Mel's right. At some point teens must make their own decisions. If we have to duct tape our mouths and handcuff ourselves to the bedpost, we must allow our children to learn by experience. It's hard. It is really hard. This does not mean, however, tools aren't available to help our teens make positive decisions. If high school is the issue at your house, maybe the following will help. If your kids are younger, start early. Educate them now about the importance of staying in school.
Sean Covey has written several excellent books for teens. One is Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, another is titledThe Six Most Important Decisions You Will Ever Make. Both books are practical and easy to understand. Discussing the 6 decisions, Covey places school first on his list of important choices. If you are in high school and feeling frustrated and defeated, read on.
You are sitting in English class. Mrs. "English is Important" is rambling on and on "about the Elizabethan period and some old building called the Globe or World or something and.. geez, boys played the girls ..... this stupid play has too many thee's and thou's. Now she wants my stupid homework. Right. I had to work until 11:30 last night...made good tips...really good tips. Plus, that sweet thing at the bar gave me her cell number. ...need to call her..........ZZZZZZZZZZZZ Huh? Say what? What's iambic pentameter? I think it was a muscle car in the 60's. Haa Haa. A 0 for today? #^$*^&@ I hate this class. It's a waste of time sitting here."
I know many of you have been there. Remember, I was Mrs. "English is Important" Why should you stay in school? The money you are making now is good. It makes your car payment, pays for your cell phone and you have some left for a very satisfactory social life. If you quit school and could work more hours, you would make more money, maybe be able to move to your own place, sleep late, and best of all, school and grades would only be a bad memory.
Right. Nope. Wrong.
If you graduate from school you will have better skills, a better paying job and have a better chance of living successfully. Did you know that if you drop out of high school, statistics prove that you will have a low paying job for the rest of your life?
Here are some of Sean Covey's facts:
1. Dropouts have a harder time finding and keeping jobs. 50% of dropouts are unemployed
2. Dropouts are often labeled as people who don't complete things-and they usually don't
3. Dropouts often jump from job to job instead of steadily building a career
4. Dropouts aren't even considered for high paying jobs-even if they are qualified
5. And increasingly, here and in most countries, a high school degree is not enough
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics offers the following:
Education..........................................Weekly Salary
No H.S. Diploma....................................$409
H.S. Diploma.........................................$583
2 Year college Degree............................$699
4 Year College Degree...........................$937
Master's Degree.....................................$1129
Professional or Doctoral Degree..........$1421
Making $6.00 or $8.00 an hour may seem good now, but it won't be enough to live on for the rest of your life. If you drop out of school, you automatically limit your life choices. You limit your life experiences. You limit your life possibilities.
Covey offers a simple "Baby Step" for each of the six decisions.
The one for staying in school is http://www.6decisions.com/pdf/01_School.pdf. Look at it. Work through the lists. He begins, "if you are planning to drop out of school, repeat the following aloud, every day; "I am looking forward to low paying jobs for the rest of my life" Go on, keep saying it. "I am looking forward to low paying jobs for the rest of my life." How is that for a mantra to carry around in your head?
One other thing. Don't use the old GED as a cop out. It is not an easier way to get your diploma and you lose the socialization, the activities and the experience of high school. Take the baby step above and re-evaluate. Look ahead the next 50 years of your life, not just to the next weekend. Remember though, if school has not been working for you, you need to rethink and go in with a fresh new perspective. First, get your personal act together and then, figure out what being a team player means. Covey calls these public and private victories. Making school work, is a choice. Knock the chip off your shoulder and have a plan for success. You can do this today to insure yourself a better tomorrow.
Staying in school is a no-brainer and so is Chicken Sopa . It's kind of embarrassing to publish. It features canned soups but doctored right, soups are a great short-cut for a quick meal. This is from Southern Living and freezes well. Serve with a good green salad and you have a delicious dinner!!
Chicken Sopa
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 (14 oz) can Swanson's Chicken Broth
2 (4 oz) can diced green chiles
1/2 tsp garlic powder (or 1 clove fresh)
4 cups cooked, shredded chicken (In a hurry? Grab the Rotisserie chicken and shred the meat)
12 corn tortillas
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
Saute onion in a lightly greased skillet and add next 6 ingredients. Remove from heat and add corn tortillas that have been torn into bite size pieces. Add 4 ounces of cheese mixture.
Spread chicken mixture into 6 buttered oven-safe ramekins or a 13 x 9 Pyrex pan. Top with remaining cheese. Bake, covered at 325 for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Uncover and bake 15 minutes more or until golden brown.
We all know $7 is not enough to raise a family on, but the kids think it's a lot of money. It's hard to convince them, though, that there is a purpose to the Canterbury Tales, when their job is taking precedence. Chaucer is dead, anyway, and who in Muskogee ever uses an English research paper? :)
ReplyDeleteBut, you know, the thing of it is you can make it anyway, even if you never turn in an English research paper during your whole high school career. And the kids know it - they aren't as naive as we were (remember when only 1 principal was on duty at lunch?). This is why we have college graduates now who can't speak or write English correctly! I am really afraid the last laugh is going to be on us. Maybe we will be more fluent, competent in our studies, and try harder when everything is written in Mandarin Chinese?
