Jumping on my soapbox...

What's a blog for if you can't update it with a few of your own personal pet peeves and opinions? With that being said, sorry if this post offends anyone, it's not my intention, just something that really bugs me personally. Also, there are very few things I feel strongly enough about to actually put my opinion out there, but this happens to be one of them for whatever reason.

Anyhoo...every morning I generally make my commute to work listening to The Bert Show. Well, a story was brought up this week that has been stuck like a broken record in my mind ever since it was played. It's a story about a middle school boy being better at football than the rest of his team, so he gets punished for his talent by banning him from playing if he scores more than 3 touchdowns. The gist or theme of the story is about the "wussification" of today's youth. I could not agree more!! Not at all just because of this story, there are SOOO many reasons why I agree that the next generation is being "wussified" and I will list a few later. First, here is the news video of the middle school football player in case you want to see what I'm talking about:


There are a couple of reasons why this particular story gets under my skin:
1) This kid obviously has natural, God-given athletic talent and has most likely worked very hard to be as good as he is at football. So, why in the world punish him for that?!
2) When the principal is defending the Madre Hill rule by stating "so the other kids can develop their football skills too" and get some play time is ridiculous.
a)Apply that logic to real life. When a these kids grow up and enter the work force, and someone happens to outshine the rest, is he/she going to be reprimanded for doing a good job and asked to take a step back while they let others catch up to their level? No. They will be/should be rewarded for their hard work. If not, what would be the incentive for anyone to strive for excellence? And consider the consequences of having a generation with no one willing to make the effort to shine!

This story in particular is just a brief snapshot of the "wussification" movement. There are SO many things going on in schools, youth sports leagues, and parenting techniques that contribute to this nonsense. And if I'm being honest, this is one of the top 3 reasons it is a tough decision to teach right now. I simply do not agree with everything that is going on to make sure everyone is "equal" and no feelings are hurt. Because we all know how devastating it would be for a child to have their feelings hurt, despite it being for something they did and should take responsibility for. Of course now, "responsibility" is a curse word unless it is being placed on someone other than the person it should apply too. Here are some things I can think of off the top of my head that are going on in schools that are just so ridiculous:
1) No grading in red ink. It's preferable that a teacher use purple or something equally less 'offensive' because we do not want students to feel any shame associated with a failing grade. After all, we are all winners right?

2) Snowballing off of that...this is at least true in elementary schools up to 4th grade, but no one can really "fail" any more. The grading scale is no longer A,B,C,D,F it is a 3+ through 1 scale, where 3+ is exceeding standards and expectations and a 1 is not meeting the standards or expectations. I have even heard in some cases where a student cannot receive a '0' on an assignment anymore, it must be listed as a 50 in the grade book.

3) Let's say a student is a HUGE distraction. Throwing fits, possibly throwing objects, crying, yelling, running around the classroom while the teacher is trying to teach (you may laugh and think this doesn't happen...not only have I experienced it on several occasions in my VERY limited time in the classroom, I suggest visiting an inclusion class for a day and see what behavior is acceptable now), what is the teacher to do? Call the principal? No, they generally ask that the teacher handle this behavior in the classroom. Take them outside in the hall for a chat? No, that is singling out the student and could also get the teacher in trouble for leaving the rest of her students unattended. Move their desk away from others, either next to the teacher's desk or in a more secluded area of the classroom where they are less of a distraction to others? Absolutely not, as this could possibly hurt their feelings and make them feel isolated from their peers. So, instead you either spend several minutes of valuable instruction time calmly trying to reason with the student to sit back at their desk, or simply try to ignore and hope that they eventually get over it and go sit down somewhere.
This is exactly how things were handled while we were in school, right?! YEAH RIGHT! No one would have dared acted that way, and if they had the nerve enough to they certainly had to face the consequences of either the principal's office, a phone call home, AND having their desk moved. But now 1,000,000 different excuses are used to allow this type of behavior, "he's on medication and he just forgot to take it today," "he's really gifted and needs more of a challenge, he's acting out because he's bored," "Something must have been said or done to him to make him that upset," "he's an only child, so he's not use to having to wait his turn." Trust me, there's lots more! And I'm not pulling these out of thin air, these are quotes I've personally witnessed, which is scary because I haven't even been in my own classroom yet! This is all just from student teaching experience! I can't imagine all the fun stuff teachers hear on a daily basis! It just drives me CRAZY that no one will say "You know what, that behavior is entirely unacceptable and I'm so embarrassed that my child acted that way in your classroom and took away from your teaching. We will discuss this and take care of it at home, and please let me know if this behavior continues so we can put an end to it more quickly." And then how nice would it be if the student had to own up to their misbehavior with a follow-up apology to the class and teacher. Heaven forbid they be put on the spot for a few minutes to take responsibility for their actions. Again, we'd hate for anyone to have their feelings hurt.
***And let me say, there are legitimate cases where kids really cannot help this kind of behavior, however, the ones I am talking about can and should.

4) No winners or losers. Granted, for young kids playing sports, this is totally fine. But kids today are growing up where everyone wins! We don't want anyone to feel like they're not a winner so they all get trophies. And you may be thinking to yourself "just wait until your own kids loses"... but you know what? There is such a valuable lesson in losing! Sometimes, it's going to happen and you have to learn how to pick yourself back up, dust yourself off and go out and try harder next time! It's also important to learn how to congratulate the winner and not run off pouting that you "just won't play anymore."

There are several other examples but this post is long enough (if you've even made it this far). Things have changed so much in the past decade or so, and it is just so worrisome to think of what the outcome will be as this coddling continues. These kids are our future, which should truly terrify us. They are not encouraged to really try hard at anything or actually work toward goals. Everything is all made so easy and when things are made difficult, it is generally quickly altered so that everyone can meet the goal, and not just those who strive for success. Mediocrity seems to be the new goal that everyone is doing so well at attaining, and I can only imagine the bar the next generation will set for their kids!