Students need to stop blaming teachers for their poor academic performance.
Yes, America’s average test scores have dropped; and yes, we are seeing rising rates of anxiety, depression and suicide amoung adolescents; so yes, there are many obstructions to students’ academic success; however, the smallest of which is teachers and the greatest is the students themselves.
This rising generation has grown far too acclimated to everything being handed to them, complete with instructions on exactly what to do. They need to see every little baby step in the mountainous climb to success before they can even think about putting one foot forward.
Not long after they start their journey, they, inevitably, face their first real challenge. It’s a sincere smack in the face. They’ve never confronted anything like it before. It questions their discipline, focus and determination. Instead of powering through, they distract themselves from the pressure by complaining about their parents, peers, teachers, weather, time of day and anything else they can’t control.
They find themselves all caught up in this tough situation and choose to whine about how they can’t control the circumstances– and they’re right– but they’re wrong to use that line of reasoning to justify their reactive impulses; which, ultimately, are the things pushing them farther from achievement.
Submerged deep in the storms of school and sports, as well as their social lives and other extracurriculars, students have lost sight of the one thing they can control– themselves.
Students like to pretend that they have no time for schoolwork, or perhaps are too good for it. They like to think they’ve never had any time for school, let alone themselves. They like to pretend they had no spare time during the COVID shutdown that could’ve been invested in their education. This, of course, is false.
While there are inequities, the majority of students have access to the necessary resources and time to achieve academic success; but, they choose not to use them academically.
It doesn’t take $100 to review what was or wasn’t learned in the past week. This can be done with the backside of an old sheet of paper, a pencil, and 15 minutes. Throw in a desk, a place to sit and perhaps a bed and now the student has no excuse for not studying what was learned. Give them access to the internet, access to most of the knowledge and information of the world, and now the student has no excuse for not studying what wasn’t learned.
The backlash against teachers represents the unaccountability of the rising generation. If this unaccountability persists, 20 years down the line we’ll be seeing increased spread of misinformation, stronger denial of historical events and worsening efficiency of natural resources. This would have problematic consequences to minorities, people who depend on modern healthcare and anyone who spends most of their time on planet Earth.
The younger generation needs to stop the lazy complaining. Teachers have been getting too much heat for students’ grades, and they’re embarrassingly underappreciated. Blaming them for other people’s issues is uncool and a drag on our future.
