrote:
Betsy,

Yes and no. I agree there are a large majority of students that create
high expectations for their effort to simply be in class. Sure, there
is a case for this if we limit our view simply to the effort of
students.

But let's not forget the efforts of the establishment to comfortably
establish itself within the educational system. Let's not forget the
goal students are being encouraged to reach. Go to college, get an
education, and success will follow. This comfort ends, ENDS, on
graduation day. Then reality kicks in that a kind of 'deception' took
place.

It may never be intentional. I keep in touch with many teachers I had
throughout my education. What is deceptive is that this education,
which easily reaches between $40k and $80k plus interest for those who
take out student loans, has been impressed upon so many that come to
realize it was all a sham from the beginning.

College education doesn't prepare anyone for the work force. College
education doesn't equal experience either. What exactly does the
college experience do for someone but suspend their income or increase
their debt obligations?

I would rather have had someone at the college level honestly tell me,
"You're paying for nothing," than continue being encouraged to pursue
my degree in Liberal Studies. If I could go back, I would have gone to
the library and read what I needed to read to learn what I wanted to
learn. In short, the college system ENABLES this sense of entitlement.
Read the ads for yourself...

Get a better job, start a new career, earn more money... it's BS! The
only thing you're expected to do is come to class, do the work, and
learn the material. THAT'S IT. No more, no less. What would you have a
student do to consider them 'entitled' to the dream these schools
market, anyway?

Please, let's not pass it all off on the students. Yes, there are some
lazy people out there that will just gripe to be heard. Many of them
have come to realize they've been suckered into a system that controls
their futures. Consider the most successful businessmen and women that
quit college without ever getting a degree. Consider why... they
learned how to do something on their own with little, if any,
assistance from their educators. Bill Gates didn't have anyone but
himself and his college roommate to thank for his success.

It took me two degrees to come to the understanding that going to
college does not equal the success that these institutions advertise,
and it wasn't for my lack of effort either. I made excellent grades in
my bachelors and masters programs. I worked HARD, and I never had my
hand out expecting anything but more help and information. I'd like to
think I was a sponge in every class, but it never equated to a better
job or even one that would pay my loans.

I'm working to build my own business now as a result of this madness.
I don't feel I deserve any special treatment, but a little respect for
the younger generation goes a long, LONG WAY. Remember that our
generation is merely a reflection of yours. If there is anything to be
learned here, it is from the past mistakes of those that have enabled
this mindset to form.

In short, if college students shouldn't be expected to receive special
treatment after college, then STOP encouraging them to go to college
and put forth the effort. I doubt anyone that has had a bone to pick
with this would agree we didn't put ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING of ourselves
into our education for the sake of our own futures. And this is the
result.

No offense, of course.

By isnadmin.


Lenona.