A Nation Of Wimps

[loki09789]

I live in a college town, so I see first-hand every day the effects of our current generation's upbringing. The majority of today's college kids expect special treatment in everything from traffic tickets to cover charges for bar bands. I especially get a kick out of the underage college girls who will flirt with me (a part-time bouncer) in an attempt to get into a bar, and then pull a Sybil and start calling me every name in the book (most of them not allowed here) when they realize I'm not playing their game.

Jeff

I gave my 9th graders a week (5 full class periods) to work on a final essay and a project that was suppose to help them identify an author's writing style (pick a chapter and cite every example of certain lit. devices - repetition, imagery, long (40+ word) sentences....). I also made it clear that, though I wasn't assigning 'homework,' that they would have to plan their time well to make sure they met the due date of FRI.

They were, literally in some cases, in tears over how it was 'too much' and that I wasn't being 'fair.'


I was trying to teach a series of lessons on outlining and organizaing essays to help them. They insisted on talking after multiple reminders during one class. I stopped teaching and told them that the essay would be a take home exam that was started in class. THey immediately said that I did it because I hated their class. I responded by saying that if they were so confident that they didn't need to pay attention to the help I was offering, I wasn't going to waste their time or mine by teaching something that they felt didn't need to be covered - 'hating' was nothing to do with my motive.

I think some of it is the developmental stage, but the way the authority structure has been set up around that 'stage' is letting them think that they can get away with murder.

 

[raedyn]

I think some of it is the developmental stage, but the way the authority structure has been set up around that 'stage' is letting them think that they can get away with murder.

The developmental stage is a huge part of it. I probably would have said you were a totally mean teacher when I was in grade nine. But a few years and life experiences later (9th grade is only 8 yrs ago for me, but it seems like a lifetime ago) I think yr approach is entirely reasonable. You're brave to work with teenagers. It's a challenging (and exciting) time.

 

[Flatlander]

Well, I can't count the number of times I have almost killed myself, destroyed/burned down something of great value or importance, or otherwise screwed something up as a youth. Every mistake I made has taught me something, and a lesson learned alone is a lesson more likely retained. Of course, I understand that I should have been reprimanded for spraying starter fluid in nifty patterns on the workshop floor and setting them ablaze, or sneaking outside with dad's shotgun and a couple of 'misplaced' shells when left alone to see how bad a 12 gauge really kicks on my 12 year old shoulder, but parents can't catch everything.

If we can provide our children with the necessary tools to use their own minds to make their own decisions, that's probably the best we can do.

If mischevous behaviour is genetic, I'll have my hands full. But hopefully, my daughter will have been equipped with the appropriate skill set to, at the very least, stay out of danger's way.

 

[raedyn]

If mischevous behaviour is genetic, I'll have my hands full. But hopefully, my daughter will have been equipped with the appropriate skill set to, at the very least, stay out of danger's way.

Oh great. I have so much to look forward to.

 

[INDYFIGHTER]

I consider myself extremely lucky to have grown up the way I did and when I did. I started life off in my yard. Later my world expanded to about a two block area around our house. There were plenty of kids to play with in this neighborhood. I could be two blocks away and hear my mother whistle for me for super. Around fifth or sixth grade I was allowed to ride anywhere in our small town as long as I was home when the street lights came on. About that time I also got my bb gun. A friend and I would walk through town a few blocks, with our rifles in hand, to the creek where we hiked, fished, and shot at snakes from the top of the bridge. If I ever have children I would want to raise them much like I was. My niece and nephew are growing up in the same neighborhood I did in almost the same way I did. My nephew rides wheelies down the street and tries to get "air" off the ramps he builds in our public street. I don't worry about him being subject to peer pressure as he gets older because like me he's an individual and capable of making responsible decisions for himself.

 

[shesulsa]

Well, I can't count the number of times I have almost killed myself, destroyed/burned down something of great value or importance, or otherwise screwed something up as a youth. Every mistake I made has taught me something, and a lesson learned alone is a lesson more likely retained. Of course, I understand that I should have been reprimanded for spraying starter fluid in nifty patterns on the workshop floor and setting them ablaze, or sneaking outside with dad's shotgun and a couple of 'misplaced' shells when left alone to see how bad a 12 gauge really kicks on my 12 year old shoulder, but parents can't catch everything.

:erg::uhyeah: *shesulsa has renewed respect for Flatlander now* :asian:

Raedyn ... *sigh* ... good luck.

 

[SenseiBear]

The predators are a problem, I admit. It seems like every time you turn on the tv or read the paper that theres another one out there...

In my opinion, this is an improper risk assesment. Yes, there are bad people out there, and random violence does occur, but the attention we focus on it causes people to be more afraid of it than needed.

In 2000, 41,945 people in the US died in auto accidents, compared to 15,517 people who were murdered. (http://www.unitedjustice.com/stories/stats.html)

And random violence only accounts for 14% of murders... So you (or your children) are about 20 times as likely to die on the highway than being abducted/murdered... But how many parents who don't want their kids walking to the park because it is too dangerous don't think twice about piling them into a couple of tons of steel, plastic and glass and driving at 70 mph 4 feet behind the car in front of them.

Don't pay attention to the news, learn what the dangers really are, who is likely to hurt you.

from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict_c.htm#relate

Victim/offender relationship

Males were more likely to be violently victimized by a stranger, and females were more likely to be victimized by a friend, an acquaintance, or an intimate.
During 2003 --

About seven in ten female rape or sexual assault victims stated the offender was an intimate, other relative, a friend or an acquaintance.

Sixty-two percent of males and 45% of females stated the individual(s) who robbed them was a stranger.

Violence against men and women by friends/acquaintances and strangers and intimate partner violence against females fell significantly between 1993 and 1998.

Family members were most likely to murder a young child -- About one in five child murders was committed by a family member -- while a friend or acquaintance was most likely to murder an older child age 15 to 17.

Intimates were identified by the victims of workplace violence as the perpetrator in about 1% of all workplace violent crime. About 40% of the victims of nonfatal violence in the workplace reported that they knew their offender.

For murder victims, 43% were related to or acquainted with their assailants; 14% of victims were murdered by strangers, while 43% of victims had an unknown relationship to their murderer in 2002.