Universities and Colleges are starting to complain that students today are not mature enough to handle higher education. They blame the problem on a pervasive sense of entitlement and an overly casual work ethic. It seems that as a result of attempting to keep kids in school, schools have abandoned teaching the core values of respect for others, self-discipline, and the ability to learn independently.
A long time ago the concept of social conscience did not exist. With time people realized that a society cannot be healthy and productive if it does not take care of the most vulnerable. This meant that children, the elderly and the infirm were not simply the responsibility of their caregivers. Things like the Industrial Revolution and Great Depression helped expand the list and introduced Guilds and Unions as forces to be reckoned with.
Since then, each subsequent generation somehow adopted the notion that their share of social welfare is a human right. Today, Western Society is plagued with a suffocating sense of entitlement. Where the original idea grew out of desperate need and the thought that those who are able bodied and of sound mind will naturally contribute in a positive way to support those who are not, today we are at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Today we, as a society, are chocking under the pressure of trying to figure out how to deal with escalating gang violence and overall mediocrity. Recent trends in attempting to keep kids in school and deal with funding issues in the education system have created a generation of people that are ill equipped to understand the past or educate the future. They will not be the bright minds that will help overcome the many complex issues we
face even now. What can you say of teachers whose assignments contain spelling and grammatical errors?
Rightfully so, we have moved away from the days when teachers could physically punish students in the classroom. But, now teachers are the ones fearing for their lives each time they enter their hallowed institutions. Why are we trying so hard to force these kids to go to school this way? There are other options.
If they don’t want to learn by sitting in a classroom and choosing to contribute to a positive environment, free of violence and abuse, give them a choice: Collective farm terms where they have to work for food and board, or apprentice programs for a skilled trade. Each option would necessarily enforce things like self-discipline, problem solving skills, healthy self-pride, and a genuine understanding of true community involvement.
It would also provide them with an ability to earn a living without turning to a life of crime or being a burden on the system. The farm option would have the added benefit of giving local farmers some much needed labor and ultimately improve locally grown food supplies and reduce the price of delivering food to the table. The apprentice route would fill a current void in skilled-trades.
If neither option is voluntarily selected, what ever happened to the idea of boot camps? It would be a last resort but, much more effective than attempting to force people to sit in classrooms without any noticeable benefit. High schools, Colleges, and Universities should return to being valuable institutions where people who want to learn something can do so from teachers who are qualified and able to teach. Perhaps then, as a society, we can move away from the rut we have been stuck in since the 1960’s. Perhaps now we can go back to filling schools with people who actually care if the bridges they build don’t collapse, planes don’t fall out of the skies, and customer service is more than a long forgotten Utopian notion.