I didn't believe what counselors said when i was in school but
ReplyDeletefinding a job is hard without a diploma/ places always ask
except fast food and manual labor
if you are breathing they will take you and work you til I can't stand it anymore
I think your right. We want to believe its all good and everything, but it's hard out there.
ReplyDeleteno one wants to work they all want to be the boss or to just have it given to them. fast
ReplyDeletethe lottery
personal injury lawsuits
game shows
aren't we all entitled!!
the government has taught it's even better for others to work and support those of us who just don't want to. Keep my check coming in the mail please.
In my high school, we are up against a brick wall. Kids don't see school as relevant and important. They are not disciplined enough to follow through with the requirements and have not been taught at home that staying in school is not a choice, it is a given. Some desperate districts are even paying kids as an incentive to graduate...somehow, to me, this does not seem to be sending the right message about education
ReplyDeleteYep, we are experiencing the same thing with our students. I am practically killing myself to make the course content relevant and fun, but nothing seems to help. I work from 7:30a.m. until 6:00 or 7:00p.m. devising games, worksheets, finding video clips to illustrate what I am teaching. I have spent tons of my own money on supplemental materials and student incentives to interest the kids, but it has only gotten worse. The kids honestly do not see any importance in studying or paying attention. There are really good, smart kids who are being swallowed up by the pervasive apathy. And good teachers, too.
ReplyDeleteMaestra and Almost Retired Teach
ReplyDeleteIf you have not read it, go to Mel's posting entitled "A Ham Story" and read the comments
for more on this topic... and thanks for your input. I wish we would hear from a public school high school teacher who has found the secret to engage our kids in this day and time. Anyone out there??? C
I finally found what you were talking about under January 2007. I see what you mean. The thing we are finding is that the kids really are quite capable, they just will not do the work.
ReplyDeleteI also meant to say that we are having trouble with cell phones, too. I read the post on electronic connectivity and we are fighting the same battles with cells, PS2s, iPODs, and students' preoccupation with these devices. I don't see how someone can listen to an MP3 player during my instruction and get all of what I am saying.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to know other people fight the same battle! Kids don't take education seriously because ultimately we don't take education seriously in our country. We have that very strong "self-made man" philosophy, which has added greatly to our progress. But, it has been a problem since Jefferson's day. He was so disappointed with the University of Virginia when he realized the backwoods farmers' kids didn't really want to study.
ReplyDeleteNow we have No Child Left Behind, but right now it is still meaningless. It holds everyone but the students accountable, since it doesn't matter if you fail the end-of-instruction test or not. The onus is on the teacher to make the students love what he/she is teaching, but where in this process is the individual being instilled with a sense of personal responsibility for his/her own way?
Until we take education more seriously than Paris Hilton or our cell phones, I don't see much change coming. But, all is not lost. There are plenty of go-getter kids out there who will still make the most out of their lives, even though many of them will be starting out at a disadvantage with the people who really did pay attention in school.
Another great topic!
ReplyDeleteNow if only someone had the answer...I certainly do not!
I would like to say this: The handbook given to us at the beginning of the school year states that cell phones, ipods, and other electronic games etc, are not allowed. So why ,,,oh why,,does every kid come out of the building with a cell phone glued to their ear?! If any child is listening to an ipod in class, why is that ipod not convascated and that child placed in High Challenge classes? If a child is talking to other students during class, why is that child not doing detention for disrupting class? If a child is not paying attention and not doing the assigned work, why then is the Parent not notified at once of the poor behavior? And if a student is not giving his teacher 100% of his or her attention, why is that student not held accountable at once??
Do not misunderstand, I am not blaming the teachers, but if they do not uphold the rules and do not insist, consistantly, that ALL students be respectful, attentive and responsible in their classrooms, there is little the Parents can do. We can't sit in class with them. Wish that I could! For Gods sake! Take the darn cells, and games and ipods away from them! I'm okay with that!
We need to stop being afraid of being tough with our kids! What is everyone so afraid of?? I don't understand the way our society has come to allow "kids" to have so much control of what they do or not do! Maybe we aren't afraid of being tough with them,,,we are just to darn lazy as Parents to do the job we are supposed to do! Shame on us!!
CaveDwellers
I left a message on the "Paper Hat" topic..
ReplyDeleteCaveDwellers
Hi, cavedweller - Teachers are afraid because the law has really not been on our side for the past twenty years. Therefore, nobody wants to stick their neck out or get chewed out by a parent. Since Columbine we are also more lenient on letting the kids have phones on their person, even though they are not supposed to have them out until school is over. Phones have been confiscated and then stolen from the teacher's desk, so have PS2's and iPODs, so it really is more complicated than it seems. But, you are right, they should not have them out in class.
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ReplyDeletethat is stupid..
ReplyDeletesome people drop out of school for other reasons then being lazy..
some people have to drop out...
so i think its wrong to not let drop outs work certain jobs. especailly if they have the skills required for it...
this makes me very angry..grrr
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