Originally posted by gougitousakusha
reply to post by aero56
this is the result of bad parenting. you really should be able to go to the house an give one of them a smack on the head. go into the parents place
of work and act like their brat child, then ask what kind of mood it left them in.
this 'epidemic' transcends bad parenting. i have been an educator for 15+ years, and have worked with a wide spectrum of youth; from those labeled
'at-risk', to the privileged, and have certainly noticed a downward spiral trend in their general behavior, in their natural curiosity, in the
capacity of their imagination, in their willingness to learn, in their overall understanding of and ability to show respect.
indeed parental involvement (or lack thereof) plays a huge role in the issue at hand.
as well, there are many other factors contributing to the overall decay of the modern education system: standardized testing. a focus on math &
science at the expense of the arts. underpaid staff. overwhelming teacher to student ratios (30+ kids for 1 teacher is fairly common for public
school). not to mention the fact that children aren't necessarily wired to sit in classrooms all day and read books to regurgitate info.
in other words, the education system is certainly fraught with many complications.
and yet, all of this aside, i firmly believe that the #1 culprit afflicting our youth today is their overexposure to mass media... be it cyber, tele,
celular, twitter, skype, etc. etc. etc.
not only are we as educators competing against the pandora's box of instant gratification & stimulation offered by our current information boom, but
much of the actual content of this info is of a scandalous, violent or demeaning nature; celebratory of the baser emotions.
just go to yahoo or any other MSM page and try to avoid flashing boobs, or petty posturing of tween stars or premadonna athletes, or the exaltation of
$$$ and bling, or countless other sophomoric expressions of our less than stellar human nature.
and i have not yet touched upon what commercial advertising has done to the self-esteem of our youth!!
a societies behavior was once modeled by our storytellers and our sages. well, our storytellers and sages have been supplanted by the "Snookys" and
the "Miley Cyrus's" of the world - crass caricatures paraded hourly on the instomatic screens we all seem compulsively addicted to.
www.msnbc.msn.com...
no wonder our children can't use their imaginations any more.
there is that buddhist proverb about the tea cup being full, and therefor the individual has no room for further knowledge. well our youth's heads
are brimmed to the rim, practically overflowing with a universe of pixilated nonsense.
it makes me sad.
and yet that is why i am in this vocational field. to sneak through all that garbage that occupies their collective conscious to try and help them to
recognize that a truer power lay inside themselves...
the power of imagination. of creativity. of nature. of self esteem. of listening. of curiosity. of respect. etc. etc. etc.
and of course i am certainly not the only one, and have had the fortune of knowing many, many educators who are doing their part to "unpollute" the
minds of our youth.
well... sorry for the diatribe. it is a matter close to my heart, and i do not think a catch all blaming of the parents is the solution. there are
much larger forces at work here.
cheers.
PS... of course, a responsible parent goes a long way, but no parent can (or should) monitor their kids 24/7.
especially when they have the TV and computer to do it for them!
PPS... not all internet and TV is evil, of course. i mean, hurray for ATS, right?